Tons of tiny wiggly things?

[LynneNY]

My husband pointed out tons and tons of teensy tiny black wiggly things on the waterfall rocks today when he shut off the flow to clean the filters.  I have never seen them before and can't imagine what they are?  They seem to stay on the waterfall rocks whether the water is flowing or not?  I won't be home tomorrow, and if it's not raining on Sunday I will try and get a picture, but they are very small.

Anyone have any ideas?

[Rocmon]

I have those also in mid spring. I think they are gnat larvae. The damsel fly nymphs hunt them down for lunch.

[Esther]

There is a stream running on the edge of one of our properties. I have worked in that stream for hours cleaning it up and saw those same little things. They are attached at one end and the other end just kinda waves in the flow. I don't know what they are but somewhere along the line they disappeared so I assumed they were also some kind of pre hatching larvae.  I think they weren't leeches because I never had one attach to me.

[Holldoll]

I had them too. I looked them up online and the closest I could find was leaches.  I don't know how they would have gotten in my pond though.  I put those rocks in the pond and the koi ate them all gone. They loved them!

[Esther]

Well the ones I saw were attached at one end like a leech would be so maybe they were juvenile ones. This stream dries up at times in a hot dry summer so I doubt they could survive. Wonder if baby leeches do that until they are large enough to survive.

I just Googled leech and came up with this Youtube video about an almost disastrous leech bite (tongue in cheek).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpaykCHQJmE

[Ky Kim]

Are they blood worms?

[Esther]

The blood worms I've seen are the red ones and Lynne said black ones so doesn't sound like them. Besides do the blood worms attach to rocks? The ones I've seen have been in the filter media.

[Ky Kim]

not real sure....

I just noticed my temp thingy on here...its totally wrong...

its 92 outside and feels like 102, windy, cloudy, sunny etc.......I think its just off a few degrees huh.

[Esther]

LOL 78, don't you wish?

[LynneNY]

Thanks for all the responses!  A google search tonight showed that they are black fly larvae.  The pictures look just like what we have and the explanations are on the spot too!

Black flies live as larvae in shallow, clear, fast-running water in rivers and streams. The black, spindle-shaped larvae live on the stream bottom attached to rocks and other submerged objects and feed on tiny bits of organic matter, algae and protozoa. Larvae transform in the water to adult flies that rise to the water surface in a bubble of gas. The adult flies are usually present for about 3 weeks before they die. The adult Black Flies are not known to bother humans out west, unlike their northeastern US relatives.

Of course I live in the northeast, where the black flies are very bothersome, and as someone else wrote... they get in my eyes and ears, etc!  I also read that the best way to get rid of them is to scrape them off the rocks into a container and then put them in the pond for the fish to eat.  I really don't see myself scraping them off the rocks - EWWWWW!  Is there any other way to get rid of them without harming the fish?

[Holldoll]

interesting! That's exactly what I had.  Are you able to move those rocks that they are on?  Like I said, I picked up the whole rock and moved it to a part of the pond where the fish could get to it and I could still pull it back out. They ate them all gone in a matter of minutes.

[LynneNY]

My husband permanently attached those rocks when he built the waterfall, so they cannot be moved.  I told him what I found online last night, and he said he'll probably have to powerwash the rocks then, hoping that the water from the powerwash will force them down into the pond for the fish to eat.

Now that I know they are black fly larvae I want them off as soon as possible!  I seem to be a magnet for those flies!  I can be standing in a circle of people, and the flies only attack me - something in my chemistry!

[reddad35]

I read on another site about a guy who has these every year. He says they eat all the string algea then are gone till next year. Sounds like somewhat of a good trade off except for the bites later.

[LynneNY]

Well... we still have tons of string algae - even on the waterfall rocks where these buggers are - it's growing faster than they can eat it!

[Sandyd]

Take a brush (Toilet bowl / stiff broom)  and swish the tops of the rocks in the stream.  Your fish will zoom over to the falls and eat them.