slugs in my tank!

[paulmorgan]

Hi

Just noticed three little slugs in my tank,where did they come from? what should i do?

 

[CLR250]

Chances are they are'nt slugs, they sound to me like planaria:

Planarian - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Check that out and tell me what you think. Do they have a kind of arrow shaped head with 2 black dots that look like eyes on them? that is the telling factor for them. they are a non parasitic type of flatworm but they can populate pretty fast so you will want to get rid of them quick as you can!

 

[Scottyhorse]

Sure they aren't just snails W/O shells?

 

[paulmorgan]

quite possibly, where did they come from?

 

[Scottyhorse]

quite possibly, where did they come from?

Have you got any live plants in there?

 

[Wiggles24]

R u sure they are slugs? They could very well be leaches.

 

[paulmorgan]

yeah i have live plants, they could b leaches look more like snails tho, where did they come from?

 

[CLR250]

sounds to me kinda like planaria, look them up and tell us what you think. They have arrow shaped heads with 2 black dots on each side so they are fairly easy to ID.

 

[paulmorgan]

nah its not them, they far rounder, pretty sure they are snails, is this common?

 

[CLR250]

Just out of curiousity, how long has the tank been established with the plants in?

 

[paulmorgan]

about three months, never seen one before tonight, can they harm the fish?

 

[CLR250]

If they ARE snails, they will not harm your fish but I would keep an eye on the snails. I am not sure what species they are but some "Pest" species with absolutely ravage plants and can explode in population quite quickly. I would, if possible, remove them unless you dont mind seeing them every once in a while. As I said though, keep a good eye on your plants and the snails. One last question though, where in the tank did you see them? on the substrate/just above it on the glass or where they all over the tank?

 

[paulmorgan]

saw one stuck to front of tank went in 2 expect and saw one on my cave and a tiny one by my filter, im always looking in my tank, swear ive never seen there before

 

[CLR250]

they sound like ramshorn or trumpet snails. If they are you dont need to worry about your fish but they may become a nuisance later on since they can breed quite rapidly.

 

[paulmorgan]

ok thanks, ill try and eliminate them tomorow, where do they come from then?

 

[CLR250]

Usually come in with live plants either with eggs on them, which is more likely than not, or the plants had the snails on them when you put them in and you just didnt see them.

 

[paulmorgan]

sure they didnt like but who knows, cheers sexy bum

 

[Scottyhorse]

I plants I ordered must have had trumpet snail eggs on them. Didn't see anything for about a month, now I keep finding baby snails. They are easy to squish. Although I do have one as a pet in my 2 gal tank

 

[paulmorgan]

yeassh i added plants bout a fortnight ago so guess they were in there, sneaky lil gits

 

[Aqualady40]

make sure they are not pond snails....those are a ridiculous pests of snails...Google Image Result for http://www.fishkeeping.co.uk/uploads/newbb/14507_4f5a8cdb672c6.jpg