Within the course of putting along your aquarium atmosphere, you may introduce a selection of living organisms: plants, invertebrates, "living" rock and other media for helpful bacteria, and in fact fish. But, as in any atmosphere, parasites may find their approach in. One common parasite that may be damaging to your aquarium setting and harmful to your fish is that the leech.

A leech is an annelid, or segmented worm; it's flattened, with a sucker on each the tail and the mouth. Leeches propel themselves forward by using each suckers, producing a motion like that of an inchworm. Most live in water; there are freshwater, saltwater, and terrestrial varieties. Several leeches, given the chance, will attach themselves to humans and alternative creatures, sucking the host creature's blood. It had been common medical practice in the Middle Ages to "bleed" a patient by attaching a leech to the patient's body and allowing the leech to drink his fill. Medieval medication wrongly held that the body was composed of four principal fluids, or "humors," which an imbalance among these humors was the main cause of disease. Blood was one of the humors and was typically considered in excess; so, bleeding a patient helped bring the extent of blood back into balance with the other humors.

Leeches are sometimes simple to identify in your aquarium: it's unlikely you may see any of the larger varieties, however freshwater leeches which may realize their method into your aquarium will still be up to a pair of inches long. Leeches swim in an undulating motion. If they're attached to a fish, they'll be heart-formed, as they curl up onto your fish's body, fins, or gills. The odd leech bite isn't going to hurt your fish in any major approach, however an infestation can cause major problems, inflicting fish to become listless and thin. Leech bites can render fish susceptible to other diseases; open wounds can become infected. And a leech will transfer microbial diseases from one fish to another.

Leeches may initial enter your tank via live food that comes from leech-infested waters. If you depend upon live food that you simply grow yourself, you can greatly reduce the chance of a leech infestation. Leeches can conjointly return via new fish that you just introduce, or new plant life. Be positive to examine new creatures or plants completely; if you're concerned, you'll keep new fish quarantined for a period of your time before allowing them to mix along with your existing specimens. And you can place new flora in a very potassium permanganate answer, five mg/l, for about an hour before introducing them to your tank. The potassium permanganate can kill any leeches that may be hiding in the foliage.

If you discover a leech connected to your fish, do not be tempted to remove it with a try of tweezers (or pliers!); leeches burrow themselves into your fish's body to draw blood, and forcible removal will seriously harm your fish. Instead, bathe your fish for concerning fifteen minutes in a very 2.5 p.c saline solution. This could cause the leech to jilting, or to loosen its grip such that you'll be able to ease it out without leaving any leech elements within your fish. If your fish are sensitive to salt -- for instance, bound species of catfish -- then saline answer can not work; you will need to medicate your entire tank by adding 1 milligram of trichlorofon for each gallon of water in your tank. The trichlorofon could be harmful to some plants, so it might be best to get rid of the plants first and treat them with potassium permanganate, as described above.

Though leeches aren't everybody's idea of an ideal aquarium pet, they're attention-grabbing creatures in their own right, and some folks do keep them, sequestered in their own small aquarium of course. They are easy to stay and do not demand much food: a small piece of meat or an earthworm every week is sometimes enough to stay a leech happy. They are quick to hunt out food sources, however, and will reply to your finger rubbing along the skin of the tank moreover as to shadows passing overhead. If you retain substrate in your leech tank, the leeches tend to burrow; they're conjointly wonderful scavengers. Most leeches are freshwater, however as a result of there are also marine varieties, be positive you recognize what sort of water your leech will need.