Live Blackworms...what are these white things with them?

[Charles4400]

Got a current batch with alot of these white things with my live blackworms. Usually get them but this batch has alot.

Always wondered what they are...anybody know?

 

[Charles4400]

Bump

 

[TriggerFinger]

Maybe some type of leach? Can you take a couple out for closer pictures?

 

[Gablami]

I saw a few in a batch I got. I thought they were some other type of worm contaminate, and my fish ate them. I think the black worms are harvested from farms bed by freshwater streams. Didn’t have nearly as many as what you’re showing though. Still, it’s a freshwater invert of some sort and should not harm your salt water tank.

 

[Charles4400]

I always assumed it was another worm like contaminant, just wanted to get a definite ID if anyone knew. I always have some in batches too but this batch there were tons, way more than usual.

I'm also getting tons of die off WAY more than I have in the past. I dont think its due to these white 'worms' but wonder if it signifies a bottom of the barrel batch I got:

I've been rinsing twice a day to get rid of dead worms but more keep dying. This batchbis terrible. Wonder if the the warmer Temps from distributor have anything to do with this, worms I got earlier in the year fared way way better.

I'll see if I can get a better pic of these white worms later today. If anyone has a clearer shot for ID please post em up.

 

[Marten]

Those are leaches. Once a batch starts going bad it hard to save them, I would feed them off as soon as possible.

 

[ichthyogeek]

They're leeches. Not the animal-blood sucking kind, but the kind that sucks plant blood. They're a common contaminant with blackworms, but they're relatively harmless.

 

[Charles4400]

I had no idea they were leeches and didn't know there were plant sucking kinds...thank goodness not the blood sucking ones! Thanks for ID!

And this batch is going downhill ridiculously fast...

 

[ichthyogeek]

Have you considered tossing them in a tank with heavy aeration? you can just...monitor them for about 24 hours and I’ve saved a few batches like that after a couple of 90% water changes

 

[Charles4400]

Have you considered tossing them in a tank with heavy aeration? you can just...monitor them for about 24 hours and I’ve saved a few batches like that after a couple of 90% water changes

I havent ever tried that (don't have an extra tank but have extra 5 gallon buckets), might have to give that a try if I ever get a batch this bad in again.

What I usually do when there is die off is, get a hose and put my thumb over the nozzle to get more water pressure. Then try and blast all the dead worms through a net or mesh screen. In this case I keep them in 'worm keepers' which have a removable tray with a mesh net bottom which I blast the dead worms through. Rinse everything and fill up with clean rodi water.

This batch however is just terrible, I'm cleaning using the above process twice a day (yesterday x3 there was so much die off) since they got in a few days ago and now am at a 75% loss. Terrible. I have been ordering and keeping blackworms this way for years and never had die off like this (or as many leeches as this) till this order. Is it the summer months during transit maybe?

Will try aeration next time though, have never done that before, thanks for that tip!

 

[rmdelete]

I know this thread is old but wanted to post this in case anyone stumbled across it again, those white things are pests known as Planaria... unlike the omnivore Blackworm, planaria are CARNIVOROUS and will destroy your blackworm colony. They are literally immortal and the only way to get rid of them is by either nuking the entire batch or manually removing them, I'm very sorry... if you try crushing Planaria they will just regenerate. They're rather insane, they will kill and eat shrimp and snails including their eggs. I would blame the breeder that sold you these but I also feel bad for that breeder as I know this is actually destroying his population as well.