Little orange slug things

[poakley723]

Anyone have any idea what these are. i have looked around the internet and my books but can't find anything. they don't seem to be hurting things but i do have a truck load of them. They are all the little orange things on the rock. Thanks for any help.

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[trido]

Planaria, flat worms. Detritous eaters. IMO harmless unless populations become so extremem that they cover corals. If they bother you bad enough you can treat the tank with flatworm exit but follow the directions to the letter.
Alot of wrasses will eat them too if you prefer more natural control methods.

 

[poakley723]

Wrasse here I come!

 

[oldsaint]

Some more info for you.
http://www.melevsreef.com/flatworms.html
If you end up going the Flatworm exit routine make sure you follow up with another dose 7 days later. Mine came back. Once I dose back to back after 7days I never saw them again.

 

[boosted306]

Can you pick them off at all? I wouldn't mind them to bad because they are beneficial but you have an enormous stock it looks like.

 

[returnofsid]

Ummm how are Red Planaria beneficial? Very few things eat them, they populate very fast and can cover your corals to the extent that they don't get enough light, and when they die, they become toxic. Not seeing any benefit here.

 

[burning2nd]

can i have a closer look... Ive never seen this b4

 

[poakley723]

I wish I had a better camera to take a picture. Google it and you can find some good pictures.


I did get a wrasse but I came home and found him in my Anenome. turned out the wrasse was just a 25 dollar silver side. Life sucks.

 

[returnofsid]

Unfortunately, once you have a population of these pests, it's difficult for any Wrasse to consume them as fast as they multiply. A Wrasse may slow down the growth rate, but the population will still rise.

I'd suggest siphoning them out every couple of days, until you get the population down some. Keep in mind that there are MANY more than you can see.

Also, if you do use Flatworm Exit, which works great, DON'T underestimate the toxicity of dead Flatworms!!! The toxins they release at death can wipe out your tank if you aren't careful. But don't let that keep you from treating. There are steps you can take to minimize the risk and if the proper steps are taken, treatment is quite safe.

Siphon out as many as you can BEFORE treatment. Follow the directions closely, except for dosing. IMO, the does isn't strong enough. When I treated, and from other experiences I've read about, X2 dose works great. The Flatworm exit is reef safe, so using a larger dose is safe. It's the toxins of dead flatworms that aren't reef safe. Have plenty of fresh carbon ready to go and have a way to use it, other than a filter sock in your sump. You want water to be forced through the carbon. A Canister Filter works great for this.

If you have a sump, put a filter sock on your drain line to catch as many dead flatworms as you can, after treatment. Siphon dead ones out of the display as you see them. Use a turkey baster to blow them off of live rock and glass.

By the way, what kind of wrasse had you purchased and what kind of anemone do you have?

 

[jezzeaepi]

Looks like you need some more flow in your tank. The flat worms have a hard time hanging on in more turbuluent flow, and I can also see some cyano on your rocks, which is further evidence of low flow.

I had a noticeable population at one point, but I bought a mandarin, turned up my flow, and havent seen them since. Im not saying thats my recomended cure, but its something I would try before using flatworm exit(last resort imho).

 

[poakley723]

It was a six line wrasse that was devoured by my RBTA.

I did just move from my 24g pod to a 125 so I may use the flatworm Exit stuff. With the larger water volume, carbon and the bigger skimmer I should be good.

As for the flow situation I have 2 K4's and a mag 9 return pump in my 125. I may need to change the power head locations later once i get all my LR. What locations would you all recomend for the power heads. It is a standard 125g tank. Right now I just have the power heads on oposites ends of the tank. One angles towards the back of the tank and one and the other angles to the front of the tank.

 

[returnofsid]

Deciding placement of powerheads is difficult without trial and error. There's just too many variables to take into account, such as live rock and coral obstructions, what corals you have and where they're located, clams and such. Some corals like lots of flow, others don't. Clams don't like a lot of flow. Too much flow, or too little flow can cause an anemone, ESPECIALLY an RBTA to move.

If you have Cyanobacteria, it's usually in a dead spot that needs more flow. Getting more flow to that area will help eliminate Cyano. The same can be said if the flatworms seem to be congregating in a specific area. They like low flow areas.