The war with the flatworms

[Workaholic]

Ok, So i've been battling flatworms off and on for coming up on 2 months now. I got some flatworm exit and did a treatment followed by a good water change. This seemed to take them out for a good month. well now they have come back. I did another treatment which had little effect. I did a 3 treatment last night and let it soak all night to find flatworms alive and well on my glass this morning. Anyone have any ideas on a better way to irradicate these things? they are starting to make some of my zoas melt.

Tom

 

[akunochi]

Hey tom. I know that Joe Yaiullo stated that he used fresh water to blow them off the corals and then the fish would actually eat them. He suggest that you could do the same thing with a turkey baster that he used the water hose for in his 25K tank. He also stated that he had to do this starting twice a day, then once a day, every other day etc. Years later he still treats about once every other week.

 

[Workaholic]

Yeah I was just hoping to avoid having to treat all the time for them. maybe i'll just invest in a 6-line. i've kind of wanted one anyways.

Tom

 

[trido]

Hey tom. I know that Joe Yaiullo stated that he used fresh water to blow them off the corals and then the fish would actually eat them. He suggest that you could do the same thing with a turkey baster that he used the water hose for in his 25K tank. He also stated that he had to do this starting twice a day, then once a day, every other day etc. Years later he still treats about once every other week.

Joe was talking about AEFW's. (acro eating).. The common red planaria are not palatable to most fish and simply blowing them around wont do any but blow them around. I lived with them for a couple years without problem, in some places they looked like coraline algea they were so thick. Ive never really heard of them being a real problem other than being unsightly excpet for rare cases.

Most people recommend doubling the dose of FW exit to erradicate them.
Alot of wrasses will eat them also as Tom has already mentioned

 

[akunochi]

Oh sorry I thought we were talking about the AEFW. My bad.

 

[gas4544]

Yeah, I have red planaria in one of my tanks. They hang out mostly on the macroalgae in the tank.

You could try siphoning some of them out by using some flexible airline if you have some large patches of them.

g

 

[mfinn]

I had a minor red flat worm problem in my zoanthid tank and eventually the six-line wrasse I added cleaned them up. But as long as I continued to feed the wrasse regular food, he didn't seem to go after the flat worms. It was when I cut back he normal food, then he got hungry and found his own food.

 

[IPisces]

I am having good luck with a clown fairy wrasse. Two days the flatworms were gone and I havent seen another one since.

 

[Workaholic]

I am having good luck with a clown fairy wrasse. Two days the flatworms were gone and I havent seen another one since.

really? this sounds interesting as its something other than the dime a dozen 6-line.

Tom

 

[IPisces]

really? this sounds interesting as its something other than the dime a dozen 6-line.

Tom

Theres actually quite a few reef safe wrasses that eat flatworms. This site will note some of the flatworm eating ones. But they do cost more than a dime a dozen. It was the red planaria flatworms that I had in one of my tanks too.
http://www.aquacon.com/ReefSafeWrasses_saltwaterfish.html

 

[Workaholic]

Theres actually quite a few reef safe wrasses that eat flatworms. This site will note some of the flatworm eating ones. But they do cost more than a dime a dozen. It was the red planaria flatworms that I had in one of my tanks too.
http://www.aquacon.com/ReefSafeWrasses_saltwaterfish.html

Thanks for the info. I meant that the 6-line is just a common wrasse is all. I did not see your clown fairy wrasse in there? That and it only listed a few species to eat flatworms. Have you found this info to be pretty accurate?

Thanks,
Tom

 

[IPisces]

Thanks for the info. I meant that the 6-line is just a common wrasse is all. I did not see your clown fairy wrasse in there? That and it only listed a few species to eat flatworms. Have you found this info to be pretty accurate?

Thanks,
Tom

I cant vouch for the accuracy of the info supplied here but what I did was ask opinions of persons at a couple of the LFS's about ones that I was interested in. I have only tried the one type of wrasse. The clown fairy wrasse is 6th row down far right. I have two wrasses in my 55 and they are continuously looking for little critters on the rocks and on the glass. Even eating meaty foods. Frozen mysis and brine shrimp. They were sold to me as a male and female clown fairy, however looking at the wrasses on this site, I think the socalled female clown fairy wrasse I have may infact be the ruby head fairy wrasse. I would bet though that any of them that claim they eat flatworm probably will. I think that any of them that state they are carnivorous probably will.

 

[Myteemouse]

I have a free six line if you want it Tom..

 

[saltwaterfishes]

I have a leopard wrasse and spotted goby(suppose to pick at flatworms too) in my 65g, I have not seem any red planaria flatworms for a very long time.

 

[poakley723]

I tried so many difrent fish and medications. Only thing I got to eat flat worms was a Blue Velvet nudi. Ate them like a mad man for about 3 months then disapeared. Still have flat worms gave up on killing them.

 

[barrierreefcf]

The Dragon Goby may help. Amblygobius phalaena. I've heard they eat Flatworms as well. They also serve as an ok little sand sifter. Sorry I don't have first hand experience with them and flatworms though.

 

[biocube14]

A while back I went to saltwater city looking for a 6 line and i told them I had FW's and they said that they actually use scooter blennies for FW control. So i ended up getting one and a week later....ta da! no more FW's! Idk if this helps, just saying...haha

 

[Chichas01]

I got rid of mine by decreasing my feedings and increasing my flow. They seem to hate flow.

 

[IWishIWasAFish]

I was just thinking that the way my scooter blenny eats anything that moves, he'd probably go after them. I got a rock with zoas a while back that supposedly had a couple of harmless flatworms on it, and never saw hide nor hair of them. There's a couple kinds of scooter blenny, mine is the dark colored kind - first fish I ever owned that could turn it's head

A while back I went to saltwater city looking for a 6 line and i told them I had FW's and they said that they actually use scooter blennies for FW control. So i ended up getting one and a week later....ta da! no more FW's! Idk if this helps, just saying...haha

 

[Herefishyfishy]

I got rid of mine by decreasing my feedings and increasing my flow. They seem to hate flow.

You got it! Stick to basics. FW exit is the best way to eradicate them but it doesn't solve to problem. They are detritus feeders, and they need a lot of nutrients to bloom. Clean up the tank, get a better skimmer, more flow, perhaps less or more efficient feeding and they starve to death or at least do not reproduce.

FWE works best in double strength. Have a filter sock going to catch dead ones. Blast all surfaces with a power head as treating and rinse the sock frequently. Get most of the dead ones out of the tank, do NOT perform a water change or run carbon UNLESS fish or corals get distressed. If you are good about removing excess dead FWs, they will all be fine. Leave the medication in the tank for a week or more before water change. Should kill them all. If you just do a quick treatment and then end it fast, only the strong will survive to reproduce and make things harder to fix if there is a next time.

In a well maintained tank, they will never again get a foothold.