#leech care

[proud-leech-dad]

The little guys are in a pretty empty tank so that I can keep an eye on em (there's one baby that I know of in the driftwood jungle but there's not much I can do about that besides catch them if I happen to find them swimming) and they've all made a leech cuddle puddle for safety

[invertbloodsucker]

Why, hello! Today I thought I would talk about testing rocks to see if they will dissolve or are safe to put into your aquarium. First off, I have seen a lot of people say to boil rocks to get them clean... DO NOT DO THIS!!! SOME ROCKS HAVE AIR POCKETS INSIDE OF THEM AND WILL EXPLODE!!!! Never boil a rock unless you want to risk horrific injury.

So, all you need is vinegar (any kind), a pipette (not strictly needed, makes life easier), and a rock.

This is the vinegar that I use. Why do I use this? Because it came with a recipe and I had some extra. Too little to cook with, exactly enough for testing rocks.

Now, all you do is get a bit of vinegar out, drip it on your rock, and check for bubbles.

The bubbles can be very hard to see, I would advise having a strong light on hand.

And that is it! If it bubbles, it's bad! If it doesn't, you're good to go!

Some tips:

It may take a second to start bubbling. Generally I watch it for about 30 seconds, put it down and move on to the next rock, then check it again once I've done a first check on the second rock.

If you are testing fossils, I would advise putting the vinegar on a part of the rock that doesn't have the fossil in it. The vinegar shouldn't damage the fossil, but better safe than sorry.

If your rock has different colors or seams of different rock types, make sure you test a bit of all of them. The chemical composition of the mineral deposits may be different enough for one part to react, while the other doesn't. Be careful!

This also tests if the rocks will make your water more basic. The acid in the vinegar reacts with the alkaline rock. If it bubbles, there is a chance it will lower your aquarium pH.

Just to reiterate, DO NOT BOIL ROCKS! You can look up rocks exploding due to heat on YouTube. It isn't fun. (Well, fun to watch sometimes, not fun to experience)

This does not sterilize the rock or test for parasites that may harm your fish. I keep very low maintenance pets that are not sensitive to such things. Be careful, and look up proper procedures for your specific aquatic pals.

Native amphibians and invertebrates use river rocks to hide and nest in. Please be conscious of this while you are collecting, and try to avoid taking rocks with the little guys living under them, and don't over harvest the area. :)

I hope this helps, and have fun with your aquarium!!

[proud-leech-dad]

Squinch has been having the MOST fun with the extra room to swim and explore

[proud-leech-dad]

You ask to see my sons and I pull a handful of leeches out of my pocket

Hello and welcome to my blog! I wanted a place to gush about my children and the hobby of keeping leeches is so niche that it doesn't hurt to keep everything in the same place for others to see.

○ If you're a leech keeper yourself and want to gush about your kids, feel free to submit your pictures and they'll be tagged as #Dad's Wallet along with my own pics

○ Have a leech specific question? I'll try to answer as best I can! All leech-related care asks and posts will be under #Leech Care. All other asks will be under #Squigglin

○ Leech care is very hobbiest driven when it comes to non-medical uses, so we welcome corrections of information, personal anecdotes, and discoveries as far as care goes. Feel free to share!!

For the comprehensive Hirudo Verbana leech care guide click here!

Guide is regularly updated with new information as it becomes available

⚠️ This blog will contain blood just due to the nature of the parasitic leeches I keep. All posts containing it will be marked by #Blood

Meet my sons!

Squinch

Species: Hirudo Verbana

Distinguishing Features: Pattern along back is uninterrupted and overall possesses a more orange-yellow hue to it.

Squonch

Species: Hirudo Verbanna

Distingushing Features: Possesses a dashed line back pattern, and overall has a distinctly green hue most notable in its underbelly and stripe

[proud-leech-dad]

Comprehensive leech care guide: Updated as of 6/19/25

There's not a lot of public information on the domestic care of leeches outside of their medical uses and niche forums and facebook groups, so I wanted to create as comprehensive a guide as I can for proper leech care, referencing scientific papers whenever possible. This guide is open to corrections and input from other keepers and will be updated regularly as new information comes to light. If found in a reblog, always check to make sure you have the most updated version of this post. This guide pertains to the Hirudo verbana leech SPECIFICALLY but pulls from what information we know from Hirudo medicinalis due to their similar morphology and classification that only split in 2013. This guide will be operating under the assumption that bare minimums are not enough to thrive and has been written accordingly.

