Water Hyacinths/duckweed...leeches..????

[ghostsaw]

I started a tank today put some water hyacinths and duckweed in a tank. When I did I noticed little black worms wriggling around on the bottom. There are also little clear worms that "walk" around like a inch worms. I think I see some really small snails in there too. [FONT=arial,sans-serif][SIZE=-1]I got these plants because I also got a ribbed newt today and that they would help get the tank going. Would like some advice on these plants. I took the newt out when I noticed the leeches. Is there anyway to get rid of all these critters?
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[SludgeMunkey]

Are you sure they are leeches? Sounds like planaria to me.

http://www.caudata.org/cc/articles/Tank_critters.shtml

If you can provide pictures, we can help you identify these invaders, and suggest ways to control them, if necessary.


This brings up the point to always quarantine any living thing at least 30 days before adding it to a tank.

A search of the forums using keywords like quarantine, plants, and the like will provide you with a plethora of information on this topic.

 

[Jennewt]

Did you add any blackworms to the tank, or did those come from the water hyacinths?

I don't think planaria "walk" as described, though I may be wrong. The "walk" described does sound like the motion of the leeches that arrive with shipments of live blackworms feeders. It's likely (but not certain) that this is what they are.

To get rid of all the critters, you'll have to clean out the tank and start over. Plants can be "sterilized" by various methods:
http://www.aquajake.com/blog/planti...planting/disinfecting-plants-before-or-after/

 

[Coastal Groovin]

If starting over is out of the question you can put a large flat rock on the bottom. Turn on the lights . The leeches will gather under the rock. Then you can remove them. Jen makes a good point about leeches coming in with blackworms. I always spread mine out on a white plate and look through them. I save them and use them for fish bait for sunfish. I also use large leeches that I pull off of snapping turtles and use them as bass and walleye bait. I'm sure this makes the turtle very happy. The leech not so much

 

[ghostsaw]

Since I just started the tank I just put it on my back porch and started a completely new one. Learned my lesson about water plants. Just glad that I didn't have a established tank to rip apart. I didn't put any blackworms in it either. I am pretty sure they came from the bag of duckweed I bought at the reptile show.

 

[ghostsaw]

I was checking out the tank and I have noticed alot snails popping up in there. I wish I still had my puffer fish they love to eat those crunchy snails...

 

[Azhael]

Snails are ok, they are no thread to caudates generally speaking, and they are a good help in breaking down organic matter, helping to the well being of the whole community that a stablished tank is.

 

[Abrahm]

You'll want to avoid using water hyacinth in an indoor tank. They require a ton of nutrients and a lot of light to flourish. You'll never be able to provide them with what they need inside and the hyacinth will just end up dying and making a really big mess of your water. I was a victim of this after doing the research after the fact mistake.

 

[ghostsaw]

now I have a small 10 gal pond on my back porch for the summer........

 

[ghostsaw]

Went on my back porch today and was suprised by some nice flowers. They are also alot of little snails that live in there as well......

 

[caudatadude28]

Wow, that is a beautiful plant!

 

[Kerry1968]

Wow! It was worth all the problems you had with invading critters for that beautiful flower!