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    Thread: What kills leeches and are they a threat to fish?

    1. #1
      gonecadd's Avatar
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      What kills leeches and are they a threat to fish?

      I have a kiddie pool used for storing extra plants in and I've found something that looks like a leech. It's a red worm looking thing that appears to be able to grab with one end and pull itself along. The largest one I've come across was about 2" long when it stretched out and only about 1/8" wide.
      I find them hanging on the plants alot but so far have not seen one one a fish.

      I don't like them whatever they are and want them GONE!
      What do you recommend?

      There are a few goldfish and mosquito fish in the pool.
      Will leeches attach to a fish?
      ,Karen
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      Most of the time the leeches found in ponds - especially with plants - are just that: plant leeches. They eat dead leaves and stuff. They are harmless to the fish, and in fact supply a tasty snack.

      To find out though if they're plant leeches or blood suckers, tie a small piece of liver on a string and put it where the leeches are. Come back a few hours later. If the leeches have attached to the liver ... they're blood suckers and should be eradicated. But I'd have to go look up the treatment ... they're that uncommon.

      They have a very high EWWWWWWW! factor, but are harmless for the most part.
      He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion. - Anonymous


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      beckesj is offline Senior Member
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      When we drained our pond two weekends ago I started seeing all these leaches in the shallow waterfall/stream area and on some plants we removed. They really gross me out and if you try to pick them up they latch onto your skin in an instant and you can't shake them off. I was trying to get rid of 100s of snails at the time also so I took any of these two uglies I found away from the pond and sprinkled some stuff I had in my supply cabinet called Green Clean Granular Algicide on them and it worked great, they died within a few minutes. The problem is you have to get them to an area away from your pond or pond run off to kill them, which means picking them up some how. I purchased the Green Clean thru a catalog from "That Fish Place" in PA. Cheapest prices for pond supplies anywhere I've seen and fast delivery. www.thatfishplace.com Good luck!
      Steve


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      Lee, The liver thing is gross. But I may have to try it. Will most any meat work?

      Most of the time if I find one on a lily leaf I toss leaf and all into the sun or stomp the little buggers. With this heat they die in a few minutes.
      At times I need to wade into the pools and I don't want anything except fish sucking on my legs.

      I don't have any waders either. Do you think two pairs of knee high tube socks would help?

      I was reading on the net and found that products that kill argulus will kill leeches too.
      ,Karen
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      I would try a light salting it works on slugs so mayby leechs as well
      YADA X 16 proud member of the blabbermouth club Have faith and hope in your self and each other and the world will be yours TINA


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      Yes, any solid piece of meat should work; beef would probably be the best, like a piece of bloody steak ...

      They're not free swimmers ... they won't get'cha. But if you feel you need to put something between them and you, I think *one* pair of knee highs would do ... they won't be able to penetrate the cotton ... it's too thick.

      By the way, just to antagonize you a bit : leeches are making their way back into medicine, to reduce hematomas, especially when it's surgery to reattach body parts (fingers, hands, etc.). They reduce the pressure on newly grafted nerve endings. Of course, they're usually covered and out of sight of the person to whom they've been attached. But they work in ways nothing else can ... so they're not ALL bad!
      He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion. - Anonymous


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      madeyna is offline Senior Member
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      Lee when my brother Terry had is accident a few years ago they flew him to Harbor view in Seattle. They used leachs on his hand in the black areas. The little buggers can really get around fast. I caught a few trying to escape up his arm. The nurse had a fit I was handling them without gloves. Some of the nurses were totaly grosed out and refused to handle them at all.
      YADA X 16 proud member of the blabbermouth club Have faith and hope in your self and each other and the world will be yours TINA


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      Quote Originally Posted by madeyna View Post
      Lee when my brother Terry had is accident a few years ago they flew him to Harbor view in Seattle. They used leachs on his hand in the black areas. The little buggers can really get around fast. I caught a few trying to escape up his arm. The nurse had a fit I was handling them without gloves. Some of the nurses were totaly grosed out and refused to handle them at all.
      For medicinal purposes, the leeches are almost sterile, so they don't want you handling them and giving them cooties that they may introduce into the wound . The ones that were moving around were not properly attached ... whoever handled them was impatient. Once they attach, they don't move until they're so engorged they fall off. And then they don't move much at all (kinda like me after Thanksgiving Dinner )

      But yes, leeches have a very high *ooooogie* factor. But then, MOST things in the pond (except for the fish!) do! I just don't look anymore
      He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion. - Anonymous


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      Quote Originally Posted by Lee B View Post
      Most of the time the leeches found in ponds - especially with plants - are just that: plant leeches. They eat dead leaves and stuff. They are harmless to the fish, and in fact supply a tasty snack.

      To find out though if they're plant leeches or blood suckers, tie a small piece of liver on a string and put it where the leeches are. Come back a few hours later. If the leeches have attached to the liver ... they're blood suckers and should be eradicated. But I'd have to go look up the treatment ... they're that uncommon.

      They have a very high EWWWWWWW! factor, but are harmless for the most part.
      What she said. Normal to see them in the pond, plants and filter loop.
      Enjoy the journey!

