Leeches in my tank. help!

Oh, and, the guy at the LFS told me these guys are completely harmless. I haven't seen them stick to any of my fish or even act interested. The guy also said that with the type I have, if I see one, it means I have hundreds (which I do). I haven't seen any attach to my snails at all, but if they are the leeches' food source, then no wonder I have so many.

I'm actually leaning more toward buying the puffers. If my snails are infested with leeches, then I can't really hope to save any without introducing the leeches to my other setups.
 
Actually I think one of those sites stated that not all leeches are carnivorous. There are different varieties that eat different things.
This is from that second site I referenced before:
"Contrary to popular belief not all leeches are evil bloodsuckers. Actually very few species in North America rely on blood for food. The majority of leeches feed upon carrion, plants, other invertebrates such as scuds, and chironomid larvae. Even other leeches. Through aquarium study leeches seem to have a particular appetite for snails. It is surprising how fast a snail can motor when approached by a curious leech."

Now, when we were kids playing in the pond, we used to put salt on the leeches and they would "let go." I wonder if a salt solution like you use in treating ich would be effective. It might be worth a try first.
 
The diatom filter would not kill them but would trap them in the filter housing. You could then simply empty the container into the toilet or where ever.

I used to keep puffers, I like them very much and I gave them the best care I possibly could, but always in the end, they would eventually darken in color and slowly die. I don't think they are meant for aquariums. I tried to simulate their brackish environment as best as I could to no avail. Just my experience.
 
Liver might work better in your trap but judging by the extent of the infestation I would think a trap would be fruitless.
 
TIME To ZAP...
Take out all your fish, and put them in a 5 gallon pale, try not to get any leaches in the watter, if you have a car battery youse it,hook 1 wire to the + and one to the - then place wires in tank till you see them die.... make sure wires dont touch... I am sure that will kill them... If the 12v dont work, get something that plugs into the wall and dip it in.... lol Jk....thats not safe... but i hear the battary thing works..... might wana do some research on it... sorry 4 spellin in a rush
 
so.. results

I haven't tried the battery thing, but I just might....

So, here's the results:

Start with a 29 gallon tank filled with 35+ (good) snails, 50+ (bad) leeches, lots of hornwort and 8 dwarf puffers.

Wait 1 month.

End with a 29 gallon tank filled with ~7 snails, 15+ leeches, lots of hornwort, and one very fat puffer.



Still haven't gotten rid of the leeches. I actually think that the leech population is decreasing mainly because the snail population is, and also because i haven't fed the tank whatsoever since I added the puffers.

I am probably going to break the tank down, bleach it, treat the wood with copper, and hope the leeches don't come back.

29gallon.JPG fatpuffer.JPG snack.JPG
 
Last edited:
also, i tried the bait thing- did not work at all. I first used ham, and then I used liver, and the only things attracted to them were the snails. Which I thought was weird, but, nonetheless, the leeches did not go for it.
 
If you can remove them by hand, put them in a bucket and pour alcohol on them and they will die. That is what we do at the hospital when we use them for patient care.
 
Couple suggestions.

1. Get rid off all gravel toss it don't keep (no boiling or anything just toss).
2. Take a couple of your snails out and put in a small rubber maid container and keep them there untill you know they are clean.
3. If you are running a canister filter install a UV starilizer before intry into tank (will save you from cycling it) . If through away your filter media. Clean every thing thouraly filter, tank, heater.
(THIS BASICLY STARTS YOU FROM SCRATCH

Secound just remove gravel and add lots of filter and syphen off leaches everyday. See if this works. If it does replace gravel only
 
OHHH! I went through this too!! Had them in my guppy tank, they got there from pond snails. Unfortunately mine attatched themselves to the guppies too. I feel an *urp* coming on just from the memory.

I tried the salt treatment... didn't work. I had to pluck them off my fish with a tweezers. Gawd awful but it worked. Put the gups in a big tote for a few days and poured bleach in my tank. Let it sit for a day and then cleaned the heck out of it. Lost a cycled tank, but it was the only thing I could think of. It worked. Drained the tank, cleaned it out, refilled with extra water conditioner, and after a couple days of it running I put the gupies back in. Had to cycle it all over, but it was worth it.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom