Flat worms or leeches

[dasco_edinburgh]

for over a year now i have noticed a lot of small  1 cm tops flat black or brown worms in my tanks especialy arount the filters now they are commiing up to the top of the water and clinging on th floating food  they are verry soft and i can cut them in half  with my planter stick but my guppys platys mollys will not go neer the so i chucked one in my siamese fighters  they went for the worm straight away the like they got stung or hurt spat out the worm and went mental thrashing about and gasping through ther mouth  
any ideas welcome  dave in edinburgh

 

[adeyc]

Dasco a couple of questions.
Have they been there all the time or do they go through cycles?
Just before they first appeared did you add anything to the tank that you'd found laying about outside?
Are they segmented or smooth bodied?
who often and how much food are you giving your fish?
Do you have a spare/hospital/quarantine tank that you can put your fish in?
How often do you do a waterchange and how much? as well as cleaning the gravel?
Are there any sores/wounds on the fish?

Try and answer as best you can and if it's possible get a pic of the parasites so we can have a better idea of how to help you get rid of them. If you can give us a better description of the things it would help.
I'm off to check a couple of things for you.

 

[adeyc]

Have a look at the pics here and see if this is your problem
Planaria
Most of the fish will eat planaria if you cut back on there normal feed but I've never heard of one hurting the fish and they don't usualy cling to the glass. it sounds like some sort of leech.

 

[pete]

I very much doubt that they are Leechs...........however

If you have added plants or decor that has been imported from a tropical area of the world this could be possible :what:

If they are leechs or another form of parasite then you should medicate with a suitable treatment that kills infestations your lfs should be able to give good advice if you take in a sample of your aquarium water containing a few of the pests

The chances are that they will try various treatments until they get a result and then you can purchase the appropriate treatments from them knowing that they work

Most GOOD! lfs's will perform this service free of charge but you may have to bite the bullet and try a number of treatments for yourself

Hope this helps

 

[adeyc]

Pete ~ It's the suckers and sticking to the glass that's got me puzzled?? :hmm:
Thats why I said some sort of leech. It cant be leeches but you never know. This has me pulling my hair out at the mo. :laugh: Ive found a few refernces to a similar creature but they appear in marine tanks. I'm off to work now but will have another look later.