Urgent Care :: Worms in tank

[KalinaBallerina]

Hello all - I'm usually more of a lurker, but I've come across worms in the tank this morning, and had to post. I think they've been there for the better part of a month - when this all started, I thought the small "lines" I was seeing was algae building up in the scratches in the glass, so I cleaned it out and figured all would be fine (2 weeks ago). It had built back up again - so I looked closer, and there are thousands of minature worms (about 1mm think and vary between 1/4 inch and 1 inch long). I immediately took Turtle out and put her into a large rubbermaid that she normally stays in while I'm cleaning. Any idea how to get rid of these? Are they harmful to her? Here is all of her set-up info:

How big is your turtle? 4.75 inches
How long have you had it? 4 years

What is the water temperature? 79 degrees
Are you using a water heater? yes
How much water is in there? 3/4 full in a 90 gallon tank
Are you using a water conditioner? dechlorinator only
Are you using any filtration? yes

What is the basking temperature?90 degrees
Is there a basking light? yes
Is there a basking platform that is easy to climb on? yes
What kind is it or what is it made out of? made of plastic - large basking area
Is there a UVB light? yes, Reptisun 10.0 fluorescent (non-compact bulb)

What have you been trying to feed it? reptomin every other day, veggies (pumpkin, mustard greens, etc. every day - she loves her veggies)
When was the last time your turtle ate? yesterday - no problems eating

How big is the tank/pond/enclosure? 90 gallons
Is the tank near a window? no
Is the tank in a room with a lot of activity? moderate activity - our office

Have you read the Basic Care section? yes
Have you searched the forums for similar situations? yes

Is there any other unusual activity/symptoms? no - her activity level is normal. It is the condition of the tank that worries me... it was just cleaned 2 weeks ago, and has many worms now. I'm afraid that the only way I'll be able to get rid of these is to run diluted bleach through everything...I will welcome any opinion

[jenaero]

I did a google for 'planaria' and found this.

http://www.fishdeals.com/fish_diseases/planaria_white_worms/

Sounds like what you've got. I had the problem in 2 of my tanks a while back. I even emptied and cleaned the one, left it to sit dry for 2 weeks, refilled it and got the same thing. At the bottom of that page there are tips for cleaning, etc.[/url]

[KalinaBallerina]

Thank you for such a quick response! I had been looking up similar things on wikipedia, but this seems to look like what I have. The only thing I can trace it back to is a few plants that I purchased at my local Petsmart, because Turtle's tank has no bottom substrate. I will give the cleaning tips a try.

[Muirner]

Were they hard to knowtice? I'm stocking my new tank slowly but shurley, and i just want to try to catch this problem asap.

[KalinaBallerina]

Now that I think about it, not really. They start to form on the glass (they started on the bottom of my tank) in straight lines, sort of like long grain rice scattered everywhere, but skinnier. My tank is old and has a TON of surface scratches on the bottom, and it looked like the algae was grabbing hold on these scratches - the lines were very dark green. SO, i would just wipe out the "algae," but it would come back in the same pattern - which is uncharacteristic of most algae. In 4 years, I have never had a problem like this - and I buy a LOT of plants from Petsmart...

[CountryGirl68]

Planaria worms are a pain to get rid of but ... you can get rid of them. I had the problem with my fish tank some time ago. The only solution was to clean everything out with a bleach solution, boil the gravel to kill any worms lingering on it and change all the media in the filter.

Planaria worms will develop if there is too much uneaten food left in the tank or it isn't clean enough. My problem developed because my hubby was overfeeding the fish. I'm not saying that's what caused your outbreak but maintaining a clean tank helps avoid the outbreak.

[marisa]

Assuming it's planaria, they won't hurt your turtle. Nutrients in the tank (from leftover food and other debris) will encourage them to grow. Cleaning the tank really well will get rid of them. If you're not doing so, feeding your turtle in another container will help keep the water cleaner.

[KalinaBallerina]

Thanks everyone - I have transferred Turtle to her old tank (only 35 gallons - she can't understand what happened to her playground!) and drained the big tank. We are moving in 2 weeks, so I think I'll clean the tank/filter/basking dock and leave everything to dry until after we move...hopefully that does the trick.