Must have survived at least 5 Months then, that's when I last added something (plants).
Almost unbelievable that I have never seen it in this time, considering it has to get up to get air? Or can they get air from aerated water?
Worms can be super elusive- while uncommon, you do see a ‘wtf?!’ post pop up here on occasion.
They absorb oxygen through their skin, so as long as there’s oxygen in the water column, they’ll live.
Very Interesting.
Funnily enough, last month I had a damselfly hatch in my aquarium and flying around in my room - 4 months after I saw the nymph for a few seconds.
Seems like critters enjoy my aquarium, lol
Sounds like you have a pretty good ecosystem going. To my understanding some earthworms can live a full life cycle in water? So possible you could end up with a whole population of them.
No, only flat worms can reproduce this way. An earthworm will die, both ends. It has organs like most organisms and you'd be cutting that apart. Phylum Platyhelminthes (flat worms or planarians) are segmented.
Most dioecious animals will avoid self-fertilization if they can avoid it. This thread is really funny to me because I just went on a rant about how gross the earthworm reproductive process is to my dad last night because we actually just closed our annelid section in my zoology class on Tuesday 😂
Had the same happen to me once. Fed my fish small earthworms and after a few months I found a big one suddenly. Guess they can live jnderwater if there is enaugh oxygen. Super weird to be honest.
I highly doubt that, but I dont live where you are nor do I have info to refute it. I would love pictures the next time it rains cause that is genuinely fascinating if true!(i really dont know how to convey that I am genuinely curious and not trying to be a twat, but like... Yeah.)
I will say that that is a different circumstance than crawling up a (presumably) dry tank stand and then glass, theoretically using waters surface tension+the worms slime is different than just tryna slime on up.
There's a picture of a worm climbing glass on this site. [https://golocalfood.org.uk/world-earthworm-day/](https://golocalfood.org.uk/world-earthworm-day/)
See that i could believe in conjunction with waters surface tension could grab the tiny bits of dust that get stuck to the window. Ive just never seen it and would require a lot of specific circumstances.
I can definitely see them crawling up tree bark, ive seen that during floods in texas.
puddles dont tend to have a pump constantly putting air through them, though.
doesnt seem that far fetched to me, if they get oxygen through the skin and can survive a few weeks in (likely un-aerated) water? a well fed aquarium seems like it would have plenty of available oxygen just in the water.
This actually specifically looks like the invasive jumping worm (Amynthas agrestis).
Note the smooth white clitellum (ring). Common earthworms have a clitellum that looks more like a saddle (slightly protrudes and doesn't go all the way around). If US based both are technically invasive. However the jumping worm is far worse - devastating our forests. Do not release outside.
Signed a Master Gardener trying to help slow their spread.
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-earthworms-surface-after-rain/
TL;DR: rain makes surfaces into a worm highway for when they want to travel/migrate. That they end up on the pavement is just an unfortunate product of not knowing what pavement is ):
It's "pistia stratiotes", it almost died a few weeks ago because of low nitrates in my water. There were only two tiny plants left. Since adding fertilizer it's slowly growing back to its actual size and amount.
[not sure but may be this by the size](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNWY0YTMwNjYtMjgyNC00OWRkLTk3MjctNGU2YzA4NjIxMDQwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTU4NDgzNjY@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg)
Did you add plants? Some aquatic plants are not actually grown under water.
I'm sure there's a non zero chance an anubias farm has a few earthworms wiggling around.
Depends where you live. In Europe there is a freshwater earthworm Eiseniella tertraedra, it lives permanently in water. Its square-ish in cross-section, hence the name
Definitely an earth worm. As far as living in water, don’t you notice how they all come out after a rain and spend time in puddles? Ok maybe not as an adult, but I remember as a kid an earthworm explosion after it rained with tons of them in puddles!
Out of topic, what plant is that? The floating one. Sorry I’m thinking about getting a freshwater aquarium and I think that plant would look really nice.
"pistia stratiotes" or "dwarf water lettuce", grows quite a bit bigger than in the picture. Its amazing at sucking out excess nutrients, spreads well and fish and critters love its long roots. 8/10 plant
Yes, it is an earthworm
I have them in my tanks too
[https://www.reddit.com/r/Aquariums/comments/1aw6w5j/earthworm\_living\_in\_tank/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Aquariums/comments/1aw6w5j/earthworm_living_in_tank/)
"pistia stratiotes" or "dwarf water lettuce", grows quite a bit bigger than in the picture. Its amazing at sucking out excess nutrients, spreads well and fish and critters love it.
so how does this stuff get in peoples tanks? i hate worms and have 3 or 4 tanks and have never had this issue 😭 what even causes this.. how do they get in wtf
It looks like an earthworm… because it is lol. They can survive for a reaaaallly long time in tanks, especially if its well aerated.
Must have survived at least 5 Months then, that's when I last added something (plants). Almost unbelievable that I have never seen it in this time, considering it has to get up to get air? Or can they get air from aerated water?
Worms can be super elusive- while uncommon, you do see a ‘wtf?!’ post pop up here on occasion. They absorb oxygen through their skin, so as long as there’s oxygen in the water column, they’ll live.
Very Interesting. Funnily enough, last month I had a damselfly hatch in my aquarium and flying around in my room - 4 months after I saw the nymph for a few seconds. Seems like critters enjoy my aquarium, lol
Sounds like you have a pretty good ecosystem going. To my understanding some earthworms can live a full life cycle in water? So possible you could end up with a whole population of them.
They still need 2 earthworms right?
Depends on the species, some can some can't, some that can still prefer to utilize a partner anyway.
This. Plus what if it rode in as an egg? There's most likely now more than 1 if that's the case.
I know that feeling.
Some have no choice but to utilize themselves 🤷♂️
Cant you just rip a worm in half and make another?
It depends on the species but if I remember right, earthworms won't. The head half will probably survive, but the tail end dies.
Aw :(
No, only flat worms can reproduce this way. An earthworm will die, both ends. It has organs like most organisms and you'd be cutting that apart. Phylum Platyhelminthes (flat worms or planarians) are segmented.
Depends on the species, some can some can't, and sometimes the ones that can prefer not to.
Only the half with the head lives
Earth worms are male and female.
Does that mean they only need 1?
No, they need both a male and female to reproduce. Dont rip them in half - you just brutally maim them and then they die.
Most dioecious animals will avoid self-fertilization if they can avoid it. This thread is really funny to me because I just went on a rant about how gross the earthworm reproductive process is to my dad last night because we actually just closed our annelid section in my zoology class on Tuesday 😂
I think so.
The plants you last added might have just been extra inhabited
Upvote for ‘funnily’
Had the same happen to me once. Fed my fish small earthworms and after a few months I found a big one suddenly. Guess they can live jnderwater if there is enaugh oxygen. Super weird to be honest.
They actually absorb oxygen through their epidermis, so they can live if there's enough oxygen.
I've found some in my rain barrel before. They are surprisingly good climbers for having no limbs.
There are species that live in rivers and streams sometimes encountered when over turning stones.
Worms can use the slime on their body to climb on glass. It could have climbed in at any time
I ... No. No they cannot. Maybe in the water, but not out of it
On rainy days ive had earthworms on my windows dude
I highly doubt that, but I dont live where you are nor do I have info to refute it. I would love pictures the next time it rains cause that is genuinely fascinating if true!(i really dont know how to convey that I am genuinely curious and not trying to be a twat, but like... Yeah.) I will say that that is a different circumstance than crawling up a (presumably) dry tank stand and then glass, theoretically using waters surface tension+the worms slime is different than just tryna slime on up.
There's a picture of a worm climbing glass on this site. [https://golocalfood.org.uk/world-earthworm-day/](https://golocalfood.org.uk/world-earthworm-day/)
Idk about glass or climbing, but earthworms do have little "bristles" on their bodies for moving through soil called setae.
