Worm question
- Thread starter Texas1203
- Start date
I accidentally broke the lid to the first test tube catcher. Had to wait 2 days for Amazon to deliver another one. Put it in last night and caught two more of these suckers. One is at the top of tube, you can barely see it with the rising sun light on the tank right now. The other was making its way inside. I took it out gave them a rubbing alcohol bath, rebaited with brine shrimp… now waiting for more to find their way to the trap.
Update: ok this is turning into a nightmare real quick. I used media bags and cut them to cover the output on my fluval fx6. 
I did this because my first two fish will most likely be the rope/reed fish, and they like to go on journeys sometimes. I saw what looked like, idk eggs stuck to the mesh.
Turns out they were leeches pressed up against the mesh due to the water pressure. I know because I touched one with the tweezers and it let go and went for a spiraling ride due to water flow. I was able to get one, the other in somewhere in the tank.
At the end of this month it will be 3 months since I’ve had the filter running. Because I do not have a real bio load at this time (with 3 shrimp and 2 snails), I figured 3 months was a good estimate of when to clean the filter.
After seeing these two leeches stuck in the out put, I am worried I have a canister filter full of them. I used biohome in the filter and filter floss… I am just updating this thread in case anyone else has this problem.
I am going on vacation this weekend and will not be back until mid October…. i will definitely update this thread when I go to clean canister filter out. I am not sure if they were sucked in by the intake or if eggs are hatching in filter?
Thanks to all who have shown concern!!!
I did this because my first two fish will most likely be the rope/reed fish, and they like to go on journeys sometimes. I saw what looked like, idk eggs stuck to the mesh.
Turns out they were leeches pressed up against the mesh due to the water pressure. I know because I touched one with the tweezers and it let go and went for a spiraling ride due to water flow. I was able to get one, the other in somewhere in the tank.
At the end of this month it will be 3 months since I’ve had the filter running. Because I do not have a real bio load at this time (with 3 shrimp and 2 snails), I figured 3 months was a good estimate of when to clean the filter.
After seeing these two leeches stuck in the out put, I am worried I have a canister filter full of them. I used biohome in the filter and filter floss… I am just updating this thread in case anyone else has this problem.
I am going on vacation this weekend and will not be back until mid October…. i will definitely update this thread when I go to clean canister filter out. I am not sure if they were sucked in by the intake or if eggs are hatching in filter?
Thanks to all who have shown concern!!!
My exact fear!!! Im just not sure what I out in the filter that may have had eggs?? I uses the round filters that came with it, and filled 2 trays with biohome and one with biohome and filter floss. I took the carbon out because I did plan on “pimpin my filter” like I saw on the pond guru. So I do have pond filters, still unopened. If I have to change the filters I am at least prepared. If the biohome needs to be replaced I still have the bio balls that came with the fluval. I also still have the carbon filter I could add back. I did leave the other non carbon black filter that came with the fluval in the canister. Of those things I have no idea what could have had eggs??? I am really at a loss.
I do not want to start over, this has been a10 month venture. I started with the tank, built the stand myself, and slowly been putting it together. I wasn’t worried about the filter having carbon and chemical filtration to start, because I knew it would be at least 3 months before I added fish.
I wanted to make sure it was cycled and the plants had time (like a month or two) to take root and grow back from melt. I will keep posting…. Maybe I just need to break down and get fish… i hear loaches like to snack on leeches, hopefully rope fish do too.
Okay, before we progress to nuclear weapons or the use of fire...relax. The majority of leeches do not suck blood, but subsist on worms and smaller critters, as predators and/or scavengers. The mere fact that these guys are attracted to brine shrimp seems to indicate that they belong to that camp, i.e. carnivorous but not parasitic. They have a sucker at each end; the rear fat end is just used for anchoring the critter in place, while the pointier front end is the mouth, although it can also be used to hold position or inchworm along a surface.
You're obviously getting freaked out by these things...a lot of people would...but I'm pretty sure that they are closer to being a pest rather than an actual danger. Keep trapping them, but no need to go overboard with sterilizing the tank. I've never heard of them appearing in such numbers as to be called an infestation.
A confession: a few months ago, a smallish leech came into one of my tanks on some plants that I brought in from my outdoor pond. When I noticed it in the tank it was perhaps an inch long. I left it alone, and it's now about three inches in length. Never seen it parasitizing any living critter in the tank, but it will show up when frozen food is introduced and swim gracefully through the water, ignoring and being ignored by the fish.
I'm not saying you should learn to love them, but don't let them destroy your peace of mind either. Considering that they are sold in large numbers to be used as fishing bait, I'll bet many decent-sized carnivorous fish will eat them given the chance. I know that walleyes, carp and catfish, at least, definitely eat them. Ropefish and worms are practically made for each other!
You're obviously getting freaked out by these things...a lot of people would...but I'm pretty sure that they are closer to being a pest rather than an actual danger. Keep trapping them, but no need to go overboard with sterilizing the tank. I've never heard of them appearing in such numbers as to be called an infestation.
A confession: a few months ago, a smallish leech came into one of my tanks on some plants that I brought in from my outdoor pond. When I noticed it in the tank it was perhaps an inch long. I left it alone, and it's now about three inches in length. Never seen it parasitizing any living critter in the tank, but it will show up when frozen food is introduced and swim gracefully through the water, ignoring and being ignored by the fish.
I'm not saying you should learn to love them, but don't let them destroy your peace of mind either. Considering that they are sold in large numbers to be used as fishing bait, I'll bet many decent-sized carnivorous fish will eat them given the chance. I know that walleyes, carp and catfish, at least, definitely eat them. Ropefish and worms are practically made for each other!
I agree, I am not trying to start over and go nuclear on the tank. I had traps in for a while and didn’t seem to be catching anymore.Okay, before we progress to nuclear weapons or the use of fire...relax. The majority of leeches do not suck blood, but subsist on worms and smaller critters, as predators and/or scavengers. The mere fact that these guys are attracted to brine shrimp seems to indicate that they belong to that camp, i.e. carnivorous but not parasitic. They have a sucker at each end; the rear fat end is just used for anchoring the critter in place, while the pointier front end is the mouth, although it can also be used to hold position or inchworm along a surface.
You're obviously getting freaked out by these things...a lot of people would...but I'm pretty sure that they are closer to being a pest rather than an actual danger. Keep trapping them, but no need to go overboard with sterilizing the tank. I've never heard of them appearing in such numbers as to be called an infestation.
A confession: a few months ago, a smallish leech came into one of my tanks on some plants that I brought in from my outdoor pond. When I noticed it in the tank it was perhaps an inch long. I left it alone, and it's now about three inches in length. Never seen it parasitizing any living critter in the tank, but it will show up when frozen food is introduced and swim gracefully through the water, ignoring and being ignored by the fish.
I'm not saying you should learn to love them, but don't let them destroy your peace of mind either. Considering that they are sold in large numbers to be used as fishing bait, I'll bet many decent-sized carnivorous fish will eat them given the chance. I know that walleyes, carp and catfish, at least, definitely eat them. Ropefish and worms are practically made for each other!
That being said, I did clean the fuval fx6 today for the first time. Of course, there were leeches in the filter. I went ahead and took out the filter pads that came with the fluval and packed it with pond filters (coarse and mid). I did take the baskets and spray them with a waterhose. This was to get leeches off the baskets. The biomedia was not rinsed with the hose (so don’t freak out people).
There was also another nice surprise in the filter. 4 shrimp!!!!!! I am absolutely amazed they lived in the filter for that long. It took me forever to fish them out, but I did get them and dumped them back in the tank. I also went and put fine filter pads around the filter intake. It’s not the prettiest job, but hopefully will help them from getting sucked in the filter again. I did take pics of the leeches and the tiny shrimp I put back in the tank. There is also a pic of a leech trapped inside the out put. It’s hard to make out in the pic, but i did try to circle it. I will be putting traps back in today.
Tomorrow I am headed to Austins Aquatic-dome to purchase my first fish for this tank!!!!! I will post pics of the fish once they are in the tank.
