Red worms in filter

[Nemesis]

Ok, so last night I was cleaning out one of my ac110's when I noticed a red worm crawling through the sponge. Further inspection I found about 6 more of them in the sponge and media. The last time I fed red worms was probably 2 months ago. Is it possible for them to have lived so long in water, or were these something else? They looked exactly like red worms?

 

[gomezladdams]

Like red wigglers/trout worms?I doubt they could survive submerged but its possible if the sponge is part out of the water.

 

[Nemesis]

Yes, red wrigglers. The sponge is fully submerged, the bio media pretty much as well. They could possibly come up for air, but I'm surprised the current from the filter didn't blow the back in the t
ank. But even with air, can they live in water for so long?

 

[gomezladdams]

Hard to imagine.All the info I got when setting up my redworm culture said not to get the media too wet as the worms will suffocate.Worms I put in water to clean before feeding lasted less than a few hours before drowning when I got sidetracked and forgot about them.

 

[Nemesis]

That's my experience with them too. I'm wondering what these could have been then? Wish I would have gotten a pic. It freaked me out when I was cleaning the sponge, and I felt something wriggling down my hand.

 

[manlyfish]

could it have been some blood worms? are red worms the same things as trout worms? my mom has a whole little red worm farm.

 

[knifegill]

I keep blackworms in many of my tanks. Were they thinner than a typical spaghetti noodle?

 

[surfer]

What are the benefits of keeping blackworms in your tanks?

 

[MadRussian79]

I have black worms in my filter. During a cleaning I'll extract maybe a tablespoon form each filter maybe more. There are quite a few aquatic worm similar to blood worms so it could be one of them.

 

[knifegill]

What are the benefits of keeping blackworms in your tanks?

Debris breakup and free food.