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Bloodworms growing and mosquitoes in tank..?

AllHailRain

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I looked around for a similiar post but I couldn't find one. I see that most people harvest their own bloodworms, but I don't. I buy the frozen cube kind because I can't harvest them.(still live at home) Nor do I want to but I'll do it later if it's actually healthier.
okay I rambled, Onto the point.

I only have one c. orientalis in the tank with 4 ghost shrimp. It's a 10 gallon; fully aquatic.
Well, I guess he wasn't eating them all and now I have little bugs growing in the tank. I assumed the bloodworms were dead but I guess not.
They're still tiny mosquitoes but they won't be for long, and mosquitoes are the LAST thing I want growing in a tank directly next to my bed.
This grosses me out more than crickets hatching in my lizard tank.. I really want to find a way to control this.
I feed him every 3-4 days, should I feed him less often so he gets more of the bloodworms?
I was also purchasing a new newt soon, would that help get them all eaten?
Or more ghost shrimp until the newt gets here?

I just don't know what to do, I want bloodworms to be eaten, not grow!
=\
Help!
 

jewett

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You are right, frozen bloodworms should be dead. I myself purchase frozen bloodworms and have done so for years, and I have never seen any worms survive being frozen. But it is possible that you just have a healthy aquarium with other aquatic critters growing in it. Most of my established tanks have all sorts of little inverts in the water when I look close enough to notice them. I imagine if your tank has been set up for a while, and especially if you have live plants in there, then your tank with also start to support such life forms. If you could post a picture of what you are seeing, we may not be able to ID it, but we may rule out bloodworms.
And just for the overall health of your aquarium, it is wise to remove all uneaten food within a few hours, just so you don't have ammonia spikes or other water quality issues. A turkey baster or pipette works great for food removal.
If you do get a second newt, be sure to quarantine it for several weeks (even months to be on the safe side) before introducing it in to your existing tank.
 

AllHailRain

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I do have a very healthy aquarium. There is lots of java moss, tons of tiny snails and i believe four or five shrimp along with the newt.
I'm a veterinary technician, and I talked to the doctor about it. He said it was probably having to do with them being frozen too late, giving them an established blood supply system that restarts in the 'warmth' of the water. (the water is of course cold, but warmer than the freezer)
But he's moreso dog/cat/bird/reptilian/ferret/bunnies/squirrel/wallabee..i can't think of anymore but i know he's done surgery on hamsters even, than the stages of life of a mosquito. :]


I did take pictures of the bug problem, but at this exact moment in time I am not on a computer with a working usb port to upload the pictures. I'm on an incredibly old 10 pound laptop XD
I also haven't taken recent pictures of the newt tank as I realized the most recent ones on my photobucket are of the old half-land set up that I changed over a month ago.
So, I will post new pictures on here tonight.

I was trying to remove the food for a while but it proved quite difficult to get them all out and it scared the hell out of my newt. I bought the shrimp thinking they could eat the leftovers..and I haven't seen any except for a couple of old dead things that sank underneath the pebbles..
But, if you look really close on the tank wall you can see tons of TINY squiggly white lines that my newt tries to attack but just gets glass. I took that to believe that they were another stage of the bloodworm growing or something?
I'm not sure.. Those are some type of worm though.
 

Azhael

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It´s very simple...mosquitoes have colonized the tank. It´s not the frozen ones surviving....it´s mosquitoes from the place where you live in, or some species that came with the plants.
 

Abrahm

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I feel like there are conflicting descriptions of what you think are the larval mosquitoes. Bloodworms, also known as larval midges, are not mosquitoes which may be an important distinction. They are also not really worms, which are generally the platyhelminthes (flat worms), nematodes (round worms) and annelids (earthworms, bristle worms and leaches.)

The little white things on the side of the aquarium would not in any way be related to the bloodworms but are more likely planaria, a type of flatworm, or some type of nematode. The only connection between the bloodworms and these little white guys is that the little white guys are probably around because they are eating the decaying bloodworms, or the bacteria eating the bloodworms.

