Habitat - Outdoor :: Red worms in filter

Ponds and other outdoor enclosures.

Post Posted: Tue Jul 15, 2014 7:56 pm   Red worms in filter

Hi all! I recently setup a 125 gallon pond. I was just cleaning out the filter today when I noticed a lot of little red worms. I'm wondering if I need to be concerned about them. Is this normal?Do I need to replace my filtration media? There is a tree above the pond. There is one turtle and at the moment a few gold fish.
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Post Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 1:30 am   Re: Red worms in filter

Could be blood worms/midge larvae. I don't think they are easy to remove in an outdoor tank/pond. What kind of filter does your pond have?
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steve
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Post Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 1:57 am   Re: Red worms in filter

Ya I think thats what they are too, they looked the same in google image. It's a homemade canister filter. Five gallon bucket (bottom to top) lava rocks, pebbles, two foam filter pads, and a bag of carbon.
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Post Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 2:23 am   Re: Red worms in filter

Ah, cool. Anyway pics of the pond? :)
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Post Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 11:21 am   Re: Red worms in filter

Free fish food!
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Post Posted: Thu Jul 17, 2014 2:10 pm   Re: Red worms in filter

They grow in my DIY pond filter. They just help break down the waste. Quite beneficial.
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Post Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2014 4:40 pm   Re: Red worms in filter

@Steve, sure I can post some pics but its not quite done yet.@DevilDuck Ya! If only I had known at the time I may have been able to harvest some. @Linus Great to know that they will benefit the filtration proccess!! :)
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Post Posted: Sat Jul 19, 2014 4:51 pm   Re: Red worms in filter

Image

Image

Image

Image
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Post Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2014 6:57 am   Re: Red worms in filter

She's looking good. So is this a pond in-progress? Looks like a nice spot :)
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Post Posted: Sun Jul 20, 2014 5:49 pm   Re: Red worms in filter

Well that is the pond that she will be in. As for the beautification of the pond area, that is a definitely a work in progress. :)
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Post Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 8:51 am   Re: Red worms in filter

Ahh, gotcha. What are the dimensions? Could you fit a 300 gallon stock tank in there? Is this for year-round?
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Post Posted: Mon Jul 21, 2014 5:29 pm   Re: Red worms in filter

I'm not sure what the dimensions of the area are. I know that the 200 something gallon pond was too big for that area. It's just for the summer time. It's too cold here in the winter for her to be out year round. A round stock tank might fit there but that will have to be for the future when I can save up for it. There a little bit more expensive the what I was able to setup for her.
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Post Posted: Tue Jul 22, 2014 3:38 pm   Re: Red worms in filter

OK, keep us updated :)
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Post Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2014 11:44 pm   Re: Red worms in filter

Great pond! You may want to consider swapping out your lava rock for something that clogs less frequently (i.e., a "bag" of plastic bird netting filled with pot scrubbies).
More importantly, though, you may want to get a less abrasive basking area for your turtle. Bricks are easy to use, but may scrape its plastron.
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