Help ! I found a leech in my leech-free tank. I WANT TO GET RID OF ALL THE LEECHES !!!

[KittenFishMom]

I so want to rid my tanks of leeches. Does anyone know a faster better way than I describe below? @Colu, @Biotope Biologist, @nabokovfan87,  @Guppysnail, and anyone else who may know about leeches.

Last fall before I knew about RR, I set up a Walstad style tank. I didn't have a lot of plants on hand, so I saved a bunch from the lake. I looked them over carefully, but some leeches made it into that 55 gallon tank. I very very carefully set up a second 10 gallon tank with new plants and new substrate. I cleaned the filter with salt and peroxide.  Somehow the leeches spread to that tank. I am guessing a bit of plant stuck to a net, or my arm.

I then set up 2 new tanks, being even more careful because I was going to move the livestock into those tanks when I took down and cleaned the 2 tanks with leeches.

As soon as the cory fry leave, I was going to start those projects.

Today, while I was catching cory fry, I found a leech in one of the 2 leech-free tanks. A few days before finding that leech, I moved some extra water lettuce from that tank to the other leech-free tank. I no long think either leech-free tanks are leech-free. I no longer have good a cycled tank to put the livestock and plants in (after RR cleaning) while I rebuild any of the tanks. 

I have been manually removing every leech I find every evening after lights out, using a flashlight to find them. I am pretty sure they are living off the young ramshorn because of some experiments I have been doing to try to find their food source.  All the tanks have lots of ramshorn snails.

I am so discouraged. I know it is very hard to get rid of leeches, once they get established. The only thing I know that will do it, is to remove everything and clean the tank, filters and hardscape, scrubbing with a paste of salt and vinegar., then rinsing completely several times, and letting the tank dry to bone dry for several days. Then start over with new substrate, new filter media, plants that made it through RR and livestock you have been watching for and signs of leeches. Of course, first you have to cycle a tank for the livestock, and keep it leech free until all the leeches and eggs are gone.

Does anyone know a better way to get tanks to be leech free? I have fish, shrimp, snails, plants, and don't forget leeches. I might try to give away the shrimp.  I'm not a fussy person, but I hate the sight of leeches inching across the glass. Carefully picking them out by hand while trying not to let them drop their eggs or young is not showing any sign of slowing the population down. 

Thank you in advance. 

[Colu]

I have no experience with leech eradication hopefully someone else can chip 

[KittenFishMom]

@Colu I always think of you as the go to person when a cure for a problem is needed.  Thank you for all your help in the past and in the future.

[Colu]

On 4/29/2023 at 2:29 AM, KittenFishMom said:

@Colu I always think of you as the go to person when a cure for a problem is needed.  Thank you for all your help in the past and in the future.

It something I have never had to deal with in over 20 years of keeping fish maybe I have just been lucky 

[KittenFishMom]

@Colu A friend use to say: "If you think all your problem are your bad luck, you luck will not change."

It wasn't bad luck that I got leeches, It was not being smart enough to avoid using untreated lake plants.

[nabokovfan87]

I would start with a med called no planaria.

If you don't have snails or can move them, also add salt.

[Biotope Biologist]

Everything that kills leeches also kills snails and is not so great for shrimp. 

[The endler guy]

On 4/29/2023 at 10:36 AM, Biotope Biologist said:

Everything that kills leeches also kills snails and is not so great for shrimp. 

No planaria in my experience has been fine for shrimp 

[Rainbowfh]

I set up a brand new shrimp tank, everything new, I was so excited it was finally cycling and ordered a few plant from Aquarium coop. Got a few new shrimp in there finally and to my surprise discovered an Asian leech stalking the smallest shrimp in the substrate. This was a few weeks ago, I thought it may have been just an isolated stray on that hitched on the plant but those initial 3 shrimp are dead. I bought 3 more. I just found some baby albino cory in my filter which kinda freaked me out so I put them in the little shrimp tank and they were doing great until as of today I found a baby Cory fry hollowed out and dead. I thought that’s strange, found a dead shrimp too. So watched the tank for about 15 minutes intently and saw another Asian leech stalking a baby cory in the substrate and they are fast. Grabbed my turkey baster and managed to get it out but they stick. These type leeches feed on invertebrates! Shrimp, snails, baby fish. I’m very disappointed in this situation because I have no idea how many could be in my new little shrimp tank, I can’t get more shrimp ( I’m down to 2) until I figure this out! These leeches don’t just feed on “black worms”! I don’t even feed anything black worms. I’m not a happy camper. I looked up Aquarium Coop to find a phone number because this is NOT ok! No phone number to found. Hmmm

