Question: What in the world are these?

[mkpage0715]

I have an adult albino axolotl and I have just added a gfp wildtype...because it is smaller I have a divider in the tank....I have a glow light on the one side so I can see my axolotl's florescent green colors in the tank....here's the icky part....the last few days, when I put the light on, I see little white squiggly things in the tank...wormlike...and really wiggly...WHAT are they and are they dangerous to my axies? if they are, what do I do to get rid of them...HELP...I don't want them to get sick but not sure what I need to do.

 

[Azhael]

It´s not possible to tell for sure, could be planaria. What´s definitely not good for your axie is the black light.

 

[mkpage0715]

I don't keep it on..,.. I only turn it on for a short period of time maybe once a day....It's iust the light for glo fish....has no heat to it.,...I only use it to see the green glo on my axie...is that what caused these wigglers? how can I figure out if these are what you think they might be?

 

[Azhael]

Ideally with a picture, but i know that can be difficult. A more detailed description would help. Size, width, shape, behaviour...
The issue with the black light is not heat, is the UV light. While most black lights typically seem to emit mostly low energy UVA, i would still be concerned, particularly because it´s so utterly unnecessary.

 

[Martin21114]

if it's the "glo-fish" brand light that is a bunch of blue leds it's fine. If it's a "blacklight" it's about as much fun for your axies as having a fingernail pulled out.

 

[mkpage0715]

Yes it is the glo light with the multi blue LED's.....not a blacklight.....

the wigglers are whitish that I can tell about 2-3 mm in size. not a lot that I can see but they wriggle in the water all over the place end over end and they basically look like liitle thin squiggly worms

 

[Azhael]

I can´t tell for sure, but my best guess would probably be midge larvae. The wiggling is typical of these but not so much of actual "worms". If that´s the case, there´s no threat to the axies. Even if they are some kind of flatworm or nematode it´s unlikely they could be an issue. Their pressence would most likely be related to excess food.

It´s my understanding that the LED glo lights produce the least energetic parts of the UVA spectrum, to the point of being almost visible light, which reduces the probability of harm, but nevertheless it´s still completely unnecessary and if there´s any possibility of any damage of any kind, it´s a silly risk to take.

 

[mkpage0715]

thanks so much for all of the information...based on what I was told I went on the site and read up on the diffhlerent types of wormlike things that can come from excess food...I plan on following many of the comments and do a 20% change out and keep doing that until I see them gone...thanks again to everyone...I love this site and how helpful it is to those of us just starting our love of raising axies!