There are a lot of citations needed at the moment.

Tank specs

Size and Equipment Requirements

• For ideal leech care in display tanks, tanks should be at least 1 times the size of your leech tall, and have enough room to fit their body when stretched out at least 3 times length wise. This allows for swimming, the ability for leeches to escape each other, better water quality and the observation of various leech behaviors.

• 5-10 gallon fish tanks are great for a leech tank, with larger ones being good for groups. Bowls are suitable according to some keepers if your leech is solitary or small, but not recommended as studies have shown a tank without corners can stress fishes and aquatic life.

• Tanks should have dedicated land area in the form of exposed logs, cork bark, tank shelfs, etc. Preferably, these areas should have moss for leeches to deposit eggs. Tanks are able to be kept completely aquatic according to some keepers, but it is of my own personal opinion and is proven by researchers that this, and making your leeches breed late. can increase mortality in your leeches.

• Leeches thrive in low oxygen environments and typically produce very little waste, as such, tanks do not need a dedicated filter, especially if planted. If more oxygen is preferred, a bubbler on a low setting or high oxygen producing plants can be added. Large amounts of water movement should be avoided.

• Your tank must possess a tight lid of some kind as leeches will gladly squeeze through cracks to escape and explore. This lid can be a tight mesh, cheese cloth or some similarly breathable but secure fabric. This can be fastened with elastic to keep it secure over your tank or secured over a terrarium style snake lid.

Light Requirements

• Leeches should be kept out of direct sunlight and prefer dim or dark areas, though will still benefit from a regular light cycle.

Substrate

• Leeches require gravel/small rocks to dig through. Small lava rocks are highly recommended for their light weight and rough surface that encourages leech shed. In addition, lava rocks have shapes that provide large gaps for your leeches to hide in. To witness more burrowing behaviors, instead use a light, smooth gravel.

• Other substrates such as sand, soil, or clay balls may be added for planted tanks, and small clay balls work well to fill the bigger gaps between lava rocks if you don't want your leeches to burrow too far under.

Plants and decor

• Plants are highly recommended for leeches, both as an area to breed, hide, and for general enrichment. Plants should be low light to match the light requirements of your leeches.

• An aquatic moss of some kind doesn't hurt for adding a little extra oxygen to the aquarium and acting as a hide. Prioritize mosses that have a lower temperature range, such as java moss, which is commonly cultivated, readily available, and is able to live in temperatures from 15-28⁰C.

• A land moss should be planted/attached to a surface above the water and maintained where your leeches can crawl onto it. This should be kept at varying levels of dampness for cocoon depositation. Please note that some mosses are illegally harvested, and you should do your best to get ones that have been cultivated instead. Sphagnum Moss is great for this purpose

• Anubias varieties of plants, good for their low light requirements and low maintenance needs, can add a visual interest to your tank.

• Leeches should have dedicated hides to provide a dark, safe place and reduce stress. Hides do not have to be large, and rough areas of the hides do not have the same concerns that exist with fish (ie. Fins getting caught), so are fine for your leeches. Thickly piled driftwood can provide great natural looking spaces for leeches to hide.

• Adding wood can be beneficial as it leeches helpful tanins into the water and can provide a land area for your leeches. If wood is collected from outside sources, it can be boiled for 1 hr to kill any outside bacteria or funguses. For wood gathered this way, it should be a hard, dry wood. Wood can be soaked in water for a few days before adding it to the tank to assist with sinking if desired.

• Cork bark makes a good floating platform, though it shouldn't be kept free floating to let the leeches get on easily. This cork bark can be used to hold mosses if properly supported.

• Plastic plants can be a welcome addition to provide places to hide or shed extra skin, but be cautious of sharp edges that may harm the soft bodies of your leeches. Plastic plants should be periodically taken out to clean to prevent algae build-up.

Water specs

• Leeches prefer colder waters and can survive in freezing temperatures. The survivable range of temperature to keep them at can range from 0-34⁰C (32-93⁰F) at the Absolute Extremes but ideally, your tank should be kept in the lower middle range of that 10-20°C (50-70°F) with only minimal or very gradual temperature changes. Leeches can survive being briefly frozen, but obviously, ideally will not be.

