HELP! What are these

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steven11

Somethingotherthannormal!
Joined
Mar 26, 2006
Messages
823
Location
Auburn, Wa.
They are all over my rock. They havent seemed to hurt anything but then again im not positive. What are they, do they hurt anything, and how do i get rid of them? Thanks for your help!

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Those are flatworms... The main problem they cause is plaguing and blocking light to corals.

-Josh-:cool:
 
You Need salifert flatworm exit, but beware these are very toxic when they die so when you treat you need to have a water change on hand and carbon ready to run..

Matt
 
They aren't THAT harmful to corals; an irritant at most. They are detrivores so I would try to do more detritus vacuming. They come and go most of the time.
 
Flat worm exit should be used as a last resort. They are toxic when they die and if underestimated can cause a tank crash. MY 30 softy tank is swarming with them and other than being unsightly they are harmless. If they do get to plague proportions you can siphon them out with air line tubing. Detritous removal or feeding less can help with their populations. If you have room left, I have read that a yellow wrasse of some sort will eat them.
 
Yeah, be careful with the Flatworm Exit if you use it. I've heard it can wipe out tanks... not so much the medication itself per se, but rather the dying flatworms release toxins.

If you have a small flatworm population I wouldn't worry too much about it. Otherwise try to siphon as many as you can over the span of a few days. They are attracted to bright lights, so do it during the height of your lighting period. Once this is done, you can treat and just follow the instructions. Do a big water changes afterwards and run carbon and ozone if you have it (be sure to turn these off during the treatment).

I had to use about 1.5 times the recommended dose, and I treated about three times. There were still some stragglers but they died off within a month.

And obviously it is preferable not to use the medication if you can avoid it. I didn't have any fish or invert losses though. YMMV.

Some species of wrasse have been reported to eat flatworms, i.e. melanarus, leopard, etc. Some people recommend mandarin dragonettes but mine has never eaten any.
 
The Velvet Sea Slug Chelidonura varians is the best choice for eliminating flatworms. But yes they do die after the flatworms are gone.
 
Thanks for the info! I'm going to get a sixline and see if he has a taste for the flat worms.
 
Personally I wouldn't do that; they can be aggressive and will stress your other fish. If you have mandarins they will compete for food (pods). On top of that it's really hit or miss as to whether he will eat flatworms.

Whatever you do, report back!
 
So i got a six line. He did nothing. Then i got a target mandrin. He also did nothing. So i pulled out the 90+ lbs. of live rock to siphon as many as i could out and then used the flat worm exit. That stuff works great. No more flat worms.
 

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