What do the tiny mosquitoes look like? If they are actually mosquito larvae they tend to be grey/brown and they will swim with a contorting, folding in half motion. They will also gravitate toward the surface and rest their with their breathing out of the water and their heads (which can be easily observed) down. If you do not see these guys breathing at the surface it's pretty safe to assume they are not bloodworms or mosquito larva.

My guess is you just have some free swimming nematodes in the water. Established tanks often have these guys especially if there is an abundance of food, which your tank would have if you don't often clean out uneaten bloodworms.
 

Jennewt

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I see that most people harvest their own bloodworms, but I don't.
okay I rambled, Onto the point.
Actually, I have rarely heard of anyone harvesting their own bloodworms. I'm not sure where you heard this.

I agree with the others: the mosquito larvae (or whatever they are) got into the tank from outside, not from the bloodworms. This may be helpful:
http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/Tank_critters.shtml
 

AllHailRain

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I have a screen lid that fits over the entire tank and there aren't many bugs in my house, so I don't find it likely that it's mosquitoes from around here. It's also winter, no mosquitoes are out where I live.

I agree with you, as I don't know much. So they're other types of worms, that makes more sense.
The mosquitoes I found are very tiny bugs with wings and seem gnat-like. They just kind of float on the surface occasionally making a half inch flight upwards just to fly back down on the water.
I assumed they were mosquitoes because bloodworms are mosquito larvae.
I do not stand firm in opinions of things I don't know about, so I'm very open to what you guys are telling me. I am absolutely postive you know more about me on this :p

Well, when I was looking for a post like this before I posted the question myself, I only clicked on things about bloodworms growing.
I guess if you only click on those threads, that's where you get the misconception that people harvest them because most questions were about how to breed them, etc.
whoops! :]

Anyway, nematodes, eh?
Could these be harmful? there seem to be quite a lot..
I don't remove food often because it takes forever for my newt to find the cube, he's quite slow. And after he eats it, I'm usually asleep or out of the house and there's only a few left because I have medium size pebble substrate (none can fit in the newt's mouth) and I think most of the leftovers fall in the cracks where I can't see them. Well, I thought they were mostly always gone but upon learning all of this, I think I probably have a lot more than I thought I did in there.
 

peterj

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The bugs could easily be fungus gnats. They're attracted to moisture - particularly if it's associated with organics and breed readily in many domestic situations: pot plants; cracks in bathroom grout; and (most annoying) many live food cultures. The good news is (if they are fungus gnats) the adult phase doesn't feed so they're a nuisance but not a serious problem.
 

grunsven

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mosquitos do not grow.
The larvae grow and then they pupate and become mosquitos.

And the things you describe do not sound like bloodworms to me. I agree it's probably some kind of worm.
 

AllHailRain

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Fungus gnat...I just googled that on images and the bugs look exactly alike!
I don't know how to diagnose 'baby bugs' so I didn't think anything of not seeing those long needle-like suckers coming off of their mouths.
I guess they don't grow either.
I don't know much, but I'm learning. :]
There is moss and good quality water, so I bet it is that. It makes the most sense to me.

So I think I'm deciding that the worms are nematodes and the bugs are fungus gnats.
Well, I feel a lot better now.
That seems so much more healthy than mosquito colonies..
Thank you so much everyone!
I'm going to search the site now, but are there any links for information about nematodes?
I clicked on one that had a small bit of information. Just that I should wipe them off with a washcloth every now and then to keep it under control, but other than that it's not an issue?
I'm so glad this all got solved, thank you so much everyone!
 

Bellabelloo

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I have a tank out side which I put daphnia..these have reproduced enormously. As its open to the elements ( and the pesky cats) I have a good population of bloodworm and gnat larvae ( wrigglers) too. Plus the Lone Ranger axolotl larvae . He has more than enough food to eat with this lot and some gets fed to the new guppies. Really could have done with thsi when I was raising the larvae.
 
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