# Uninvited critters



## stcyrwm (Apr 20, 2005)

My shrimp only tank is beginning to have a lot of uninvited critters. First there were what I think are planaria (thanks Piscesgirl), then ostrapods and copepods and now some sort of red worm living in the substrate.

Anyone familiar with this red worm? It is about half the width of paper clip wire and it has about a half inch of body sticking straight up out of the substrate. Any ideas??????

Is this just the normal evolution of a tank with out fish? Or is there a problem here having all these creepy crawlies? Should I add fish (or something else) to get these under control or just enjoy the biodiversity ?

Thanks, Bill


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## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

> thanks Piscesgirl


Sorry  I try to rinse plants off well to remove any critters but I don't treat them in effort not to kill the plants instead. Other than planaria, the other critters I've encountered over the years have not stuck around -- they kind of went in cycles. I had ostracods, they disappeared, also some type of worm more like a leech (not in my shrimp tank though), and they too are gone, and even my ramshorn snails are disappearing  Planaria, however, continues to vex me. Sometimes I try to trap them using a little dixie cup with cheesecloth rubberbanded around the top and a food wafer inside and lay that in the tank, but usually I give up. Other critters haven't bothered me, but the planaria do. It's up to you to really decide whether the critters bother you or not -- if they aren't harmful to shrimp, I tend to ignore them.


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## stcyrwm (Apr 20, 2005)

Piscesgirl said:


> Sorry  I try to rinse plants off well to remove any critters but I don't treat them in effort not to kill the plants instead.


Hi Piscesgirl,

No need to say sorry. I was trying to thank you for helping me ID the white worm I talked about in this thread:http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/showthread.php?t=9032 . Sorry I wasn't clearer.

Thanks again for all your help, Bill


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

I had these gross things (see photo for an idea) in one of my tanks, and finally determined that they had to be a leech of sort, after much investigation. Maybe this is what you're seeing in your substrate too. I apparently brought them in on some wild Anubias a couple of years ago, and the only time I see them is when I vacuum the substrate deeply, then they get sucked out.

I'm not usually squeamish, but these creatures are stiff/wire-like things that whip around when you disturb them and give me the willies. Ewww.... :shock: I haven't seen any sign of them for a while, so I'm hoping with patience they have been wiped out.


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## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

Oh whew! I was thinking maybe I sold you some plants with planaria on them, but I couldn't remember selling you any. *relieved*


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## stcyrwm (Apr 20, 2005)

Jan,

How big were yours? I can't tell from the photo. They certainly look similar. What makes you think they were leaches? They seem pretty different than a leach to me. I'll "google" leaches though and see what I find.

Thanks, Bill

PS
In reference to the flag fish thread - I put those flag fish in a tank that was starting to get some hair algae and they cleared it out in a couple days. Still a peaceful bunch too, so far.



JanS said:


> I had these gross things (see photo for an idea) in one of my tanks, and finally determined that they had to be a leech of sort, after much investigation. Maybe this is what you're seeing in your substrate too. I apparently brought them in on some wild Anubias a couple of years ago, and the only time I see them is when I vacuum the substrate deeply, then they get sucked out.
> 
> I'm not usually squeamish, but these creatures are stiff/wire-like things that whip around when you disturb them and give me the willies. Ewww.... :shock: I haven't seen any sign of them for a while, so I'm hoping with patience they have been wiped out.


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## JanS (Apr 14, 2004)

Hi Bill,

Mine were about the diameter of a small paper clip and about 3 - 4" long. I was going to post the link I found the info about them on, but it has changed to something else now.
I'm not entirely sure they are leeches, but that was the very closest thing I could find that fit the exact description, and it said the eggs could hitchhike in on plants. Since it wasn't too long before that I had brought in those wild Anubias, it all seemed to fit together.

BTW, that's good news about the Flagfish.


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## Veneer (Jun 12, 2005)

stcyrwm said:


> Anyone familiar with this red worm? It is about half the width of paper clip wire and it has about a half inch of body sticking straight up out of the substrate. Any ideas??????


They sound like _Tubifex_ (literally, "tube-maker") sp. or similar.


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## Veneer (Jun 12, 2005)

JanS said:


> I had these gross things (see photo for an idea) in one of my tanks, and finally determined that they had to be a leech of sort, after much investigation. Maybe this is what you're seeing in your substrate too. I apparently brought them in on some wild Anubias a couple of years ago, and the only time I see them is when I vacuum the substrate deeply, then they get sucked out.
> 
> I'm not usually squeamish, but these creatures are stiff/wire-like things that whip around when you disturb them and give me the willies. Ewww.... :shock: I haven't seen any sign of them for a while, so I'm hoping with patience they have been wiped out.


Your picture does not seem to depict a Hirudinean; burrowing tendencies and "case" rigidity suggests that it, too, may be _Tubifex_ (or a similar Oligochaete).


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