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I know there's a post below on a turtle owner with red worms, but I still have questions. I noticed tan worm-like things in my tank, probably the width of a few strands of hair and not very long, maybe a few meters. I read they may be nematodes. They are swimming about in the water. Would draining and cleaning the tank and filter with white vinegar be sufficient or do I need to use diluted bleach? I have no substrate, just a few fake plants. No weight loss in the turtles as of yet. I have a vet visit in two weeks - if these worms are from them, is that too long to wait?

What kind of filter do you have? Have you seen worms in the waste or coming from the cloaca?

I have a Rena XP Filstar Large. The tank is 55 gallons. I have only seen them floating about the tank, did not see them come out of the cloaca or anything, but I will observe again this evening.

Nematodes in and of themselves aren't necessarily harmful, and are actually a sign that your water parameters are good.

However, I'm surprised at them appearing in a tank with no substrate. Steve is right, watch to see if they are coming from your turtle. Though, I'd also think that intestinal worms can't live in the water for that long. If you see them in waste, make sure it's fresh before panicking. I'd imagine they are eating the waste that is there.

I have sand and had a nematode issue until the fish in with Tobi realized they were food. In fact, until they almost disappeared, the fish would school behind her whenever she was on the bottom--as she'd kick off, it would disturb some nematodes, which meant a free meal for the fish.

I'm not sure that cleaning is going to work, because if they are nematodes, they are likely in the filter as well. Anything that gets rid of them there, also kills off your nitrifying bacteria.

Thank you for the response, Ijapa. I cleaned then tank and filter all day Friday and Saturday. So far, no squiggly friends have returned, but unfortunately, I seem to have damaged my Filstar as the lid will no longer go back on right and so is leaking. ;_;

Sorry to hear about your filter. You don't even want to know what I think about filstar filters!

When you close the lid, gently shift it around a little to make sure it settles in. Also, maybe you need to lube the seal.

Thank you steve. One more (y'all are gonna start charging me) - the water is a little bit murky and when I add more water, I see a few bubbles fizz up before disapating - is it possible that this is from the tank cycling since I likely killed off the old bacteria? I rinsedr and rinsed and rinsed both the tank and filter and now am rinsing them again, but just wonderig if that could be a cause too? Thanks.

Also i only used white vinegar, diluted, for the cleaning. No bleach.

How long does it take to clear up?