Are these detritus worms a specific type of species or is there a more general term

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connie
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Are these detritus worms a specific type of species or is there a more general term

Post by connie »

My wife discovered these on her swordtail tank, and water parameters are all within normal range, temp's at 77 degrees - are these detritus worms?
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Bisco
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Re: Are these detritus worms a specific type of species or is there a more general term

Post by Bisco »

Need a clearer photo for proper identification.
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matti
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Re: Are these detritus worms a specific type of species or is there a more general term

Post by matti »

They resemble copepods to me.
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connie
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Re: Are these detritus worms a specific type of species or is there a more general term

Post by connie »

matti wrote: Sun Feb 23, 2025 9:39 pm They resemble copepods to me.
I'm at work right now, can't grab a better pic just yet. They do resemble those copepods, and also kinda like tiny tadpoles. Super small, like I said.
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kokomo
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Re: Are these detritus worms a specific type of species or is there a more general term

Post by kokomo »

Yeah, detritus worms are a possibility too, those "C" shaped things are all over the place.
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sageSe
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Re: Are these detritus worms a specific type of species or is there a more general term

Post by sageSe »

connie wrote: Sun Feb 23, 2025 9:21 pm My wife discovered these on her swordtail tank, and water parameters are all within normal range, temp's at 77 degrees - are these detritus worms?
I agree with Matti, a better photo would be ideal but based on what we have, I'm leaning towards copepods too. They seem to be on the glass, which is a common spot for them. Detritus worms, on the other hand, are generally longer and have a uniform width throughout their body. They usually stick to the substrate, only venturing out when they're severely overpopulated.

kokomo said:

There's detritus worms too the "C" shaped thingies everywhere.

Those "C" shaped things are unlikely to be detritus worms. If I had to guess, I'd say they're probably rhabdocoel flatworms, or maybe something else entirely.
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