Yes, I admit it: I like Snot. I know lots of folks think Snot is utterly disgusting, but I don't care. I think Snot is great!
Snot is a leech that appeared mysteriously, along with several of his kin, in my outdoor pond years back. He and his buddies would very occasionally be observed displaying their graceful swimming style in broad daylight, but they were generally very secretive. The original Snot lived for a good long while in an indoor tank with fish, shrimp, etc. but was sadly found dead one morning of unknown causes. Snot II replaced him, and has thrived for at least a couple years now, growing to heroic proportions. I managed to snap a quick pic of him a day or two ago on one of his rare diurnal excursions, apparently lured into the open by a heavy feeding of Hikari Ocean Plankton.
Snot is, like the majority of leeches, not a bloodsucker. He is a scavenger who subsists on various organic debris found on the bottom. I have never observed him interfering with any of his tankmates in any way; this includes the smallest of fish and fry, and even shrimp and their newly hatched young. His swimming is sinuous and lovely; his undulations are like those of a snake, but in a vertical plane rather than a horizontal one. He is an absolute joy to watch when he swims, and if you belong to the school of aquariological thought that recognizes a "clean-up crew" as an essential part of a tank, one that performs work that properly should be done by you...well, a nice big leech is just about the perfect member of that crew. He does the job, doesn't bother anybody, is ignored by everybody, and looks impressive as hell in the process.
Sadly, I wasn't able to get a pic of him swimming; instead, he is stretching himself out to near maximum length as he inch-worms his way across the bottom. He's much less impressive moving this way, but it shows off his prodigious growth to best advantage. My pic shows my Chinese HiFin Shark just behind Snot; the HiFin is roughly 4.5 inches in length, and Snot is well over 9 inches when fully extended.
Neither Snot (the original), nor Snot II, nor Snot III (another slightly smaller incarnation of Snot in another tank) is a wet pet for everybody. An aquarist whose interest lies only in fish with pedigrees, or whose tanks cannot have algae, or whose finger is constantly hovering over the Panic button in case some horrifying bug or critter dares to show itself...well, that person need not apply. But if you are thrilled when a new species of spider appears in your basement, if you devoted much of your miss-spent youth to turning over logs and stones to look for critters, or if you find beauty in things like insects and snakes and warthogs...hey, you need to get you some Snot.
Snot is a leech that appeared mysteriously, along with several of his kin, in my outdoor pond years back. He and his buddies would very occasionally be observed displaying their graceful swimming style in broad daylight, but they were generally very secretive. The original Snot lived for a good long while in an indoor tank with fish, shrimp, etc. but was sadly found dead one morning of unknown causes. Snot II replaced him, and has thrived for at least a couple years now, growing to heroic proportions. I managed to snap a quick pic of him a day or two ago on one of his rare diurnal excursions, apparently lured into the open by a heavy feeding of Hikari Ocean Plankton.
Snot is, like the majority of leeches, not a bloodsucker. He is a scavenger who subsists on various organic debris found on the bottom. I have never observed him interfering with any of his tankmates in any way; this includes the smallest of fish and fry, and even shrimp and their newly hatched young. His swimming is sinuous and lovely; his undulations are like those of a snake, but in a vertical plane rather than a horizontal one. He is an absolute joy to watch when he swims, and if you belong to the school of aquariological thought that recognizes a "clean-up crew" as an essential part of a tank, one that performs work that properly should be done by you...well, a nice big leech is just about the perfect member of that crew. He does the job, doesn't bother anybody, is ignored by everybody, and looks impressive as hell in the process.
Sadly, I wasn't able to get a pic of him swimming; instead, he is stretching himself out to near maximum length as he inch-worms his way across the bottom. He's much less impressive moving this way, but it shows off his prodigious growth to best advantage. My pic shows my Chinese HiFin Shark just behind Snot; the HiFin is roughly 4.5 inches in length, and Snot is well over 9 inches when fully extended.
Neither Snot (the original), nor Snot II, nor Snot III (another slightly smaller incarnation of Snot in another tank) is a wet pet for everybody. An aquarist whose interest lies only in fish with pedigrees, or whose tanks cannot have algae, or whose finger is constantly hovering over the Panic button in case some horrifying bug or critter dares to show itself...well, that person need not apply. But if you are thrilled when a new species of spider appears in your basement, if you devoted much of your miss-spent youth to turning over logs and stones to look for critters, or if you find beauty in things like insects and snakes and warthogs...hey, you need to get you some Snot.
