FishProfiles.com Message Forums

Yesterday after doing a water change in my 10g Endler's tank I found this...black, ~1" long, definitely alive

Any ideas what it is?
Are there probably more in the tank or not?
Are they harmful to my tank/fish?



Theresa_M attached this image:


~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

Hmm it looks like a leech.. iam not sure though.
Here its a link of lots of parasites..maybe that will help you.
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/BODY_FA041

---

I know human beings and fish can co-exist peacefully.

is it not one of them gravel worms i read some where that they live under the gravel and feed on poop they are supposed to be quite good for your tank apparently you only ever see them if you water quality gets poor or if you are doing a deep gravel clean. im told that after a water change they will return to the gravel and wont be seen again.

however.....

i have never seen a picture so i dont know if this is what u have its just a posability



EDIT: oh and if it is the above ^ they probably will be more but they wont harm your fish (Again im just going off what im told)

Last edited by johnsfish1984 at 24-Jun-2005 07:02

Theresa

I hate to be the deliverer of bad news

IT'S A LEECH!!!

I'm really sorry, really I amBut, now everyone else can rest in peace I suppose, as I've always been told things come in sets of 3s and you would be lucky number 3

[link=I was lucky number 2]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/General%20Freshwater/60010.html?200505311740" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link], while I guess we could blame [link=SneakyPete]http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/General%20Freshwater/59359.html?200506222133" style="COLOR: #00FF00[/link] for starting this all off

So far I haven't found any attached to my fishbut just the mere thought of them being in the tank freaks me out still...

I wish I could say that my fight is over, but it isn't...I was planning on moving everyone to the 55 yesterday, and treating the flipping tank, but well, let's just say i no longer need to mop

Congratulations, on your wonderful findtreating with salt solution does not work, so don't waste your time...go for something to treat parasites and contains copper, that's what I will do if I can ever find enough room to move everyone else to...heidi




~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Well boy meets girl and it's a good bet
Girl's gonna play a little hard to get
But they both got the same thing on their mind
Ain't that the way that the world goes round
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~




houston attached this image:


"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

It's not a leech. Leeches always have flattened, segmented bodies and sucking mouthparts.

It looks like some kind of harmless nematode, in which case it would be best to leave it in the tank because they fill the same niche as an earthworm does on land. Worms, and particularly nematodes, make up a large portion of the invertebrate fauna in most natural aquatic ecosystems.

---

I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

Hmmm...I don't know if this helps but when I found it I thought it was a piece of gravel, it was curled up like that. As I said, black, about an inch long, definitely smooth and moved like a worm, and that tapering towards the back end.

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

It's definitely a nematode, and most aquatic nematodes are harmless. Several months ago I found one living in the gravel in a display tank at work that was a good 18" long. It didn't appear to be parasitic, so I just put it back into the tank and it crawled into the gravel again.

[/font]

---

I'm not your neighbor, you Bakersfield trash.

well most nematodes i know of are parasitic and thats how they are sructualy designed; with a sharp percing mouth peice that borrows through the flesh of vertibrates and arthropods with most of their inerds consisting of digestive and breeding organs very common of round worms (nematodes) but thats not to say there aren't any non parasitic ones infact there are at least 1 third of the phylum of free living species but just uncomon and my guess is if it was in the gravel than it is luckly a non parasitic species!
Declan

Last year I had some orange "worms" in my tank. They were about 1" long. I believe they came in off some plants I got and they set up "shop" in my power filter for a while and eventually went away. My maintence was up to par and I had kept the same schedule. I'd figure they had to be doing some good by eating something or another that was in excess. Well the fish never seemed to be affected anyway.

:#(figures SneakyPete and I are the only ones cursed with leeches...:#(if it's a worm I guess keep it:#(mine actually suction themselves onto the gravel vac so I don't figure they are much to my liking:#(

At least you are lucky

And CorryAddict 18"that is just plain creepy

heidi

"I've got a great ambition to die of exhaustion rather than boredom." Thomas Carlyle

...a good 18" long

Mine went down the drain right after I took the pictures. Harmless or not I don't want it

Thank you for all the replies [/font]

~~~~~~~~~~~~
There is water at the bottom of the ocean

eww

That's freaky as! a friend of mine found 1 in his tank and didn't have a clue what it was...so being the outgoing f00l he is, he put it on his hand and sure enuf it started sucking! Twas a leech!

I just cleaned my tank..removing all the stones and driftwoods.Then i noticed a worm like thing..like on the pic that cory showed above but mine was white color..what is it?

---

I know human beings and fish can co-exist peacefully.

I would have said leech too, the ones around here look deceptively round-bodied when they aren't stretched out.

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett