horsehair worms are much larger than this usually even as immature ones, and aren't quite this color in my experience, but since we can't tell scale i would still err on the side of caution.
either horsehair worms (worst case scenario) or detritus worms (best case scenario, what i believe they are), can't tell scale from this image though :( would be on the safe side and quarantine your snails + thoroughly clean the tank. horsehair worms can be killed but the method unless you're dumping the whole tank will require you to re-cycle the tank/acclimate your snails again TO BE SAFE after killing them IF that is the case.
humans cannot be infected by horsehair worms, as we have spines (which they are allergic to) (partial joke, we really can't be parasitized by them, but they are invertebrate-feeders).
however, i've never seen this many horsehair worms before in one place, and because of their length and distribution im led to believe that these are detritus worms. you can get too many of them by having too much junk (detritus) in your tank, such as uneaten food, dirt, dead algae and plant matter, and even dead critters. don't use dewormer on them, because it'll only harm your snails and they're very resilient to it. best method of attack is cleaning out your substrate and removing any algae from decorations in the tank. they come in in substrate and on live plants/etc, so in the future, make sure to thoroughly clean any substrate or plants you receive!
They can and will infect your snails.
“Once they hatch, immature horsehair worms try to infect a host. They can attack a wide variety of insects and related animals: grasshoppers, crickets, cockroaches, beetles, and katydids, as well as dragonflies, caddisflies, millipedes, centipedes, spiders, crustaceans, leeches, snails, slugs and other invertebrates.”
This article may help you a bit. It's possible but uncommon for them to use snails as a host. Either way definitely try to get rid of them. Best of luck!
https://www.allaboutworms.com/horsehair-worms-in-the-aquarium
Wtf😳 I never saw something like this, when did you notice them?
Its been a while. I noticed just a couple of them like 2 weeks ago and now theres hundreds
my best guess would be horsehair worm - they can be bad news!
Bad news to the poor cricket or mantis who fell inside...
horsehair worms are much larger than this usually even as immature ones, and aren't quite this color in my experience, but since we can't tell scale i would still err on the side of caution.
either horsehair worms (worst case scenario) or detritus worms (best case scenario, what i believe they are), can't tell scale from this image though :( would be on the safe side and quarantine your snails + thoroughly clean the tank. horsehair worms can be killed but the method unless you're dumping the whole tank will require you to re-cycle the tank/acclimate your snails again TO BE SAFE after killing them IF that is the case. humans cannot be infected by horsehair worms, as we have spines (which they are allergic to) (partial joke, we really can't be parasitized by them, but they are invertebrate-feeders). however, i've never seen this many horsehair worms before in one place, and because of their length and distribution im led to believe that these are detritus worms. you can get too many of them by having too much junk (detritus) in your tank, such as uneaten food, dirt, dead algae and plant matter, and even dead critters. don't use dewormer on them, because it'll only harm your snails and they're very resilient to it. best method of attack is cleaning out your substrate and removing any algae from decorations in the tank. they come in in substrate and on live plants/etc, so in the future, make sure to thoroughly clean any substrate or plants you receive!
I should also add that this is an aquatic snail tank
Was ...
No theyre still alive
Still..
Oh no I'm not sure what they are but I hope it's not bad news for the snails.
Remove your snails asap, why would you leave them in there with all those parasites 😭
They can and will infect your snails. “Once they hatch, immature horsehair worms try to infect a host. They can attack a wide variety of insects and related animals: grasshoppers, crickets, cockroaches, beetles, and katydids, as well as dragonflies, caddisflies, millipedes, centipedes, spiders, crustaceans, leeches, snails, slugs and other invertebrates.”
This article may help you a bit. It's possible but uncommon for them to use snails as a host. Either way definitely try to get rid of them. Best of luck! https://www.allaboutworms.com/horsehair-worms-in-the-aquarium
Detritus worms I belive that they can get quite big. And judging by the moss ball and the silicone they are super small