There's A Thing In My Tank

[Brinnneyy29]

K so, was checkin out my tank and I saw this worm lookin thing crawling along the the side under the gravel. All my fish are healthy and accounted for, my shrimp are good, my snails are good, plants are healthy. But what the heck is it and do we think I can vacuum it up with a gravel vacuum?

 

[Sheldon13]

I’ve never seen anything like that! Can you see a mouth end?

 

[86 ssinit]

Me neither!! What have you been feedin? Almost looks like an earth worm. Looks to be at least 3” long. Could be a leach.

 

[Brinnneyy29]

I’ve never seen anything like that! Can you see a mouth end?

Nope I'm assuming the part you're seeing is the head cuz that's the part that's leading

Me neither!! What have you been feedin? Almost looks like an earth worm. Looks to be at least 3” long. Could be a leach.

Frozen blood worms, frozen brine shrimp, and fluval bug bites. (Not all at once, fridays I alternate between shrimp and worms)

And its longer than 3 inches that's longer than my adult khulI loach and some of the body is still hidden

 

[Demeter]

Almost looks like a really long loach! Might be a worm, possibly a leach but can’t say for sure unless you get a full body picture. Was it moving like a worm or was it wiggling around, or inching along like a leach?

 

[Brinnneyy29]

Almost looks like a really long loach! Might be a worm, possibly a leach but can’t say for sure unless you get a full body picture. Was it moving like a worm or was it wiggling around, or inching along like a leach?

Idk cuz it looked like it had ridges like a worm but it could shrink down like a leech does

 

[Gone]

Leech.

I had a bunch of them one time soon after I had added some plants. The little suckers would pop their heads out of the gravel like Whack A Mole.

The ultimate solution was to be more diligent about vacuuming my gravel. They're growing and reproducing in the gravel. Keep the gravel clean and they'll disappear.

 

[Brinnneyy29]

Leech.

I had a bunch of them one time soon after I had added some plants. The little suckers would pop their heads out of the gravel like Whack A Mole.

The ultimate solution was to be more diligent about vacuuming my gravel. They're growing and reproducing in the gravel. Keep the gravel clean and they'll disappear.

Ok but how do I get this one out? Will it get sucked up with the vacuum?

 

[LaTulip]

Leech.

I had a bunch of them one time soon after I had added some plants. The little suckers would pop their heads out of the gravel like Whack A Mole.

The ultimate solution was to be more diligent about vacuuming my gravel. They're growing and reproducing in the gravel. Keep the gravel clean and they'll disappear.

Whack a mole... hilarious

Ok but how do I get this one out? Will it get sucked up with the vacuum?

You can try. But being that their tough little suckers (no pun intended) I would use forceps if you have them.

 

[Gone]

Ok but how do I get this one out? Will it get sucked up with the vacuum?

It's likely you have many more than one. I'd recommend that you focus on eliminating the friendly environment for the little buggers (clean gravel).