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Hi everyone,

I've never had worms in the tank (that I know of) before. Today I realized there were a bunch of little worms squiggling about- on the bottom, on his poop, free floating / squiggling about. I thought detritus worms attached themselves to the glass? Could they be roundworms, or something else?

I think the tank got pretty dirty a few weeks ago, when I tried experimenting with river rocks on the whole bottom. I've since taken most of the rocks out, but I didn't clean the filter since then. So I imagine there's lots more worms on the filter

Sedge's poop was negative for parasites a month or two ago... I didn't add any live plants or fish since then...

I'm going to do a big clean up, but I wonder if I should also take another stool sample to the vet, if they might be parasitic roundworms or something? Also, should I replace ALL the filter media, including the biomax (in which case, the tank will be uncycled which is not ideal...)

Thanks in advance! Pics to come momentarily.

https://flic.kr/p/23XqZBr

https://flic.kr/p/23XqWJ2

You can see one or two of the worms floating around higher up in the back right. Theres a bunch of them on the ground with powdery debris also, and a bunch on the poop. But they are hard to see except for the free floating one(s). Sedge had to get in the way of course.

Kind of does look like it but I wouldn't rule out fly larvae. Is it attached to the glass, or it flat against the glass?

Not attached to the glass at all. Kind of free floating / wiggling around in the water column and bottom of the tank

Any thoughts on cleaning / discarding filter media?

Well I did a 100% water change and changed ALL media, plus rinsed decorations, etc. with some vinegar solution. Hopefully that will do the trick...

Usually air-drying the filter and tank for a couple of days would be a good idea too. If they come back, you might want to consider having a diluted bleach solution to disinfect the filter first, then rinse a lot, then air dry.

Well so far so good, but it's only been a couple days. How can I air dry the tank for a couple days? I don't have anywhere to put him for that long...

I sprayed and rinsed the tank and filter also

You can dry dock him. A simple plastic bin / tub from the dollar store works. Just make sure there's air holes. You might want to put a damp towel in the corner so your can adjust his body temp. My is in dry dock right now while his tank is being repaired / rebuilt.

Hah, he would flip a ****...

I could do it if necessary that way, hopefully I won't have to. Yours has no swimming access for multiple days and isn't the angriest turtle ever? How do you feed him? With a second bin that you fill with water every day?

Correct. He’s not angry... I let him run around the loft a bit for some exercise. Yes I have a second plastic tub for feeding. Put some tepid water in it and feed him in it. When he’s done I dump the second bin, nest the bins together and he goes back to the dry bin. Moe is back in an aquarium as of last night - was dry docked for 7 days. He’s happily swimming around, eating and playing like normal.

Wow. Yeah, when Sedge is out of his tank he basically just repeatedly rams into walls (of the bin he's in, the apartment, etc.). He's gotten used to dry docking for an hour or so with a basking lamp, enough that he chills out and sits on his cork when he's in a covered bin. But I think more than that would be pushing it. Luckily, so far, the worms haven't come back!

Well the worms are finally back in small numbers. Took 13 days before I could even see any though... frustrating because I obviously cleaned it pretty well. I guess there were still some eggs though? Do you guys think I should bring in a stool sample again? Since maybe they are roundworms / nematodes?

Did you clean / change the filter media, the filter body and rinse the hoses & parts?
Clean or change the substrate?

Yeah I cleaned everything- hoses, decorations, etc. and replaced all filter media.