• Leeches should be in dechlorinated water, either through treating tap water, rain water, or spring water properly remineralized. Though pond water is suitable, the risk of adding parasites, unknown contaminates, or harmful bacteria means that it is not recommended.

• The total hardness of your water should be in the 50-100 ppm range to match freshwater sources. If your water has less, aquarium salts should be added to prevent the water from leeching minerals out of your leech.

• Distilled water should typically be avoided being used as-is as it's "dead" and all minerals have been removed. Distilled water can be made suitable by remineralization with appropriate leech salts.

Water changes

• Water changes should be performed roughly once a week, with the leech's low waste meaning that a planted, maintained tank may only need a water change monthly depending on water quality. You should be replacing about 20-30% of your water during water changes to remove dead skin and reduce the build-up of nitrates.

• Additional water changes should be done when leeches deficate after feeding, usually denoted by a brown or red tint to the water, and the water should be monitored for a few weeks after for ammonia spikes and changed as needed.

• During water changes, it can be helpful to take a moment to clean the glass of the tank, or to manually skim any excess protiens off the surface of the water if not in possession of a filter or skimmer. Snails can be added to your tank to reduce algae build up.

Number of leeches

• Leeches can be kept solitarily or in groups. As previously mentioned, a larger tank size is obviously recommended to show a full range of behaviors and allow for a more visually interesting experience.

• Though able to be kept solitary, leeches are best kept in groups of 3 or more, according to some keepers. Personal research to follow.

Leech behaviors and care:

Leech anatomy and lifespan

• Leeches are soft bodied worms, meaning their skin can be punctured by hard tools and caution should be used with damaging their bodies.

• Leeches possess 2 suckers, one posterior (Rear), and one anterior (mouth). These suckers are used to ambulate or latch onto surfaces.

• Leeches are hermaphroditic and possess both male and female sex organs that are only plainly visible during their mating season. Leeches can self fertilize.

• Leeches breathe through their skin like other worms, and this skin sheds off them periodically throughout the day by rubbing up against rough surfaces.

• Leeches possess small 'teeth' and separate jaws that leave a three pointed star mark behind when feeding.

• Leeches keep blood in their blood crop, where symbiotic bacteria keeps the blood fresh as they slowly digest.

• Hirudo Leeches have a lifespan of up to 8 years

Basics of leech behavior

• Leeches will remain at rest with their heads above the water, and will do so either folded in half or stretched out with both their suckers attached to the glass.

• Leeches love to hang out under the water when tank conditions are suitable, and will attach their posterior sucker to a surface, occasionally undulating to move water over their skin.

• Leeches will swim from one end of the tank to the other through anguilliform swimming similar to an eel but vertically.

• Sudden, dark shadows or changes in light can invoke a prey response in leeches and will cause them to hide until they feel safe.

•Leeches will often "sniff" the air or water around them.

• Leeches become overly active when hungry, showing an increased responsiveness to movement and shadow, and will swim to heat sources such as hands

• When feeding or reproducing, all of these normal behaviors halt in favor of the new ones, and leeches stop responding to stimulus at all, to the point that they could be cut in half and not stop their actions. (Though obviously, avoid actually cutting your leeches)

Reproduction

• Hirudo Leeches reach sexual maturity after about 1-2 years on average

• In the case of Hirudo leeches, mating season naturally takes place in summer, spanning June through August where your leeches female genitalia known as the clitellum will appear as a ring around the body, simalar to an earthworm.

• Breeding can be artifically induced by gradually warming up your tank, but is not reccomended so as not to stress your leech

• Mating takes place in the water, and while many keepers use a lack of land space as an effective form of egg deposition prevention, it should be noted that research shows that this is harmful and potentially deadly to your leech.

• Leeches will not show signs of pregnancy. Any lumps are sickness and you should refer to the proper section.

• Cocoons are commonly laid in damp land areas, either moss or soil in the wild, and take from 2 to 4 weeks to hatch as ~6 fully formed nymphs. (Conflicting information found. Citation TBA)

• Cocoons are soft when laid and proceed to harden over the next hour. Avoid puncturing or moving these cocoons while still soft.

• Termination of cocoons can be performed by freezing them and cutting them in half. Please note that freezing alone will not necessarily kill the eggs

• As previously mentioned, leeches can self fertilize, meaning you may have a cocoon even with one leech. Keepers should be prepared to terminate a cocoon in these cases.

