Pond Worms Id

Hello!

I collected some pond silt and water for a small ecosystem I'm making and have been able to identify most of the creatures in it, but I can't figure out what these work like things are.

They stay half in, half out of the silt and either stay perfectly straight or wave around in an 's' shape in the water. They've also dug a network of tunnels in the silt.

My research first led me to believe they were nematodes but apparently those only grow to be a few mm big, and these worms in my pond have at least 1cm of themselves above the silt.

Any help is appreciated (I need to know if they are harmful or a larvae so I can remove them before adding shrimp)

Thanks!

 

Could be nematodes. Can be pretty beneficial in an ecosystem, but they prey on snails and other inverts.

 

Could be nematodes. Can be pretty beneficial in an ecosystem, but they prey on snails and other inverts.

I thought that because they were bigger than regular nematodes they couldn't be. Thanks for the id! I have a lot of them so I'll probably remove most but keep a few for the ecosystem.

Is it safe for me to feed them to my fish?

 

I'm not positive on the ID, wait for others. But if they are nematodes, then it's fine for fish to eat them.

 

I'm not positive on the ID, wait for others. But if they are nematodes, then it's fine for fish to eat them.

Yeah I'll wait for other opinions, thank you though

 

sludge worms?

 

sludge worms?

Aha!! That's them! That's the one! Thank you so much

More commonly known on here as the Tubifex worm.. very hardy, can thrive with low oxygen and high pollution (the sort of lake I found them in). Eat off the sediment, so aren't harmful thankfully.

Genuinely thank you, thus makes so much sense (and now I can start a farm if I want)

 

Aha!! That's them! That's the one! Thank you so much

More commonly known on here as the Tubifex worm.. very hardy, can thrive with low oxygen and high pollution (the sort of lake I found them in). Eat off the sediment, so aren't harmful thankfully.

Genuinely thank you, thus makes so much sense (and now I can start a farm if I want)

I feed dried tubifex worms to my fishes, the love them.

 

I feed dried tubifex worms to my fishes, the love them.

Precisely; I bet there's Tubifex farming tutorials online, I can create my own supply for my fish.