    10. #10
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      They would have to knock me out to use those things on me.
      ,Karen
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      Try Superverm. I know it kills flukes and internal worms so i believe it will kill leaches. I think they are in the same general family.
      Bob

    12. #12
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      I have the same thing in my pond but mine are jet black, and the largest was almost three inches long. I feed'em to the chickens. I had a friend in Harborview as well, he had a melanoma removed from the top of his head and they used leeches to reduce the bruising and swelling. Blahgh


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      Those red wormy things are usually harmless. I don't think they are leeches. I find them in my filters all the time.

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      WC, Supaverm will kill flukes, but only external. It's a sheep dip, by trade. Prazi and Fenbendazole will kill flukes and internal worms. They are wormers (by trade) used for dogs and cats. They just also happen to do flukes.

      According to Nick St. Erne's book (Advanced Koi Care), Pg. 84: "Trichlorphon at .025-0.50 mg/l added to the water will kill leeches."

      Personally, if given the choice between plant leeches and Trichlorphon, I'll take the plant leeches every time.
      He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion. - Anonymous


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      Jessie....3"?????? YIKES! I would not go near that pond again after seeing those.

      Funbug, different kind of wormy things. I also have those in my filters. They are midge fly larva and the fish love to eat them.

      Lee, I've never heard of that med. Although there are only goldfish and skeeterfish in there I deffinately don't want anything that will harm my fish.

      BTW, isn't Supaverm the one that kills goldfish?
      ,Karen
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      Quote Originally Posted by gonecadd View Post
      Jessie....3"?????? YIKES! I would not go near that pond again after seeing those.

      Funbug, different kind of wormy things. I also have those in my filters. They are midge fly larva and the fish love to eat them.

      Lee, I've never heard of that med. Although there are only goldfish and skeeterfish in there I deffinately don't want anything that will harm my fish.

      BTW, isn't Supaverm the one that kills goldfish?

      Yes, Supaverm is an absolute No-No with goldies. And I'm not sure what it would do to mosquito fish.

      Trichlorfon is the active ingredient in Fluke Tabs. It's an organophosphide. It's been used for years, but the ONE TIME I used it, it created *huge* problems due to the pH and water temp (neither of which had been mentioned). Almost half of my fish died horribly from dichlorvos poisoning, a nuerotoxin. That's what the stuff degrades to in heat and high (over 8) pH.

      It will take one helluva problem, with Trichlorfon being the *only* remedy, before I will use it again.

      Your leeches are actually part of a healthy eco-system; it means you've done something right. They have a job to do and they're doing it. Not everything in a pond is beautiful, but they all have a reason for being there.

      "Getting rid" of them is really not a good thing. Can you just forget you saw them???
      He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion. - Anonymous


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      gonecadd's Avatar
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      Do you have any idea if these plant leeches do any harm to plants?
      Or are they the clean up crew?

      I have a few lilies that I need to be selling and I don't want to send them to anyone with leeches hanging off of them.
      ,Karen
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      Quote Originally Posted by gonecadd View Post
      Do you have any idea if these plant leeches do any harm to plants?
      Or are they the clean up crew?

      I have a few lilies that I need to be selling and I don't want to send them to anyone with leeches hanging off of them.
      They don't harm the plants ... they're detritus eaters, meaning they eat the dead leaves, stems and stuff left behind, usually on the bottom of the pond. They're one of Nature's many garbage men. And they won't be hanging off healthy plants like Christmas ornaments, either! You're safe. And so are the plants.
      He is your friend, your partner, your defender, your dog. You are his life, his love, his leader. He will be yours, faithful and true, to the last beat of his heart. You owe it to him to be worthy of such devotion. - Anonymous


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      Leeches can be quite specialist feeders, they swim about the pond looking quite surprising in their creepy looking wiggly swimming habit.

      You might think o blimey, what does that get up to...

      Well, they wiggle about looking for snails, wiggle into their shells, and turn them to mush for supper

      Quite possibly their chosen methods of making snail mush and how they go about munching and digesting it falls into the category of 'more than anyone needs to know'

      Snails and leeches are 'inevitable' visitors to most aquatic habitats travelling on the feathers of visiting birds, by and large their gory lifestyle is fairly benign in effect on ponds, though hordes of some snails can be pesky to some vulnerable aquatic plants

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      Quote Originally Posted by Lee B View Post
      WC, Supaverm will kill flukes, but only external. It's a sheep dip, by trade. Prazi and Fenbendazole will kill flukes and internal worms. They are wormers (by trade) used for dogs and cats. They just also happen to do flukes.

      According to Nick St. Erne's book (Advanced Koi Care), Pg. 84: "Trichlorphon at .025-0.50 mg/l added to the water will kill leeches."

      Personally, if given the choice between plant leeches and Trichlorphon, I'll take the plant leeches every time.
      Here is the low down on SV according to Kiovet.

      http://www.koivet.com/html/articles/...me=Medications

      There are three pretty good articles that discus gold fish and others when exposed to SV. It is worth the read.
      Bob

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