help little red worms in filter pads

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having just cleaned my filter while rinsing the filter pads i was amazed to see a number of little red worm like creatures WHAT ARE THEY ARE THEY HARMFUL TO MY FISH?:)
 
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In my mom's pond she has the same things, never got a clear answer on what they are, but found they are harmless to the fish.
 

koiguy1969

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if theyre what i think your talking about theyre bloodworms and your fish would love to snack on them!
 
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if they are bloodworms they turn in to mosquitos so get rid of them if you don't want them biting you. either let the fish have them or try the mosquito dunks
 
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bloodworms turn into mosquitoes? I've never heard that before! Heck, you learn something new every darn day!!!! I guess that's why they call them "blood" worms. Hmmmm!
 

koiguy1969

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blood worms do not turn into misquitoes...they are midge larvae totally harmless..... koikeepr, there, now youve actually learned something
on a side note ...you can buy bloodworms frozen or dried at most pet shops for your fish....
 
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which is it then? are they mosquito larvae or not? Yes, I know you can buy bloodworm as food...I expect both of you gentlemen to educate me, please. I've never claimed to know it all, and always expect to learn something....am eager to hear.
 

koiguy1969

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did you not just read my post....blood worms DO NOT turn into misquitoes...they are COMMON MIDGE LARVAE totally harmless.....
 
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i guess i learn something too then. i always thought they were but i looked it up and found this article.



Bloodworms

Bloodworms are the larval form of the Chironomidae group of Midges. These look similar to mosquitoes, but they do not bite. In fact most of them do not even eat while in the adult form. The adults only live for a short time, mating at night, and the female laying her eggs into the water while flying low over the surface.

Worm

The eggs hatch into a creature than looks like a worm although some people object to the name Bloodworm because they have an exoskeleton and little legs.

Blood

They are red which is what gives them the blood part of their name. This is caused by the presence of a form of Haemoglobin. Naturally it is not identical to Human Haemoglobin, but it is also an Oxygen carrying pigment.

Habitat

The Bloodworm lives near the surface of the sediment at the bottom of ponds and streams, eating the decaying plant material.

Bloodworms are very tolerant of pollution, and will live in quite dirty water that Humans prefer to stay away from.
Bloodworms can be present in very high concentrations.

Enemies

Bloodworms are good food to many things including fish and predatory insects. The Bloodworm is partially protected by the sediment they live in, but they are vulnerable when they come to the surface to change into adults. At this point of their life, many get eaten by fish.

Species

Although I have lumped them together under their common name, there are hundreds of different species of bloodworm that have been scientifically described, and possibly thousands that have not yet been described.
 
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koiguy1969 said:
did you not just read my post....blood worms DO NOT turn into misquitoes...they are COMMON MIDGE LARVAE totally harmless.....

DO NOT YELL AT ME! You need to tone down your attitude and refrain from your constant use of CAPITALS. I simply asked for you to educate me (and the others on this site), which clearly Jason was able to do quite eloquently.

Thank you Jason for the highly informative post. It was a great read. I feel like I learned something from it that I did not know. And it appears I wasn't the only one who wasn't aware.
 

koiguy1969

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do not yell at me, for yelling at you when i didnt yell... i merely accentuated the "do not" and what they really are.....there was no yelling or attitude. i asked if you read my post, and restated what i wrote....you read into it, the attitude on your own...
 
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Perhaps you are not familiar with internet ettiquette. The moment you use caps, you are yelling. Go back and read your comments if you think there isn't tone in them. Saying things like, "did you not read...." is tone like when you're talking to a 5 year old. Excuse me for not just accepting your 10 word explanation, when I very clearly asked to be enlightened along with the others. This site, after all, is about educating other people. And that sometimes means a solid explanation--especially when another person is respectfully asking for it and wants to learn more.

Clearly Jason understood that and was willing to take the time to enlighten us.

Should you have any other issues, PM me. This thread is clearly done.
 
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thank you all for your advise guys nothing to worry about then the little red devils can do no harm im sure the fish will enjoy feeding on them
 
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