Leeches: How do I kill them, and keep nerites and RCS

jweis · Post by **jweis** » Sun May 29, 2011 10:25 pm

After a lot of internet seaching, I am pretty certain I have leeches (they move like inchworms and aren't planaria). They aren't bothering my fish, but I have seen them crawling out of three dead mystery snails (very gross and very sad). I am not sure if the leeches killed the mystery snails or if they just feasted on them once they were dead.

I have about a dozen nerite snails and a few dozen RCS.

Any recommendations for killing the leeches without harming the fish, nerites and RCS?

I just set up my second tank with the new aqua soil, but it needs to cycle before I can move the shrimp or snails into it. Plus with all the plants in my tank, it would be a real chore to find all the snails and shrimp. So, I am hoping for a whole tank chemical suggetion....

Ghazanfar Ghori · Post by **Ghazanfar Ghori** » Tue May 31, 2011 9:10 am

I thought leaches swam around. Ugh! I hate leaches! Gives me the heebiegeebies!

jweis · Post by **jweis** » Tue May 31, 2011 9:22 am

I don't like them either. Very gross. I don't want to kill all my snails since they do such a good job keeping my tank algae free. I can't figure out how to kill the leeches without killing the snails.

jweis · Post by **jweis** » Tue May 31, 2011 10:31 am

So here is my tale of woe:

I've had an aquarium for three years (not counting the years of having one as a child and for a while in college), but I was unhappy with the fake plants and had a hard time keeping the fish alive, so I started a planted tank at the beginning of this year.

Initially I had a huge algae outbreak so I bought a dozen or so nerite snails. They did a great job, but didn't seem to be able to to clean the algae from the mosses. So, I bought some shrimp. I started with RCS, but also got some CRS since they are so beautiful.

Then, I bought a nice plant from a GWAPA auction and it had some some sort of dark, hard-to-kill algae. So, I bought four Amano shrimp (brutes, but they helped with the tough algae that the shrimp and snails wouldn't eat). Then at another GWAPA auction, I bought four beautiful purple and magenta mystery snails. Doug gave me a few assain snails which killed the pesky little pest snails, but left my nerites alone. Everything was great. Fish, snails, shrimp and plants were living in harmony.

Then, the leeches appeared and have killed three of my four mystery snails. I have read that loaches might kill the leeches. Does anyone know if they will eat my nerite snails too? How about my shrimp? Would they be safe with loaches?

Some on other forums suggest completely tearing down the tank and replacing all the substrate. I get a headache just thinking about that.

FrannyB · Post by **FrannyB** » Tue May 31, 2011 10:54 am

I've done a few searches and it sounds like a tear down is on order. This thread has convinced me to make a plant bath for the future.

jweis · Post by **jweis** » Tue May 31, 2011 11:03 am

No, no, no. that is not the answer I am looking for.

There must be something that keeps leeches in check in the wild. The type I have are snail leeches (they don't harm the plants or fish).

Someone else in GWAPA must also have leeches since I am certain they arrived from one of my purchases.

Cristy Keister · Post by **Cristy Keister** » Tue May 31, 2011 11:33 am

What kind of fish are in the tank? I would think that most fish would love to snack on the leeches. They almost always come along with blackworms.

jweis · Post by **jweis** » Tue May 31, 2011 11:38 am

I have neons, rummy nose tetra, fancy guppies, boraras brigittae, nerite snails, and shrimp (CRS and RCS). The leeches bury themselves in the substrate. None of my fish seem interested.

Tyger · Post by **Tyger** » Sun Jun 12, 2011 11:23 pm

Well, I would suggest (1) a bigger fish that will eat them or (2) look for a pest trap. Although a pest trap might trap other critters, I believe you can pull the trap and save the critters you want and kill the leeches. For example, this trap (note funnel enterances for catching worms).

http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/p ... atid=14699

Best Wishes, ~Tyger (Michael)~

jweis · Post by **jweis** » Mon Jun 13, 2011 10:24 am

Tyger wrote:Well, I would suggest (1) a bigger fish that will eat them or (2) look for a pest trap. Although a pest trap might trap other critters, I believe you can pull the trap and save the critters you want and kill the leeches. For example, this trap (note funnel enterances for catching worms).

http://www.fosterandsmithaquatics.com/p ... atid=14699

Best Wishes, ~Tyger (Michael)~

Thanks for the idea. My concern is that there are just so many of them. I am leaning toward moving the nerite snails out of aquarium temporarily, treating it with Clout, then moving the nerites back in.

Has anyone used Clout before? Do I need to do something special with my cannister filter?

Leeches: How do I kill them, and keep nerites and RCS

Leeches: How do I kill them, and keep nerites and RCS

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