• Unlike other leeches that die after mating, Hirudo leeches can reproduce for the duration of their lifespan.

Feeding

• Hirudo Verbana leeches feed once every 3-4 months with some suggesting more like 4-6. (Citation TBA) Feeding more often than this is likely to harm your leech by causing it to grow too quickly or cause it to vomit blood back up.

• The medically recommended way to feed your leeches is to get a sausage casing and fill it with animal blood (usually beef) warmed to body temp for your leeches to latch onto. This animal blood should be free of antibiotics and bloodthinners and can be collected from your local butcher.

• Please note that pig and raccoon blood should NOT be used, as they will kill your leech.

• Many leech owners will choose instead to feed off themselves for an easier, cheaper option. This comes with its own medical risks and care should be taken to avoid infection of the bite. You should ask your doctor before feeding your leeches off yourself. Once again, your blood should be free of antibiotics as they will kill your leeches.

⚠️ Note that sterile medical leeches kept in non-sterile environments like this will cease to be sterile

Now that I've legally covered my ass, assuming you are feeding off yourself, the following is important information to have.

◇ Materials: Antibacterial soap, isopropyl alcohol, sterile surgical pads (available cheaply at pharmacys), medical tape or masking tape if not available, liquid bandage (optional) and a pill bottle (optional)

◇ Skin should be cleaned before feeding to avoid risk of infection.

◇ Leeches should be fed on thinner skin, but avoid feeding directly over veins. Common bite locations for keepers are feet or the arm due to the thinner skin there.

◇ From personal experience, try to keep your leeches far enough away from each other that they can't touch the other's bite wound when they eventually fall off.

◇ To have your leech bite in a specific area, avoid veins, or encourage biting, your leech can be placed in an empty pill bottle and held to your desired bite location.

◇ Leeches will inject an anesthetic similar into the bloodstream, which may cause feelings of mild euphoria or lightheadedness, in addition to the injection of a powerful blood thinner. You should not self feed if you are on any combination of blood thinners. The bite will range from painless to feeling like a small prickling similar to a shot or gentle tattoo.

◇ Feeding takes up to an hour, and after feeding, your leeches will simply drop off of you. The blood thinners will mean that you will bleed constantly for up to ~10 hours afterwards.

◇ After your leech has fed, hold pressure to the location, move to the sink, and thoroughly clean your wound(s) with your antibacterial soap and alcohol before bandaging properly and applying pressure with a surgical pad and medical tape

◇ Liquid bandage on the wound will quickly stop the bleeding but has been reported by some to increase risk of infection. Risk of infection COULD possibly be lowered by letting yourself bleed to flush out bacteria from the wound for an hour or so, but this is a hypothesis and has not been proven.

◇ You should be prepared to bleed a LOT. Pads should be changed every 2 hours or when bled through to the point of being soaked.

• Baby leeches are often too small to penetrate skin and, in the wild, would bite through the thin skin of frogs. In captivity, baby leeches will feed off their parents or can be helped during self feeding by pricking with a sterile diabetic needle to help break the skin.

• NEVER try and pull a leech off your skin without first breaking suction. Doing so will cause the leech to possibly vomit up blood and bacteria into the wound, greatly increasing the risk of infection, or harm the leech itself.

•If your leech bites when you don't want it to and you Absolutely need to remove it, slide a nail under the anterior sucker to break suction. Note, though, that it's easy for this to harm hirudo leeches by damaging their skin and jaws. It should be avoided when possible.

⚠️Signs of Infection⚠️

If self-feeding, you must be EXTREMELY aware of what the signs of infection look like. These may include:

• Spreading Redness

• Swelling

• Excessive pain or itching sensation

• Wound feeling hot to the touch

• Discharge from wound such as puss

If you suspect at all that you may have an infection, IMMEDIATELY go to your closest urgent care to recieve medical care. If they ask you how you got it, specify that they are leech bites.

Handling of leeches

• Leeches should not be handled after feeding for at least 2 weeks as it can cause digestive issues.

• In order to not over stress your leech, keep handling to a minimum.

• Gloves recommended during handling to prevent accidental bites

On the care of sick leeches

• Leeches when sick will have a lumpy appearance to their body, often caused by an internal twisting of their blood crops. Inexperienced leech keepers will oftem mistake this for "pregnancy". This can sometimes be healed typically by adding extra tannins to the water via betta leaves or Adler pine cones. Your leech should NOT feed until all lumps are gone.

