Backyard Aquaponics
A place to discuss aquaponics

Hi,

I don't know if this is a problem or not, but I have noticed small worm like creatures about 5mm to 7mm in length and a blackish colour in my solids filter. There's quite a lot of them. They don't seem to be in with the fish (maybe the fish are eating them). They aren't mosquito larvae as they don't seem to want to swim and don't come to the surface.

Does anyone know what these are likely to be and if they are a problem to the fish ?

I've been thinking of getting a few small aquarium fish and putting them in the filter to see if they get rid of them..

Thanks,
Andrew

Sure they're not more reddish... probably bloodworms, the larva of a non-biting midge...

They don't look red, but its a bit hard to tell as theyr'e pretty small. They look more like they have dark and light bands.

I would have thought if they were a midge they would need to come to the surface for air, unless the ones you mention are happy underwater all the time.

They might not be rupert, i got all sorts of different worms in my little water holes ive had around properties.
some look like bloodworms, some look kind of jointed - like nodes in bamboo, some are really long and thin and live in the dirt on the bottom and wave around, some swim around and are much lighter in colour.

I wouldnt worry about them.

True, True Yav.... and yeah they're probably not a problem... and make good fish food...

It does suggest that the poster should probably clean their filter though...

Hi Rupert,

The filter gets cleaned about once a week. There's not been a lot of muck in there, maybe a 1/4 inch deep. This was the 1st time I noticed them. The only thing I did different today was I emptied the water out of the filter and made some changes. Maybe that stirred them up.

Indeed it might have...