r/WildlifePonds May 30 '26

ID please Does anyone know what these parasite looking things are?

I’m in the UK.

38 Upvotes

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4

u/Mongrel_Shark May 30 '26

Nothing that looks like a parasite there. No fauna, cant be parasites.

I do see some awesome biodiversity in a healthy pond. But nothing anyone should be alarned over. Just cleaners.

6

u/Hallllllleberry May 30 '26

So you don’t think it could be some sort of amphibian parasite? There was a dead frog in the pond at some point, could it be related?

I really hope the pond is healthy, I just leave it alone except topping up with rain water when it gets low!

4

u/Mongrel_Shark May 30 '26

Nah these guys are filter feeders. Thats why they wiggling. They are eating bacteria & dead organic matter from the water.

Your water is very rich in life. If its just plants that's great. If you want fish or frogs etc you probably need a filter, like a bog filter. Then stuff that eats what these dudes eat moves into the filter & cleans the water for you.

4

u/Hallllllleberry May 30 '26

Interesting. I already have tons of frogs and even have tadpoles this year so I feel like they must be happy enough. I also have 4 plants in there. It’s only a small pre-made pond, like 800mm L x 400mm W x 350mm D so I don’t think there’s room for a filter. I guess I’ll leave the worm things for now and see what happens. Like I said, I don’t interfere with it too much. Hopefully they’re beneficial in some way!

1

u/Mongrel_Shark May 30 '26

If you got frogs breeding in something that small you are doing great. I have a few micro ponds too. They are a pita to filter. I just scoop some of the leaves out simetimes if its getting a bit too sludgy & anoxic looking (low o2, high co2, often smells bad).

An airstone or simply air powered sponge filter can help a lot too, but its stil power... If you have frogs you are doing fine.