Hi guys, I was cleaning out the filter today and removing some gunks. I noticed tons of tiny red worms in the filter foam and also the carbon filter. I hear about the beneficial bacterias living in filter all the time, but beneficial worms ?! These worms are very tiny and usually looks like a thin thread. The question is should I be worried ? Should I change the filter foams and carbon foams with new ones?

Midge larvae... aka "blood worm". They are harmless. If they get out into the pond, they become fish food.. if they don't they become midge flies. Midge flies don't bite or carry any diseases you can catch from so are perfectly safe.

kev

Thanks kevkoi! That was very helpful...

The man who got me in pond, has a shop. At his store there is a sign that says " don't kill the red worm they are your friends". I never asked why.

haha !! That's funny ! Now we know why !

those are not benefitial worms.. they are the off spring of flies.. and they are blood worm as some have mentioned.. best of all, they are good source of protein to your fish!! if only I can breed them like urs...

by the way, somebody here posted a topic on wanting to know how to breed Blood Worm.. perhaps u would like to share ur knowledge..

well.... I do not really know how to breed them ! I found out they live quite happily in my filter (foam..). The reason is they like organic environment. So I assume there is a rich colony of bacteria in my filter which promoted their growth. But I never see those worms in the pond itself. Only in the filter.

did u notice any flies linger around the filter recently?? they could have laid the eggs there during their visits...

lastly, how long did u have ur filter media there for?? I usually wash my twice per week..

Did not notice any flies around the pond.

I wash mine 2-3 times a month. Is that too few of times? In general I clear the debri (falling leaves, rose petals...) with a small net every time I sti next to the pond (whis is 3-4 times a day).

erm, there is not right or wrong answer whether you washed them too often or too little..

cleaning of filter is jus to make sure efficiency is not affected.. and also make sure u dun over clean it lest you wash out the benefitial bacteria...

simple!

actually I saw 1 red wriggling worm inside my main tank last weekend and I was so thrilled..

I went searching high and low for more inside every filter and even every possible corner but none

so far only 1 blood worm is seen and it makes me ponder how I can breed them safely and in a healthy manner to make them clean and safe for my fishes..

Yea, I basically wash the deposited materials off and put the media back in. I can see the filter media pretty clearly from top of the pond and can tell if it has gotten lots of gunk or not.

About the blood worms, they are in my foam and carbon media. I read somewhere that these worms can be found in abundance where there is a rich organic deposit (bacteria colony?).

I have a entire colony of red worms near hundreds in the carbon filter pad of my pond filter..I've plucked a few and tossed to the comets they seem to enjoy it..also fed one to a beta I was watching..he eagerly gobbled it up..no harm done to either fishes

You'll probably find the reason you don't see too many (if any) of those worms in the pond, is the moment they drop out of the return tube, they are being eaten. Heh, I can just see all the fish looking at the tube, willing another worm to drop out!

Ya I've found whenever I clean my filter and 1 or 2 slip into the return pipe all 8 comets and commons are sitting waiting for a treat..are their any other kinds of land critters that could be fed to comets/commons as a high protein snack..for example worms?