I went to clean out the filter and when I opened it up, it was filled with these tiny worm-like creatures? They almost look like small leeches but I'm pretty sure they're not. Anybody ever see such worms and are they common in outdoor ponds? This being my first pond, I don't know what to expect. I just hope these worms aren't dangerous. TIA
Worms?
- Thread starter NVR ENUF
- Start date
They may be planaria. Search google for them, and see if thats what they are. Planaria are fine, and make great scavengers. They will clean up the pond, so I wouldnt worry!
Well, I did some research on planaria and I guess they are white in color and the worms I have are black. They might be the non-bloodsucking type of leech. I'll see if I can post a pic of them. Is there a chemical treatment I can use to rid these parasites?
Planaria also come in blue, violet, grey, brown, and black, a do some other harmless flat worms. How big are yours?
If you look at them using a magnifier leeches have rings like earth worms and a succkin disk at either end, they stretch into a long tear drop shape while moving, and shink int an oval if poked. here are pics of typical leeches. It would be very unusual to find aconcentration of them in a filter. If they look like tiny earthworms theycould be tubifex which often show uo in pond filters.
There are severaltreatments available for leeches such as copper sulphate, forma-green, Fluke away, and parasite guard.
If you look at them using a magnifier leeches have rings like earth worms and a succkin disk at either end, they stretch into a long tear drop shape while moving, and shink int an oval if poked. here are pics of typical leeches. It would be very unusual to find aconcentration of them in a filter. If they look like tiny earthworms theycould be tubifex which often show uo in pond filters.
There are severaltreatments available for leeches such as copper sulphate, forma-green, Fluke away, and parasite guard.
I have founf planaria in a local pond and they were dark brown. If you look really closely(you may need a magnifying lense) they have tiny black "eyes" I put some in my feeder tank to help with scavenging