i think i have parasites, and a few more questions.

[nativelover]

my pond is 1150-1200 gallons.

while cleaning the filters i noticed a bunch of red worms about 3/4" long with a three prong head in the filter media. i checked the fish (visualy) and could not see any signs of stress or parasites. my oscars got close enough that i could see their gills and they where normal redish color with no swelling or bleeding. so are theese bacteria type worms that clean up the waste or are they a threat and what can i do to get rid of them?

also the pond was looking cloudy so i decided to over flow it for awhile buytr forgot about it when i left to get stuff for this weekend. well, i came back and the pond is crystal cear but i must have done a 50% waterchange. do you think this could hurt all the beneficial bacteria? it did get rid of all the floating moss and algea.

im going camping/fishing this weekend and wanted to bring some bluegill and one small channel cat home.my fish right now are:

2 x oscars (10 and 13")

1 x pleco (15")

1 x bullhead catfish (10")

and some feeder goldfish and a stable population of fathead minnows.

so how many bluegill can i get or should i get.

 

[nativelover]

heres a link of a pic

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/WormPIX/2005081302-redworm.jpg

 

[nativelover]

i just netted and inspected all my fish and there are no signs of parasites. actually they look the healthiest ive ever seen them.

i think the worms are nematodes. a worm that breaks down/eats rotting organic material and keeps the water clean. like the small white/transparent ones we get in our fishtanks. but im not 100% sure.

ill bring home a couple bluegills and maybe a channel cat this weekend, quarantine them and put them in... do you think it would hurt to put say 5 blugills in there? im not sure exactly wich species.

 

[DeLgAdO]

i just netted and inspected all my fish and there are no signs of parasites. actually they look the healthiest ive ever seen them.

i think the worms are nematodes. a worm that breaks down/eats rotting organic material and keeps the water clean. like the small white/transparent ones we get in our fishtanks. but im not 100% sure.

ill bring home a couple bluegills and maybe a channel cat this weekend, quarantine them and put them in... do you think it would hurt to put say 5 blugills in there? im not sure exactly wich species.

nematodes??

doubt it

there are 20,000 species of netmatodes.

15,000 of them are parasitic.

if the worms are not hurting the fish id give it the green lgiht that they are safe.

 

[nativelover]

netmatodes....so i forgot the "T"...big deal...lol.

what do you think they are though. i just cleaned the top layer of the filter again today and they werent in it, but i doubt their gone.

what do you think about the bluegill? will they gang up on my oscars or will it be the other way around, or will they be ok... im thinking its big enough that they can all have their own space.

 

[DeLgAdO]

netmatodes....so i forgot the "T"...big deal...lol.

what do you think they are though. i just cleaned the top layer of the filter again today and they werent in it, but i doubt their gone.

what do you think about the bluegill? will they gang up on my oscars or will it be the other way around, or will they be ok... im thinking its big enough that they can all have their own space.

i think the bluegill and oscar can co-exist

be ready for anything though

oh and leave my typos alone!!!

 

[nativelover]

oh you made the typo...lol..i thought i did (didnt really check though)...

i got 6 or seven green sunfish and a catfish about 18" long. its pure white but doesnt have red eyes.

 

[Dr Joe]

How long had it been since you had cleaned the filter last?

Dr Joe

.

 

[nativelover]

a couple days.

 

[Dr Joe]

WOW! And not there before huh? When I've seen this (not the exact critter) its always shown up in the fish during an autopsy (a jumper usually), but this is not my expertise.

Come on guys someone should have seen this...

I'll keep looking.

Dr Joe

.