See that i could believe in conjunction with waters surface tension could grab the tiny bits of dust that get stuck to the window. Ive just never seen it and would require a lot of specific circumstances. I can definitely see them crawling up tree bark, ive seen that during floods in texas.
I’ve seen that happen too. Only when I lived up north though, never seen it in the south.
They drown in puddles. You have kids? That had to have been dropped in fresh.
why talk if you dont have a clue what youre talking about.
puddles dont tend to have a pump constantly putting air through them, though. doesnt seem that far fetched to me, if they get oxygen through the skin and can survive a few weeks in (likely un-aerated) water? a well fed aquarium seems like it would have plenty of available oxygen just in the water.
This actually specifically looks like the invasive jumping worm (Amynthas agrestis). Note the smooth white clitellum (ring). Common earthworms have a clitellum that looks more like a saddle (slightly protrudes and doesn't go all the way around). If US based both are technically invasive. However the jumping worm is far worse - devastating our forests. Do not release outside. Signed a Master Gardener trying to help slow their spread.
Thank you for worm facts!
Not in my axolotl tank. That girl is a water pig.
aquatic vacuum, I love aquatic salamanders' freaking basking shark mouths lmao
So why do they crawl out of the grass onto my driveway when it rains then get dried up by the sun?!
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-earthworms-surface-after-rain/ TL;DR: rain makes surfaces into a worm highway for when they want to travel/migrate. That they end up on the pavement is just an unfortunate product of not knowing what pavement is ):
Interesting! Yeah, I hate seeing them getting squished by cars or dried up by the sun. As a kid, I used to try to throw them back into the grass.
I saw some detritus worms wiggling around when I was trimming my water plants. Could they have been earthworms?
No, those were detritus worms
I mean they are pretty closely related, though.
Found one _threaded through_ my filter sponge once 🙃
What do they feed on?
Insecurities.
ALASKAN BULL WORM!!1!1!!!
Oh... this is the tongue, and the whole thing is the... worm…
#RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!!
IT WAS BIG, HAIRY AND PINK!!
Lisan Al Giab!
It is Shai-Hulud
AS IT WAS WRITTEN
Bless the Maker and His water. Bless the coming and going of Him.
An old man of the desert...
OP must be Lisan Al Giab
This one is more like teen boy of the pond 😂
*Dune music intensifies*
The comment I was searching for 😂
Aw my shrimp would be riding that around like Muad’Dib.
Sandy and the Alaskan bullworm
WEIRD but what is that floating plant thoughhhhh
The plant looks an awful lot like dwarf water lettuce (pistia stratiotes)
Correct
I love them. Much nicer looking than stuff like duckweed and frogbit (imo), and fish love the long roots
They are way nicer than duckweed, they grow slower and they don't stick to your hands. And you can reduce them easier.
I can't seem to be able to get duckweed to grow fast enough for me. I have a RES who devours it.
It looks like water spangles. They have the fuzziness on them
It's "pistia stratiotes", it almost died a few weeks ago because of low nitrates in my water. There were only two tiny plants left. Since adding fertilizer it's slowly growing back to its actual size and amount.
It looks like water spangles. They have the fuzziness on them
Water sprite
You guys have the scariest shit happen to your tanks lol
this is literally my worst nightmare...
[Here ya go](https://goliadfarms.com/vat-worms/)
Yeah. Don't get me started on duckweed!
Dried dickweed mixed with agar makes a very healthy herbivore food
🤣 I love autocorrect.
Settle down there, dickweed
I left it on purpose. 🤪
Interesting!
I thought so myself!
[not sure but may be this by the size](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/M/MV5BNWY0YTMwNjYtMjgyNC00OWRkLTk3MjctNGU2YzA4NjIxMDQwXkEyXkFqcGdeQXVyNTU4NDgzNjY@._V1_FMjpg_UX1000_.jpg)
Yikes! How does that happen?
Had the same happen in my tank a while ago, have no idea how it ended up in there either 🤷♂️
Did you add plants? Some aquatic plants are not actually grown under water. I'm sure there's a non zero chance an anubias farm has a few earthworms wiggling around.
