Flat worms??

[duckmans]

How do you get rid of flat worms and will they kill any of my corals??

What do they look like?? Because I have something that looks like a flatworm on the glass of my tank.

Mike

 

[returnofsid]

Depending on the type of Flatworm, some will kill corals. The common Red Planaria will not harm your corals, until they reproduce to such a high level that they cover your corals, blocking light. However, when Red Planaria die, they become toxic to your tank. So, if you have a large population of them and they die, it can crash your entire system. Acropora eating flatworms will, as their name suggests, eat Acropora corals. There are also large flatworms that seem to have a mottled pattern to them. They are predatory towards snails and clams.

If you have Red Planaria, you can try a couple different things, before resorting to Salifert Flatworm Exit. Siphon out as many as you can and increase your flow. This may eliminate your problem. Some people have had great success with Leopard Wrasses, Corris Wrasses or 6 Lined Wrasses. The final step would be to use Salifert Flatworm Exit. If you use FWE, it's very important to remove as many of the flatworms as you can find, PRIOR to treatment. It's also important to collect as many dead from the tank as you can, immediately after treatment. FWE kills them very quickly and you'll see them floating around in the water column.

Here's a Google Image search for Red Planaria, to give you an idea of what they look like.
http://images.google.com/images?q=R...ent=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi

 

[user 26995]

ditto what returnofsid said.
I had great luck with a clown fairy wrasse. I didn't have a lot of flatworms but what I did have was gone almost overnight when I got the wrasse. Here is a website for more info on reef safe wrasses. The leopard wrasse is really pretty too.

 

[duckmans]

Thanks

Depending on the type of Flatworm, some will kill corals. The common Red Planaria will not harm your corals, until they reproduce to such a high level that they cover your corals, blocking light. However, when Red Planaria die, they become toxic to your tank. So, if you have a large population of them and they die, it can crash your entire system. Acropora eating flatworms will, as their name suggests, eat Acropora corals. There are also large flatworms that seem to have a mottled pattern to them. They are predatory towards snails and clams.

If you have Red Planaria, you can try a couple different things, before resorting to Salifert Flatworm Exit. Siphon out as many as you can and increase your flow. This may eliminate your problem. Some people have had great success with Leopard Wrasses, Corris Wrasses or 6 Lined Wrasses. The final step would be to use Salifert Flatworm Exit. If you use FWE, it's very important to remove as many of the flatworms as you can find, PRIOR to treatment. It's also important to collect as many dead from the tank as you can, immediately after treatment. FWE kills them very quickly and you'll see them floating around in the water column.

Here's a Google Image search for Red Planaria, to give you an idea of what they look like.
http://images.google.com/images?q=R...ent=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi

Thanks for the info I think I'm going to try the leopard wrasse. I siphoned out a bunch of them last night there was more than I thought at first , I also increased my flow and then tonight I will siphon again. I think everything that can happen to a begining reefer is hapening to me on this tank. Thanks again for the help.

 

[user 26995]

Thanks for the info I think I'm going to try the leopard wrasse. I siphoned out a bunch of them last night there was more than I thought at first , I also increased my flow and then tonight I will siphon again. I think everything that can happen to a begining reefer is hapening to me on this tank. Thanks again for the help.

It all happens to everyone Sooner or later.

 

[balogh03]

I had a hefty amount in both my frag tank and softy tank awhile back and a scooter blenny (dragonet) got rid of the problem in both tanks fairly quickly. I would diffidently just stick with natural predators when ever you can.

Good luck

-augustus

 

[vinny2261]

Another thing that has worked for me is to fresh water dip where there are heavy populations of flat worms. You can place a rock in a highly lit area and let the worms crawl on it to bask. Then carefully remove the rock and rinse it in a bucket of fresh water. This really helps to reduce the amount of flat worms if you also decide to use the FWE.

 

[egunman]

Will flat worms come off easily when siphoning? I found these spots on my rock after getting some frags from a fellow reefer.

They would not come off when using a small diameter hose to siphon. I don't really want to treat if they are not flat worms.

Eric

 

[returnofsid]

Eric, they have a bit of a grip, so it'd be easier to blow them off, with a turkey baster. If you give them a good strong "puff" with a turkey baster, they'll usually become dislodged.

Watch your spots closely, for awhile, see if they move. Gives you an excuse to stare at your tank.

 

[egunman]

I have kept an eye on them for a couple days and they don't seem to have moved. I will try to hit them with turkey baster when I get home from my trip.

 

[user 2204]

If you do decide to use the Salifert flat worm exit, be sure to have enough water mixed up for a few 50% water changes.

Used Flatworm Exit about 7 years ago, no ill effects and did a 50% wc after using it. It did get rid of all those flat worms.

 

[SpecialTang]

I used a six line wrasse. Got him small because I had a very small amount.
Three weeks and they were gone. I have heard some times it works some times it does not.

 

[Faciosity]

I have a six line and a mandarin, and I believe that they were keeping the numbers at bay, but couldn't completely remove them. The salifert flat worm exit finished them off. I only had to do minimal maintanance afterword, because there was very few worms in there.

 

[returnofsid]

I have kept an eye on them for a couple days and they don't seem to have moved. I will try to hit them with turkey baster when I get home from my trip.

Any updates on this? I'm wondering if they're actually flatworms, or if what you're seeing are spots of coralline algae.

 

[egunman]

I never saw them move. Yesterday i did a water change. I dosed the old water and put the piece that had what I thought were flat worms on it and nothing happened. I even tried scrapping with my thumb nail and they did not move.

 

[returnofsid]

I think it may just be coralline algae, or spots of cyanobacteria.

 

[egunman]

You may be right. I saw a felow reefers tank yesterday that had them and they did not look anything like what I have.

Look forward to meeting you at the meeting on Wendesday.

Eric

 

[duckmans]

Battle of the flatworm

Make sure whenever you purchase corals I dont care where you get them from DIP THEM flatworms are a pain to get rid of!!! I just had another round of flatworms and guess what I didnt dip a coral I got and BINGO.