[Guppysnail]

@Rainbowfh Aquarium coop does their customer service online. Go to the online store. Click help then click contact us. 
 

In the future Reverse Respiration will help you be certain plants have no uninvited guests. It kills all pests that come in on plants before I putting them in your tank. 

 

[KittenFishMom]

I'm planning to take down and clean all my tanks this summer. I'm hoping I can rehome the fish, but it isn't likely. The person that was taking them is now ill and will need surgery this summer.  I have given her more than 200 peppered cory, and there is still a hord or them in my 55 tank. I'm thankful for RR for the plants, but I don't have any place big enough for the remaining corries. 

It is my own fault. I didn't think corries would breed like guppies. I keep finding mystery snail eggs clutches too.  I have got to only get males of any species from here on out ! Babies are sweet but I have no place to get rid of them. I don't want to get into shipping living beings.

[nabokovfan87]

Maybe there is a tub / tote that you can get to house the fish while you work on the tanks.  I'm very sorry for all of your struggles @KittenFishMom .   There are some dewormers that should work for leeches, but I understand wanting to basically start over. 

I used a bunch of the 40G or so black totes from the hardware store to hold my fish for a few months while I was working on construction issues at the house.

[KittenFishMom]

@nabokovfan87 I have kept wild fish in very large totes. The sides spread out and keeping the water at a level that works for an HOB is very tricky. Also, I don't have a place for a large tote inside. I have to move things around to make a footprint for the 12 gallon tote I use to mix R/O water for changes.  If I put fish in the 12 gallon tote, I can't do water changes. If I put the large tote outside, the raccoons try to fish in them, the chipmunks fall in and sometimes don't find the escape stick before they sink. Not to mention all the flying insects that will lay eggs in the water. 

The leeches seems to have finished off all the shrimp. So I don't have to worry about their population exploding. The neon tetras have kindly never bred. The same for the male bettas. Now I'm wondering if the hillstream loaches will start producing when I'm not watching. I think they are still too young.  I will have to find out if they are different sexes and boot the females soon.

[nabokovfan87]

On 5/19/2023 at 6:58 PM, KittenFishMom said:

The sides spread out and keeping the water at a level that works for an HOB is very tricky.

Agreed, I had to run them off air.

On 5/19/2023 at 6:58 PM, KittenFishMom said:

If I put fish in the 12 gallon tote, I can't do water changes. If I put the large tote outside, the raccoons try to fish in them, the chipmunks fall in and sometimes don't find the escape stick before they sink. Not to mention all the flying insects that will lay eggs in the water. 

That's very frustrating, I'm sorry.

 

[Biotope Biologist]

@Rainbowfh leeches are ubiquitous in nature. Anywhere that is wet is likely to hold leeches. As such there is no such a thing as leech free or ‘pest’ free. This leech is likely belonging to the genus erpobdella which do indeed feed on small invertebrates. 
 

However. Leeches when they predate swallow whole as they have no jaw and a very primitive intestinal tract. There would be no evidence that they struck except for a smaller population of baby shrimp. The cory likely if attempted by the leech would have killed it. As their dorsal and pectoral fins are lined with spines. 
 

Shrimp can be rather sensitive to changing water parameters. Even a simple temperatures change or the stress of travel can kill them. I drip acclimated mine and still lost about 5 for unknown reasons. No bother because they’re food for my fish, but I digress.

 

ACO is very committed to fish health and customer service. And I’m not just saying that because we use these forums.

[Mary W.]

Asian Freshwater Leaches can come in with plants from any vendor.  Eggs/wormlets are tiny and can slip through any inspection process.  I learned this the hard way.