Strange worms in skimmer

[CrayolaViolence]

Some time during the night my skimmer went nuts and nearly drained the sump. After the initial rush of getting water back in before my pump burned up I got to looking around to see what it could have been. Inside my skimmer cup were hundreds of tiny black worms maybe 3 mm long. They were alive and climbing up the side of the cup. I could not find any in the sump or the display however I have a file fish in the sump who eats anything and a malunarus in the display who is a hunter and eliminates pests. Anyhow, I was able to collect one of the worms (they were tiny and tended to squish) and keep it alive long enough to video it. I have searched for an ID and the closest I can come up with is some type of black worm or feather duster worm of some sort. These appear to only have legs in the front so I don't think they are bristle worms but could be wrong. They move wrong too. When they crawl on the plastic of the cup it's a full body ripple. Without water they seem unable to move very well.

Anyhow, here is a link.

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1QipP4Gp9V2F1WFyZOeWJVhs7Ewc6c4k_ObVW6Dyi2ftKpziCZhIf4PsCm0c0nIsUrjw/photo/AF1QipNkDBwHOPUzwGEeLjmdHoaHx62YRiouqHW_uG4d?key=TktSZnVTMGZUSWZQanAzdHdQSTZaenpCWHdrMkJB

 

[devimik]

It does look like a bristle worm, except for the color. I'm not sure how a skimmer could empty a sump, unless your skimmer isn't in your sump. Where does it empty? My skimmer is in my sump and if it went nuts, it would overflow back into the sump.

 

[CrayolaViolence]

My skimmer has a drain on the cup. I have a line that runs to an external bucket for when and if the skimmer were to overflow so that it won't nuke the tank. The external bucket is around three gallons, maybe a tad more.

 

[mrg02d]

Ewww, id have freaked out. Took me awhile to accept that bristle worms, and most others, are good.

 

[devimik]

Ah, I have used a hose from the skimmer cup to a bucket for temporary wet skimming where I know it would overflow the cup, but I probably would never leave it that way for reasons you're experiencing.

I don't think the skimmate overflowing back into the sump would nuke the tank, but I could be wrong as I'm no chemist. I've run my skimmer with no collection cup before for weeks where the skimmate would just run back into the tank. I was treating it for something where I wanted the aeration of the skimmer, but I knew it would overflow, so just took the cup off.

Anyway, I think they are small bristle worms, but would be interested in what others think here. Good luck.

 

[Tripod1404]

Ah, I have used a hose from the skimmer cup to a bucket for temporary wet skimming where I know it would overflow the cup, but I probably would never leave it that way for reasons you're experiencing.

I don't think the skimmate overflowing back into the sump would nuke the tank, but I could be wrong as I'm no chemist. I've run my skimmer with no collection cup before for weeks where the skimmate would just run back into the tank. I was treating it for something where I wanted the aeration of the skimmer, but I knew it would overflow, so just took the cup off.

Anyway, I think they are small bristle worms, but would be interested in what others think here. Good luck.

No it wont, assuming by nuking you mean killing everything in 24h. Skimmate already comes from the tank water, letting it overflow drain to the tank wont nuke it. Even if the cup was partially filled in the start, it would be diluted and added to the tank slowly. In the long runs, it might cause issues with nutrient control as you would essentially be running a skimmer-less system.

The only way it could nuke the tank is if you run your skimmer very dry (like it takes 10 days for it to fill the cup) and then accidentally drop the entire content of the cup to the sump or something. That way, 10 days worth of waste will be introduced to the tank in one go and would probably cause problems.

 

[hkgar]

My skimmer has a drain on the cup. I have a line that runs to an external bucket for when and if the skimmer were to overflow so that it won't nuke the tank. The external bucket is around three gallons, maybe a tad more.

I do that also, with one addition.

I drain into a 2 L empty soda bottle in the pump and have a Apex Leak detector in the bucket so it the bottle overflows the skimmer is shut down.