• It's possible if not given enough to rub against that your leech's shed may get stuck, giving them a pinched appearance. This can usually be solved by gently rubbing the leech between your fingers in the effective area until shed loosens.

• "Air taken in during a feed can be potentially life threatening. (C. Peters, pers. comm.) The leech should be held between finger and thumb, and both digits run along the length of the body, expressing as much air and blood meal from the animal as possible" (Spencer and Jones, 2007) Please note that this is outdated information and needs verification.

How to aquire leeches

⚠️Do not buy from leech.com!!!⚠️

We recommend you buy from reputable bio pharmas or leech breeders

Conservation

• Hirudo medicalis leech populations have declined in their natural habitat spanning across Europe and parts of Asia due to over harvesting of leeches for medical purposes in the 19th century, drainage of wetlands, and the reduction of horse use.

• Hirudo Medicalis leeches are currently considered near threatened in the wild and are protected from wild harvesting

• Most leeches for purchase will be Hirudo Verbana, a seperate species of medical leech from areas of the Mediterranean and turkey.

• Any leeches should be bought from a reputable breeder

• NEVER release your leeches into a non-native environment

Helpful Groups

(Please note that not all advice will align with the one given in this guide. I try to use the most recent scientific articles but this is still largely unstudied as a hobby)

r/Leeches on Reddit

Leech Gang on facebook

References

Spencer, W. & Jones, G. (2007): The captive breeding and educational display of the Medicinal Leech Hirudo medicinalis (Linnaeus 1758) at Bristol Zoo Gardens NOTE. OUTDADED AND NEEDS CORRECTION

TBA. So many TBA. Adding pics in the meantime until I cite the articles in mla

Search Engine Terms. Ignore if using guide

leech care leech care guide hirudo leeches hirudo leech care leech tank requirements leech tank needs leech tank setup hirudo verbana leeches Hirudo verbana care Hirudo verbana care guide pet leech care guide medical leech care guide

[proud-leech-dad]

holy shit leeches are one of my favorite animals (obvious) and i have NEVER seen anybody caring for them like you do!!!!! dude you are a blessing <3

I love them! They're so shape and so interesting to watch, and there is NOTHING out there actually publically detailing their care in full. Most of the information available is from scattered leech keepers who give their own opinions and experiences on reddit which is great! But it also means that I ended up hurting my boy squonch because of my own inexperience.

Ramble/Rant warning

Everything from tank specs to whether or not to let them lay their eggs is up for debate. People say they can live in a jar, which, while not being technically Wrong, feels distinctly Cruel. I've been able to observe the changes in behavior since giving them a bigger tank and I won't say they're happier, but they've had so much more room to swim and have spent more time underwater and moving instead of just suctioned to the glass. They bury themselves sometimes! They love the lava rocks because they're big enough to have holes to squeeze between and feel safe and can actually stretch out. I just had smooth gravel pebbles before, and they wouldn't dig at all and wouldn't cling to the rocks because they weren't a good anchor. It's clear that giving them a more varied envorment is good for them. They have more to rub up against to shed and they have room to grow. So why isn't that standard?

They just didn't have ROOM to do these insane movements. And that's kinda fucked up!!!

Squinch alone is 7 inches fully stretched out and the 10 gallon gives them more room to get away from each other. Squinch has been harassing Squonch to mate, and he has the ability to swim away and go hide under a rock!!! It seems cruel, at that point, to follow what most people recommend. It's just a fishbowl or large jar. It's fine. They can absorb air through their skin so you don't have to keep the water oxygenated. Fuck that. Hell, there have been studies that show round glass stresses out animals, and we're cool just keeping them in it cause we can?? Because they can tolerate it?

And they have personalities. Squonch was mildly traumatized by me taking him out and trying to get him to throw up. And I know he was traumatized because his behavior!!!! Changed!!!! I'm not trying to personify them, and I wouldn't go as far to say they have emotions as we know it, but for the next week he stopped going anywhere outside of the rocks and I'm STILL more likely to find him there than Squinch. That points to possibly having a longer term memory. Which, ya know, means they're not a pet rock that doesn't have preferences.

