Odd Worm Like Creatures

[Jon Nannen]

So, I had my biofilter shut down for a few days, and it wasn't exactly super clean. But, to get to the point:

I've seen these odd worm like creatures in my buckets when I leave them out for 24 hours to dump in my pond, as well as saw them in my shop vac, when I shop vacced out my biofilter.

they can swim in an S motion, but also grab on to surfaces and move like a worm, move the head first, then pulling the body behind up to the where the head is. I'm concerned, as I just got done with an anchorworm infestation, and have fully treated it to my knowledge.

Any ideas on what these may be, will be appreciated!

 

[JohnHuff]

Any ideas on what these may be, will be appreciated!

They're fish food. Your fish will love eating them.

 

[timvz]

I have some like that in my skimmer and filter too. They seem to attach to a surface with their tail end and reach around with their head, grabbing anything edible that floats by. They are pretty scary looking under the microscope, all teeth, but I haven't seen them harm the fish in any way. As John says, fish find them very tasty - any that make it into the main pond are quickly eaten.

 

[Fishylove]

It sounds like a rat tail maggot. I think they turn into hover flies???

 

[Dave 54]

Wildlife in your filter is a major plus as it shows its fully matiure and have developed their own eco-systems , we have all sorts of things going on in our own filters including worms.

Dave