# Nematodes... definetly a bad thing?



## Mac (Aug 14, 2007)

I just realized today while looking in my tank at night, that there are numerous nematodes crawling around the tank glass. I noticed that one had caught a small fungus fly. 

Now I did read the sticky in the ID forum, and it said that since they eat frog food, and frogs dont eat them they are bad. It said that they can decimate a spring population...which scares me, because I have recently been trying to build up the populations in my tank.

So for sure frogs dont eat them? And what is most of your guys position on this question? Keep them as part of the ecosystem in your tank, or they are a predatory pest...


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## Brock (Jun 29, 2007)

I think some frogs will go for them, if there is enough movement. Otherwise, I do think they are a pest, and they always go for my eggs.

There's no really good way to get rid of them, I think some can survive even the CO2 treatment. Gotta quarantine frogs for a few days and then replace EVERYTHING in the viv after a good and thorough scrub-down. 

I did this a few months back to get rid of nematodes specifically, as my tank was being overrun, and it seemed to have worked, now we'll see if they come back by breeding season or not.

A few things I learned: 1) Not only will they go for some of the frog's food, but they will also thrive on the vitamin and calcium dusts that fall in the tank. In one of my vivs, I would dump the flies in the same location every time, so there was some buildup of naturose, paprika, calcium, and vitamin supplements. When I looked closely one night, there were literally hundreds of them all in a frenzy just in that one spot.

2) The more drainage you have, so the soil doesn't say wet for too long, the less nematodes you'll have.

Edit: There was a post recently about putting a small cap full of fruit to attract fruit flies to a central location, and people found out that this attracts nematodes, snails, and other small pests which makes it easy to remove a high concentration at once, frequently. Try experimenting with a few different types of fruit. Someone said banana works well, apple, lemon, etc. I'd sterilize them in the microwave for 30seconds or so first, just to make sure you won't be introducing MORE nematodes into the tank.


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## HappyHippos1 (May 7, 2007)

My frogs eat em (They're in every tank I have, only Auratus's and mantellas so thumbnails and pums might not like em but I've gotta think Tincs would). And I've had them in my springtail/pillbug cultures for as long as I can remember. Maybe I over feed my cultures but I've never had a problem with em bothering or slowing production. 

Like Brent, I've noticed that they kill vit supplements spilled in a viv, and that they eat the white cobweb like fungus. I have also noticed that they go after eggs or at least the egg jelly so that alone could make them a bad thing depending on what your goals are.


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## Mac (Aug 14, 2007)

The odd and slightly intimidating thing about them is I remember cutting one in half and then watching the two halves squirm away....


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## hexentanz (Sep 18, 2008)

Mac said:


> The odd and slightly intimidating thing about them is I remember cutting one in half and then watching the two halves squirm away....


hehe this is normal in worms, though yes creepy. 

however most darts will eat the worms, in fact all of the ones in my sig do.


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## Mac (Aug 14, 2007)

As long as they are not killing everything else in the viv and the frogs eat them then its ok!


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## Mac (Aug 14, 2007)

One question, how exactly do they catch their prey? Are they scavengers or TRUE predators? When I watched them they seem pretty clueless to springs and mites all around them.

I dont see how it could go fast enough to catch one?


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## basshummper (Jan 13, 2008)

I don't know how they do it but they are hunters and not scavengers. I put a nemertean in a Petri dish with a FF when I came back in a few hours it was eating the FF. I have them in my vent tank in small numbers and I have yet to see my vents go for them. so if they are eating them they aren’t eating many of em.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

As to how they do it see http://www.biolbull.org/cgi/reprint/162/3/387.pdf 

Ed


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## basshummper (Jan 13, 2008)

thanks Ed, i found my superhero power!


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## Mac (Aug 14, 2007)

*while reading about Nematodes....*

So now that I did battle with the nematodes, slicing them into many pieces with a sharp object. I checked tonight and LITERALLY there was not one out yet( eating all my springs!!)... so it seems like a few good battles should end their campaign.

BUT while looking up nematodes I have found these- http://tbn3.google.com/images?q=tbn...purdue.edu/images/+2005/westphal.nematode.jpg

And immediately realized that I had seen these before.... in the roots of these dead plants that were " for some reason not doing so good" in their pots. 
This website Soybean Cyst Nematode tells you basiclly what they do, it says soybean nematode... but I dont think they are limited to only soybeans.

Thankfully I dont have these in my tanks, or things could be very bad....


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

There are a lot of different root-knot nematodes so I doubt you were actually seeing soybean root-knot nematodes. 

Try checking your springtail culture several hours after lights out with a flashlight. 

Ed


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## Mac (Aug 14, 2007)

Is there any way to identify the cysts other than identifying the female before it swells?


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## ChrisK (Oct 28, 2008)

Ummmm...... were you a little bored that day or something?



Mac said:


> The odd and slightly intimidating thing about them is I remember cutting one in half and then watching the two halves squirm away....


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## Mac (Aug 14, 2007)

No, just figuring out how the heck you kill them, like some earth worms will keep living after you cut half its body off. I don't just do it for fun...???


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## ChrisK (Oct 28, 2008)

just kidding  yeah i was wondering if they were in your springtail cultures too?


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## basshummper (Jan 13, 2008)

ChrisK said:


> Ummmm...... were you a little bored that day or something?



thats what vivariums are for! if i was never a little bored i wouldn't have PDFs. now if you'll excuse me i think im going to try and find something in one of my tanks i can cut in half.


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## Mac (Aug 14, 2007)

basshummper said:


> thats what vivariums are for! if i was never a little bored i wouldn't have PDFs. now if you'll excuse me i think im going to try and find something in one of my tanks i can cut in half.


hmm I must recommend slugs, if your looking for a real battle for survival, tuff hand to hand combat, and blood splater... pretty intense huh

nematodes are child's play at my slashing status


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## tim13 (Feb 1, 2011)

Sorry to dig up an old thread, but i have a bunch of these little buggers in a few of my tanks. I have 100% witnessed an auratus froglet eat a nematode that was about 3 times the length of a melanogaster, but very narrow. Also, if they eat the leftover powder from dusted fruitflies, isn't that a good thing? That would make them janitors in my opinion. So.... if they clean up excess powder (which the frogs don't like getting on them), and the frogs will eat them, where's the downside. I'm referring to nematodes and not nemerteans by the way.


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## Ed (Sep 19, 2004)

There are many many free living non-parasitic or pathenogenic nematodes that are harmless. 

Ed


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## DJboston (Oct 25, 2008)

I've always had Nematodes show up in ALL my tanks since I started keeping dart frogs in 98.' Honestly, I've never had a problem with them or paid much attention to them. It's mostly new dart frog enthusiasts that freak out about seeing them but as far as I'm concerned it's all part of the bugs just living in the tank. I was actually talking with a couple very experienced people recently and they also barely give them a second thought...used to it I guess.


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## What'sAGoonToAGoblin? (Sep 4, 2010)

I have worm problems in some of my tanks, and the frogs do not eat the worms. I have noticed occasionally they will watch a worm, but never strike at it. My terribilis, azureus, auratus, leucs, and vents all do not eat worms. If you let your worm population get out of hand you will have many hundreds of worms on the glass walls of your tank and it is just plain disgusting. Also, I have implicated worms in the destruction of some of my eggs clutches. In my opinion, worms are "bad". I mean they might aerate the soil and stuff, but who tf cares if they are also eating your egg clutches!


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