General Care Discussion :: filter problem...eww

[yumikoinichi]

hi.i bought a filter for my turtle tank a month ago .the type where u put sponge in the filter box? yea so i was checking the sponge to see how it was doing and gosh i found really tiny maggots on the sponge.like just stick there.white body and a black head or sth.it totally grossed me out ....i quickly cleared the whole filter and wash it all with soap.will these bugs hurt my turtle or harm my turtle?and how do i prevent this?please comment.thanks.

[devilduck]

Sounds like drain fly larvae. Do you notice tiny black flies around the house?

Drain flies live and breed in the drains in sinks, floors, toilets and eat the organic matter in the drain traps. You need to get rid of them in all those areas around the house. Pour bleach down all the drains, seal the ones your not using, and kill any adult files you see.

They are harmless to turtles, but gross and annoying. What type of filter do you have?

[yumikoinichi]

but i keep all my doors closed all the time and i have nets on the windows.some times one or two flies might come in but we will kill them if we can.the filter i use is made in china coz they dun have the branded filters here...yea its gross.i soak the whole thing now in mild dettol soap and dry it out first

[yumikoinichi]

well another thought crossed my mind..the chance of a fly to get into my house is really small.so i was thinking could the worms be mosquitoe larvae?

[steve]

It could be many types of fly larvae. It might be necessary to replace your filter media too.

[yumikoinichi]

after that day i washed the whole filter and soak in mild dettol soap water....then i put in new sponge and everything..now im looking out...my dad says just change the filter sponge every week or two weeks.dunno what to do now.any way to prevent this from happening again?

[steve]

Well, you need to accurately ID the bug so you can treat it and prevent it. Was this a new filter? What filter is it and how big is the tank?

[yumikoinichi]

yes this is a new filter i bought about a, month ago...it is made in china so no brand...size of the tank is about 8 gallons?

[steve]

8 gallons is pretty small. It's hard to properly filter a turtle tank that small... frequent water changes and filter cleanings will be required.