I waited too long, and things froze up. I chopped a hole and started pumping. Unfortunately, I only got it down about 18″ before the pump sucked up a chunk of ice, clogged, and punctured the diaphragm.

I’d still be very interested to know if anyone has tried this with any success. I saw Pond Guy’s response that this would probably kill other burrowing animals as well. I’d hate to risk killing off the amphibians we’ve got in the pond, but the leeches have got to go, and the can trap is not working.

We are taking steps to reduce the Muck (not that we have much). Unfortunately, we’ve got Chara (algae that looks like a bottom growing weed). Raking live Chara is a bad idea, so we’re treating with Cutrine to kill it, then waiting a couple of weeks to rake and add Muck-away and other bacteria to control algae and digest the muck.

thanks

Adjusting the water level to allow the mud where leeches live to freeze, can be used to control leeches. However, keep in mind the dropping the water level is effective but it will also kill other forms of aquatic life that burrow in the mud.

What you are describing sounds like leeches. They do contract and stretch out as they move through the water. Leeches do come in a variety of colors, such as brown, reddish, black.

If you are entering the pond, you are stirring up the muck where they hide and they are attracted to the motion in the water. Using MuckAway will help to reduce the “muck’ where leeches like to hide.

This only has a chance if you live in an area that gets hard freezes over the winter: Keep the pond topped up until things are getting colder in the fall/winter. Then drain the water level down about 3 or 4 feet. Let it sit this way over the winter. The leeches usually hang out in the shallower water and may burrow into the muck in shallower areas. Draining the pond down will expose the leeches and their eggs to the cold and kill them. You may still have some the next year, but it should put a good dent in the population. I’ve been told that since it took about 4 years for the leaches to first show up in the pond, I should plan on doing this every 3 or 4 years.

Has anyone heard of this? Does it work? I’m going to give it a shot this winter. I’m curious if anyone has ideas about the timing… drain things too soon, and they may just migrate down to the new water level.

There is not currently a product we have to remove leeches. The best thing is to remove the muck in the pond and reduce vegetation growing around the outside perimeter in stagnant areas. You can also try putting a coffee can with small holes and bait in the pond to capture some however this may not solve the issue just reduce it.