And every. Public. Guide. Is MEDICAL. Meaning sterility is more important than the animal itself. No, I don't want to just throw my leech away after it's bitten me. No, I don't want to keep them in an empty plastic bin. How do I make them thrive!!!! How do I take care of them when they're sick!!!! I had to dig into a scientific paper just to learn that they shouldn't suck up air and that you should make them throw up immediately if that happens. Why isn't that public knowledge.

And listen. I know leeches don't need THAT much thought. If you discount the whole "eats blood" part, Leeches are maybe the easiest aquatic pet you could have. They don't need a filter, they don’t need to be kept at a specific temperature, they don’t need to worry about much else than wiggling they only need to be fed MAX 4 times a yeat. Those fuckers are practically bomb proof. They can be frozen and be fine. But if you're going to keep a pet that lives 8 goddamn years, why wouldn't you want to give it the best life possible?

Lot of words to say I'm giving you a mental fist bump and that I'm happy to have ya.

Here's a couple of pics of Squinch with a new lump I just noticed which means I fucked something up and need to go into investigation mode again.

[proud-leech-dad]

Leech Diary re:sick boy(s?)

Both of them have some lumping going on, though Squinch's is MUCH less than Squonch's and he's still very active.

Some basic water testing strips show that my water, though being perfect on all of the other parameters, is pretty hard. Not quite out of the danger range, but enough that I have my suspicions that it's the cause of all of this. Tannins (leech medicine) softens the water through KH (carbonate hardness), which affects PH but does nothing for the actual minerals inside it. Ideally, freshwater fish should be at about 50-100 PPM according to this source X and theirs is currently hovering around the 75-150 range which is way too high.

I have two main theories here that could be causing this issue.

1. The city and house I live in are both pretty old so metal from the pipes in my house have leeched (hah :( ) Into the water. I have testing strips for coming in the morning for this, and the solution would be to use spring water that I remineralize like normal. It would be trickier and not cheap (though not incredibly expensive), so this IS a perfectly doable option but I, the person drinking the possibly leaded water, will have other problems.

2. I'm fucking up and have too much salt in the water from remineralizing the water I was boiling (now conditioning instead due to amount) and the salt and mineral levels are higher than they should be because of that. This would be solved by no longer using aquarium salts, and would be a smack on the back of the head and a lesson not to do it again. I don't know if this is the issue but I'm crossing fingers over here that it is. User error is a bitch.

As we all know, there are next to no sources on leech care, but what there ARE sources on is how to kill leeches. Notably, copper is deadly to the little guys and other invertebrates like snails, and them being sick would make sense if copper pipes are affecting the water, but the aquarium strips confirm that's likely not the issue.

The absolute WORST case scenario here would be losing them to this. The thought is upsetting, but I'm hoping I can fix whatever's making them sick, as it at least seems to be a slow illness, and both are shedding their skin properly. If they aren't, I'm going to see if manually helping them shed can be used as a last resort, but that's the worst-case scenario. The morbidly bright side of it is that these little guys are pioneers in the realm of leech care. If they die, the next ones wouldn't go the same way, and I would get 3 this time to see the behavioral differences that leeches exhibit in larger numbers.

[proud-leech-dad]

Some confirmed behavior in leeches that hint to acceptable water conditions:

Leeches don't possess gills, instead breathing through their skin, meaning as long as they stay wet, leeches are chill with breathing air, though from personal observation, prefer to stay completely submerged when possible. When it comes to oxygen levels in the water, you should DEFINITELY have a plant of some kind in there with them, I'm planning on Anubias and christmas moss when I switch them over to the 10 gallon I'm picking up tomorrow.

Leeches after a fresh water change, in highly oxygenated, fresh water: Remaining under the water, high amount of movement (wiggling) in the water, remaining near the bottom of the tank for the most part

Leeches in low oxygen water, right before a water change with no live plants: remaining at the surface of the water, "head" of leech exposed to air, little to no movement

In addition, I haven't noticed them using their land area, which, if I had to guess, is because it's free floating land. That will need more observation to confirm, and I'll try anchoring the wood in the new tank to see if they go up on it at all. Currently, they either like to suction to the glass or wedge themselves up against it under rocks. Wildly enough, I don't think I'll actually remove the plastic plants completely because they LOVE to squeeze through them to remove dead skin. Apparently, they're the perfect amount of scrape-y for them. The hides are also staying though in the new tank, I'll be adding another and stacking them to create more of an enclosed cave system type thing. I want to see if they go in it like little eels.