Ahh, I have snails in my tank! Is this bad?

Well, I have no idea how they got in my tank. I now have two snails, possibly more in my tank. They are very small, and they are nibbling on the glass, but will they be parasitic to my Axolotls? I think they might have come in when I put the crab in the tank. I don't want to harm the snails, but if they are bad, then I don't want them in my tank. Should I get rid of them, or just leave them in the tank? Any advice would be really helpful. Does anyone else have any snails in their tanks?

I get a few snails in my tank from time to time when I put in new plants and such. Most aren't very harmful if removed early, but if you let them sit they can damager your axolotls slime coat and some can be sort of parasitic. I would just take them out. I haven't been on the forum in a while but did you put a crab in with your axies? What kind of crab ? (if you did I'm not bashing you like I've seen people do when they find out someone put an animal in with their axolotls lol)

I have posted in several different threads that my Axolotls are still in buckets in the fridge, and on my kitchen table, but you probably didn't see these posts, so all is good The crab is in the tank because the pet store gave him to us for free because he is missing his front pinchers and what not. NOt sure what type of crab, just a very small one. I plan to safely remove him from the tank Once I place my Axolotls back in the tank. Ok, now I think I may have a problem, but I am not sure. I think there are Mosquito larvae in the tank! We have a lot of Mosguitos around here. Are these bad? I will try to remove all of the snails I can. There are other various other orginisms living in the tank, including some weird long small worms crawling on the glass, bigger than the previous flat worm problem I had. There really seems to be a lot of snails popping up, I will do my best to get them out of the tank. I am almost afraid to stick my hand in the tank now to clean it, I have no idea what is living in there now! Just the crab and my Otto's for now I thought. Does anyone get any Mosquito larvae in their tanks during the summer? I think it is because the females lay their eggs when they get into the house. Sometimes bugs fly right in because we have an automatic porch light outside that stays on all night, every night. As for these worms crawlign on the glass, Some are half a centemeter long, there doesn't seem to be very many, and there are a lot of smaller worms now back on the glass, I think they are flat worms. How come I am the only one with these sort of problems happening with my tank? I use the syphon on my tank once a week when I am doing the 20% water change. I use the turkey baster to suck up all the Otto's and Crab's poo or un eaten food. I always take out the old green beans I give my Otto's and the crab every other day, and replace them with new. The filter really doesn't help, it only gets the top of the tank, and my syphon doesn't help much either. Can't wait to get that new Aquarium Vacuum and Canister filter! These little orginisms wouldn't bother me so much if I knew for a fact they were harmless. I wouldn't mind at all that they would live there, but I can't stand them. I think I can get rid of the worms that cling to the glass by wiping them away with Aquarium cleaning pads. As for the Mosquito larvae, I have no idea how to get rid of them, or what I should do for my tank. I am really at a loss at what to do.

Ahh, I found another worm in my tank! Several of them. The above picture is a drawing That I did, it is the best I could do in such a short time. It is about a centemeter long, maybe a little longer. I can't a take a good clear picture of it. They also seem to like to hide in the substrate, but want to climb up the glass and eat the stuff they find on the Glass. They have this weird tube thing coming out of their mouth that eats stuff. What the heck is this thing!? Maybe the flat worms I thought they were, are babies of these things! There also seems to be nematodes in the plant bulbs that are sprouting, but I don't know what to do about those, they are coming out of the bulbs, and of course everythign else I mentioned in the above post. There also seems to be some water fleas or something... I have no idea. I did try to put some small Water HyaWater Hyacinth when I put the duck weed, then I found out how big it grows so I removed it. I think they might have come from this, I have no idea. Help! I am getting scared to even reach my fingers in! I am not trying to be paranoide, as I only want to know what is in my tank. If they are harmless and everything else is too, then I won't worry and I will do my best to cope with them.

Ok, Update, the larvae I actually believe are midge fly Larvae. I looked up a picture. here is a link. http://www.amrclearinghouse.org/Sub/WATERmonitoring/ZZMacroG3.htm
They are burrowing in the sand as it describes in the page. The page also says they are parasitic. The worm in the same link isn't what is in my tank. I guess the midge flies are Mosquitos? Is this right?

Rheann, what do you think blood worms and tubifex worms are? Mosquito and midge fly larvae! These are okay to have in your tank. I've never seen a parasitic midge fly larvae (not to say that they don't exist). For the most part, they go into the sediment (or substrate, in our case) and burrow in, eating detritus.

I have glass worms too, which are gnat larvae. So far, I've not found any real effective way to prevent any of these creatures from laying eggs in my tank. Even surface movement doesnt deter them. I also tried covering the tank with a fine mesh, but that made it look crappy. If there was a way you could get a screen-top, and cover the wire with fine mesh, glue it in or something, that would probably work.

The weird tube thing is probably a proboscis. It's like a drinking straw. They suck in the water and get their nutrients out, pushing the excess water out through some body opening. Best guess.

I also have the little things on the glass. Very small, no idea. They do like to eat algae though. I recently had an upcropping of brown algae in one of my tanks, and they took right care of it. Not so much with the green algae though. The Daphnia (or water fleas) have kept that in check. I've got a bloom of copepods in my axolotl tank too. Not sure what exactly they eat, but they don't bother the axolotls, so I don't bother them.

Remember, little critters in your tank are part of the normal ecosystem. They'll find their way in every time, no matter how 'clean' you keep your tank. They're good. They're mostly beneficial, such as the ones that eat algae or detritus.

If you're worried about the snails, remove them. If the little swimmy ones bother you, get a turkey baster and suck them out whenever you see them. Get a scrub brush and keep the sides of the tank free from algae, and vacuum your substrate on a regular basis. This should keep microorganisms in check.

2nd note. If you're worried about transfering critters over with your plants, you can do a few things. Rinse them well in salt water, this usually kills most little creatures. Or find a solution of Potassium permangenate and dunk your plants in that (not sure where you could go about getting this, or at what concentration, but it's bright purple and a fairly effective antiseptic).

Rheann - You are not the only one with little creatures in your tank. If it makes you feel better just this morning I saw 2 of the same little white worms you described crawling on the glass in my axolotl tank

I would not worry about the snails, they rode in on the plants and I have found it pretty much impossible to get rid of snails once they have made their way into an aquarium. If you get too many of them you can thin them out by putting like a baby food jar with an algae wafer in it in the tank and just wait for several hours. The snails will crawl into the jar and you can easily remove them.

Be careful using salt to rinse plants. If the salt is too strong it will damage the plants and can cause some of them to die.

Be VERY careful if you choose to use potassium permanganate for any purpose. It is an oxidizer and can burn you. It stains everything it comes into contact with. It should only be handled with gloves and mask ect
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/FA032

Thank you so very, very much Joan and Cynthia. I was so worried last night because I wasn't sure if there would be something parasitic in in the tank once I put my Axolotls in there. So these big orange wormds are ok then? The little white worms seem fine if everyone else has them. I have also noticed the tiny white ones eat the algae,but they aslo crawl on my Axolotls when they were in the tank. Maybe It was because the Axolotls just stirred up the sediment alot and my filter doesn't do a great job getting rid of waste, nor my turkey baster at that matter. Thank you so much guys, I was so very worried. I have never seen orange worms like this, or had any experiences with so many orginisms living in my tank.