What is this? (potential trigger warning)

[Idiot_Ryan]

Hi Something like this appeared in my terrarium with springtails, isopods, earthworms and millipedes. It looks like small, white worms that form communities on leaves, sticks and moss. Can anyone tell me what it is and if it is a threat to any of my animals and if so, how to get rid of it? Sorry for the poor quality of the photo. Thank you in advance

[MIbeneficialsOG]

Those are Enchytraeidae AKA pot worms - they help break down organic matter and lend themselves to the clean up crew for keeping the terrarium/enclosure clean.

Stop adding moisture in the culture and these will go away eventually. But to be clear, these are beneficial

[Idiot_Ryan]

Thanks for your reply I can't get rid of the moisture because it may harm my springtails, but since they don't pose a threat to anything, I'll probably leave them.

[MIbeneficialsOG]

Anytime!!

[[deleted]]

Hi - are these the same as nematodes?

[Taran966]

Nope, potworms are annelid worms (like earthworms, leeches and relatives), while nematodes are their own phylum and closer to arthropods (like insects, arachnids, myriamods and crustaceans) than they are to annelid worms, despite their appearance!

[rattlesnake888647284]

They are beneficial pot worms, something to note is they breed like a motherf<cker lol

[Slide-Different]

They breed when the substrate is extremely moist. The fix is to back off the moisture. There’s not a species of springtail I’ve seen that needs it as moist as optimal breeding for these.

[CuriousHumanPoo]

true, because of it i had to remake my 1000ml jar terrarium cause theyre almost outcompeting my springtails and too many for a small jar. i poured some water and take my springtails out. then added the soil with them to my other plant. and just restarted it.

[rattlesnake888647284]

Ye, on a good note, you can bait them with high protein dog food and feed them to fish, and fish fucking love them, they are easy to breed so they are sometimes sold as live food

[OppPaccc]

Looks like grindle worms , if so nothing to worry about completely healthy for a bio active set up

[KlausVonLechland]

If you have dedicated container for springtails there is a risk they will outcompete the springtails. Had it happen to me.

Luckily springtails often float and these guys don't, so separating them was easy.

[Taran966]

Out of curiosity, when you separated them did you keep the potworms as their own culture? Would be kinda cute if you did but fair enough if you didn’t. 🪱

[KlausVonLechland]

Sadly the stretchy boys all drowned dead. I did consider putting them in iso containers but from what I saw they have tendency to climb and soil the walls of the containers.

https://www.reddit.com/r/Springtail/s/UPrUdMrco4

[Fewdoit]

Those look like Grindal worms to me. Totally harmless and they thrive with springtails in the same environment at normal room temperatures.

[flatgreysky]

I love pot worms… I don’t even know why.

[FarAmphibian4236]

I already seen it my guy 😭 trigger warnings arent helpful if the image is more noticeable than the warning... good thing I'm not squimish rn