Brown water, and Blood Worms???

[Texas T]

Hi Folks,
Looking for some advise about the quality of my pond water. It has been HOT up here in Wisconsin, and the whole country for that matter! So this has caused much growth of all the good stuff along with some of these "Blood Worms"? Is this a normal thing to happen and is there something safe I can do to rid my pond of them? I can handle the vegetation part, how about parasites? From what I've read, they are harmless, but they creep the Wife out, and refuses to help clean the filter because she won't put her hands in the water with THE HARMLESS CRITTERS!!! So any help with these little fellas would be greatly appreciated! Also if any of you have been following and helping with my BloatGoldfish Tank Girl, not much has changed, except I do think she may have either expelled some eggs, or had a really good bowl movement, bcuz she does to be a bit smaller? I did get a chance to examine her underside and I think I do see skin in between her big scales? My fish have never been handled before "Ever" and the couple times that I have tried, I thought for sure that they were going to die? So I guess I should ask, when you do handle your fish, how are they supposed to react? Because mine almost seem like they are going to die, and that is only for maybe 5 to 10 seconds, and I have to revive them. Or is that normal, do they go catatonic? Ok sorry so long! Here are a few pics of Tank Girl and some of the others with her too.... The tails and fins on these are crazy yo!!

 

[Lin]

When I handle my Koi, I always smear plenty of Stress Coat on them and my hands. They seem to stay calm and no ill effects. I haven't handled any of my Koi in years and my Koi are abt 2ft long now and I am not sure I could hang on to them. Very powerful wiggles. Your Fish are very colorful and healthy looking..

 

[JRS]

Anything that would kill them would probably affect other things in your pond, not worth it IMO. Perhaps some nice gloves like this would help her over come the yuck factor. I started using these for filter cleaning years ago after developing a suspected Mycobacterium infection in my finger while squeezing out a sponge filter:

Amazon.com

 

[Mayank]

I must be blind (my wife says that because I frequently don't see things I'm looking for when they're right in front of my eyes) but I don't see any worms in your pics.

 

[AlyssaFish]

The fish tend to flip out the first 10 seconds or so when they're being held, and then will go calm for a brief spell before flipping out again.
Goldfish can survive a good chunk of time out of water without negative effects, so I can assure you that they will not die in your hands! Still feels that way for me, though.

I have never heard of blood worms growing in a pond before, but if they're native where you live, I guess it makes sense. I have found I get detritus worms and even earth worms in my pond from time-to-time. I am pretty sure that nothing can be done to prevent or get rid of either of them. Sorry!

 

[Mayank]

Is touching a fish bad for them? Ours tend to want to come around my fingers and nibble at them and brush against my hands and stuff and it's really hard to avoid touching them or wanting to pet them. I've never held one though but is touching them in one spot bad for them. I always wash my hands prior to going to the pond.

 

[mrsclem]

Some of my koi come over to be petted and for belly rubs! As long as you have no chemicals on your hands, your good.