White worms about 1/2 inch long - What are those?

[jarrodaden]

I have a planted 3 gallon tank with red cherry shrimp and assasin snails. I have not introduced any new plants or critters in several months.

All of the sudden I have these short (1/2 inch) white worms crawling around on the side of the glass. I have no idea what these are.

My assasin snails are really booming lately. Maybe these are newborn assasin snails that I never noticed before??

[mnemenoi]

I always thought they were some type of Planaria or Nematode worms, likely living in the substrate and breeding. I'd assume the assassin snails will eventually rid you of them. Almost any small fish will do the same (i.e. micro rasbora, CPD, Ember tetra) hopefully without denting your shrimp population. I have read that a bloom signifies overfeeding, but I can say in my tanks that they bloom occasionally and eventually just drift back to never seeing them again. I'd simply allow the cycle to continue and they will eventually become targets for the snails or add in a temporary resident fish to accelerate the process, then remove it when finished. With such a small tank I think any drastic water changes or excessive cleaning could affect the inverts and plants. You could also try starving the tank for a few days, the shrimp and snails will be fine.