Leeches

[Lindsay]

I have a 55 gal with plants, mystery snails, panda corys, plecos and neon tetras. When I was cleaning today I found leeches in my bucket.  Anything I can do. Are they harmful? Just freaking out a little 

[Pakal]

1 hour ago, Lindsay said:

I have a 55 gal with plants, mystery snails, panda corys, plecos and neon tetras. When I was cleaning today I found leeches in my bucket.  Anything I can do. Are they harmful? Just freaking out a little 

According to www.pondplace.com, it says "Parasitic leeches can be harmful to your fish causing anemia and can spread protozoal blood parasites between fish. Leeches found on fish should be picked off and skin swabbed with a disinfectant."

[CT_]

are they leaches are planaria?

Planaria aren't a big deal.

Edit: there's no scale in that photo, but planaria are quite small usually under 1cm.

Edited February 9, 2021 by CT_
fixed photo

[Aubrey]

I had brown leeches in a tank with fish and Malaysian trumpet snails. This particular species of leech stayed mostly in the substrate and from my research were reported to feed upon snails and not fish. I think they did reduce the number of snails, but I also had assassin snails in the tank. I never found any assassin snail shells empty, but the number of mts lowered more quickly than before. Eventually after a couple of months I no longer saw any leeches. Not sure if they ran out of available food with the snails or if the fish picked them off or if it was combination of the two. Also I never saw them on a snail or a fish. So I would just keep an eye on them and try to identify what kind of leech it is, maybe we can help identify them and suggest an appropriate solution.