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I got a bunch of anacharis from my mother-in-law's pond the other day. When I was rinsing it in a bucket, I found these tiny red worms. Does anyone have any idea what these might be? She said that her pond fish love to eat them. Can I put them in my tanks as fish munchies or would I risk introducing unwanted parasites or something like that? The worms are around a quarter inch long or less and are very thin.

Thanks!

- Meow -

Could be mosquito larvae or some other similar insect larvae. I hope your fish eat them all before they grow into whatever insect they'll eventually be!

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

If you don't know what they are, probably better to not put them in your tank, common sense methinks

See if any of the colleges around you have a wildlife program, they may be able to tell you what is native to your area matching that description. The university in town here was instrumental in identifying a parasite for my buddy Bob. Give 'em a shout

You're probably right Fallout. With my luck, I'd hatch out some kind of vile creature that would attack me in the middle of the night. There is a major university in my town. It'll be pretty easy for me to check them out. I can't believe that I didn't think of that before.

Thanks!

- Meow -

Check these critters out under a low power microscope if you can. If they have limbs at one end, you could be looking at first instar Bloodworm larvae, which are the larvae of Chironomus midges. If they ARE Bloodworms, then they make fine fish food. BUT ...

You need to get professional help identifying these creatures!

Another possibility is Tubifex. These too make good fish food, provided you medicate them for a good 48 hours before feeding them to the fishes. Tubifex, unless cultivated and of known provenance, are notorious for introducing nasties into an aquarium that then attack your fishes - more often than not protozoan diseases that have really gruesome symptoms.

However, DO NOT put these "worms" in with your fishes until you KNOW what they are!

I'm fortunate in that I can send samples off to colleagues at the Invertebrate Zoology department at Liverpool Museum if I have any queries. Start cultivating your nearest professional invertebrate zoologist on a regular basis, ply him with plenty of beers, and generally make him a major league friend. Because at times like this, he will come in VERY handy.


Panda Catfish fan and keeper/breeder since Christmas 2002