Parasite ID plz

the "worm" in question was dark grey almost black in collor so I believe that I can rule out planaria worms, it looked like a leech but much smaller than any leech I have ever seen, I spend a lot of time fishing/wadeing around in the Mobile/Tennsaw river delta in southern alabama and I am familer with leeches. (or the kind that stick 2 your leggs)

also can leeches be carried internaly, or on plants?

I am positive that my fish had no external parasites on it when I introduced him to the tank.

I guess it could have come from the plants though. I did give them a through rinsing in tap water (clorinated) before I put them in the tank, but that is where the snails came from

if it was a leech and I do not have any problems with seeing them attach to my fish should I worry about it?
 
I'm still thinking leech too..... could have been young, who knows how big they are when they start out.... and clamped onto your leg... ewwwww..... anyhoot.... if it were clamped onto the side of the fish, yes I woud call that a problem. I would see that your tank is rid of them as they are harmful blood-suckers. Not something you want in your tank..... kinda like letting the tick stay on the dog....
 
Add a little salt to the aquarium. Most FW leaches are suseptible to salt.
 
If it was not on a fish, and none has been seen on the fish, I would bet that it is not a parasite. Aquaria are not sterile enviroments, they have highly complex micro-ecologies. Getting in an uproar because there are few more than micro inhabitants other than the fish is many times more likely to cause harm than to be beneficial. Audit a course in lymnology at the local university sometime, or pick up a secondhand text and learn something - a good hand lens, a dissecting scope, or a microscope can open up a whole new world to you from your own fishtank, all you have to do is look and study just a bit.
 
it cold be a small cranefly larvae, or some other fly larvae, if you se another one, take pics and post, then bottle it and take it to ur lfs, mine had a book with aquatic insects behind the counter and some other books on parisites and they showed me that i had a fly larvae when i found a small worm-like thing clinging to the glass at the top of the tank
 
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