• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

What's this worm?

Ags11

Member
Joined
9 Sep 2020
Messages
99
Location
Netherlands
Firstly apologies for no picture - my phone was out of battery.

I spotted a worm I have not seen before in my tank today, just after lights on. It was about two cm long, stretchy and pink-brown. It did not have an arrow head but did look a bit flattened. It was not segmented and was stretchy. It moved over the glass by stretching forward, attaching it's front to the glass, and then contracting. Eventually it detached from the glass and swam off, undulating in an up-down manner.

I wouldn't say the hind part was thicker than the front part, it looked equally thick head to tail.

Looking for suggested names then I can ID it from youtube vids.
 
Last edited:
IMG-20201006-WA0004.jpeg
IMG-20201006-WA0002.jpeg

Got some blurry pictures.
 
Yup it’s a Leech, I’ve been spotting the exact same thing a few times today swimming back and forth in one of the nanos at work, at a glance I first thought it was a Khuli Loach juvenile until it started swimming by vertical undulation and that gave the game away, Leeeech! I’ll see if I can grab a video of it when I’m next in.

:)
 
Should I be worried? Should I cancel my delivery of celestial pearl danios? I don't have any fish currently...

Will it go after me when I am doing my scaping?
 
Last edited:
It’s quite a big leech and if it hooks onto a fishes gills especially a small one it could bleed it dry in no time, whether this actually will happen or not is anyone’s guess it may also just be feeding on detritus worms in the substrate. It’s up to you to test it’s safety with other fish, as it’s the only swimming thing currently in the tank then you may or may not be about to provide it a banquet, as always ‘If in doubt get it out‘. You could try baiting it with some raw pork to see if it will feed from it, if it does then it’s feeding opportunistically and live fish may be on its’ lunch menu.

:)
 
There’s nothing in there to eat except detritus worms and midge larvae.

Given how small CPD are, the leech would be lethal if it gets a taste for vertebrates. I’ll keep an eye out for it tomorrow at lights on and see if I can net it. CPD are tough cookies though!

Or I could be eccentric and keep a leech tank? Very Bond villain.
 
Last edited:
I’d be the second option.

For small stuff I’m now so far down the Marine rabbit hole that I’m one of those growing pest aiptasia to feed nudibranchs that only eat pest aiptasia and now need a Starfish factory to keep a Harlequin shrimp happy once he eats his way through the pest Asterinas in the display tank. Bristleworms I added because I want diversity and Velcro the matted file fish is going back to the shop because despite the live food banquet I’m feeding into the tank he can’t help but browse my Acanthastreas as side dishes!

My digested guide so far for Marine starts something like this -

‘There was an old Woman who swallowed a fly......’

:)
 
I have been on Worm Watch all day but no sign of Dracula. It must have been in the tank a while and I have only seen it once ever. I am torn between using some copper treatment to eliminate the threat or trusting that it is a genuinely harmless species. The copper would kill everything in the substrate so not keen on going that route.
 
Hi all,
I am torn between using some copper treatment to eliminate the threat or trusting that it is a genuinely harmless species. The copper would kill everything in the substrate so not keen on going that route.
In that case the cure would definitely be worse than the Leech. You could try baiting with a <"Planaria trap">?

cheers Darrel
 
I am tending to think leeches are cool and I am prepared to give it a chance. Apparently Barbronia weberi feeds by siphoning up larvae and worms and swallowing them whole, so assuming my species identification is correct it can’t harm even a small fish. An infestation is apparently unlikely as well. But getting a planarian trap as a fallback is a good idea.
 
Back
Top