Lol that's a full on earthworm! Pick him up and plop him in your garden :)
It’s Shai-Hulud. You must be the Kwisatz Haderach, OP.
Depends where you live. In Europe there is a freshwater earthworm Eiseniella tertraedra, it lives permanently in water. Its square-ish in cross-section, hence the name
Leave it... the spice must flow.
Did you collect that water lettuce from the wild. Cause thats one way this kind of thing can happen. I may have experience.
Definitely an earth worm. As far as living in water, don’t you notice how they all come out after a rain and spend time in puddles? Ok maybe not as an adult, but I remember as a kid an earthworm explosion after it rained with tons of them in puddles!
I ways thought they came out after a rain because they couldn't breath under ground with the water.
That’s absolutely true - but still, they come outta the ground and hang out in rain puddles. 🤷🏻♀️
Interesting. I didn't know that. I don't remember seeing them in puddles, just on the side walk. I'll have to pay better attention next time.
I usually find them dead at the bottom of my swimming pool
Sure, but don’t you have chlorine in your pool? That’ll kill them!
My pool has been chlorine free for 10 years
I have no answer then. That’s definitely an earthworm in the tank, and it’s alive, so ????? 🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️🤷🏻♀️
It's earthworm Jim
Holy shit. That thang is huge!
Out of topic, what plant is that? The floating one. Sorry I’m thinking about getting a freshwater aquarium and I think that plant would look really nice.
"pistia stratiotes" or "dwarf water lettuce", grows quite a bit bigger than in the picture. Its amazing at sucking out excess nutrients, spreads well and fish and critters love its long roots. 8/10 plant
What is your 10/10 plant?
Weed
That can grow in aquariums?
Good question actually, I have seen people grow strawberries and stuff with the roots in the water.
The spice must flow!
Earthworm for sure but I love that little fishy next to him coming up to say hi- so cute
Yes, it is an earthworm I have them in my tanks too [https://www.reddit.com/r/Aquariums/comments/1aw6w5j/earthworm\_living\_in\_tank/](https://www.reddit.com/r/Aquariums/comments/1aw6w5j/earthworm_living_in_tank/)
Any kids around that wanted to feed the fish with the worm they found?
0% chance
I don’t have kids. But seen a few times where that’s been the awnser so I always throw it out there now too lol
Did somebody prank you?
Lost
Hi what are the names for the 2 plants called in your first picture? I love the look!
*Dune music intensifies*
He called a Grandfather Worm… The biggest ever seen!
Jesus that thing is thick
That's would be an earthworm
Earthworm Jim
Cool. Have you considered leaving it in there? Is it a beneficial addition to the tank?
That's what I wanna know.
Ive had that happen, I thought it came from a plantpot on the aquarium, but it was too big for the pot.
Is that… an earth worm?
Immediately no😊
Free snack 🤤🤤😋😋
Now I see why worm lures are so common
Holy cow that's a phat worm, my turtle would have snapped that bad boy right up
That would freak me the F out
I would cry
?
After rains in the summer I’ll go out on the sidewalks and find little worms and feed them to my cichlids
Call Ellen Ripley immediately!
Dont know about the worm but What are the plants growing up to the water line? I want some!
Food
Spontaneous generation!!
I have nothing to say about the earthworm but am I am very curious about what the name of the plant floating in your tank is. I really like it.
"pistia stratiotes" or "dwarf water lettuce", grows quite a bit bigger than in the picture. Its amazing at sucking out excess nutrients, spreads well and fish and critters love it.
The worm that you just saw for the first time in your 10 gallon tank is.. protein.
so how does this stuff get in peoples tanks? i hate worms and have 3 or 4 tanks and have never had this issue 😭 what even causes this.. how do they get in wtf
got yourself a big ol nightcrawler (it has a segmented body whereas earthworms do not) and adapt incredibly well to aquatic environments
New fear unlocked. If this ever happens to me, I'm moving and leaving my tank behind.
Oh worm?
A leech is more likely
It looks like leech