what is this?

[spongebob lover]

hello everyone !! i was wondering if anyone knows what is this?
they look like worms but i don't know if they are , so if anyone knows what they are, please let me know or how to get rid of them because they are all over my tank.
(sorry i couldn't take a picture they are to small, but i drew them exactly how they look )

 

[NaH2O]

Does it look like this? It is a Convolutriloba retrogemma (aka red planaria, flatworm) This picture is from the ID Gallery in the hitchhiker section. There is a little information located there about them.

 

[spongebob lover]

YES YES !!! those littles #$5$^&$%$.. thank you
you have no idea how long i've been looking for something that could eat them , no joke you made my day :eek2:
i could even kiss you lol

THANK YOU THANK YOU SO MUCH !!

 

[damer]

they are flat worms (not planaria as they are freshwater). these dont really cause any problems, they just look bad. these reproduce by fission and are photosynthetic. theyre are afew natural predators, one of the best is a mandarin, but i wouldnt reccomend one for a tank under at least 400 litres (120 galons for you guys!!) with a lot of live rock and/or a refugium which has lots of copepods. all natural predators can be a bit hit and miss though, and what do they eat after all the flat worms have gone?

ill try and find out the name of a chemical which is supposed to work well.

 

[NaH2O]

Spongeboblover & Damer - Welcome to Reef Frontiers!!

There is a product called Flatworm Exit that sometimes works, but seems that people need to use double or triple the dose recommended. I suggest to read as many threads on the product that you can before use (if you go this route). One thing with flatworms, if they get to a very large population and cover the corals, then they block the much needed light from the coral. You can do some manual removal with a siphon, or if your tank allows, try a natural predator, but like damer said, they can be hit or miss.

Here is some more information:

Flatworm treatment?

Let's Talk About ~Pests~

 

[spongebob lover]

well my tank got infested with those worms, but every time they are on my glass i took them with a cleaner glass magnet that i have. I mean i have a lot of them everywhere, they are hard to get out and they are all over my mushrooms.
I thought my crab would eat them but i guess they are not tasty at all .
Do you think one velvet sea slug will do the work or do you think i will need at least 2 of them?
because it's a 39 galon tank so ... i don't know how many would do it

 

[reggie060]

I would try a wrasse

Some people have used the sixline and others have used the yellow. You should read up on these fish then make your choice.
Reggie

 

[MarineDreamer]

(120 galons for you guys!!)

Would that be Imperial, or U.S. gallons?

Sorry, couldn't resist!

Trevor

 

[wrightme43]

I hear that when dying in large numbers they produce some toxic compounds. Do like Nikki said and read up a bunch before you use a chemical fix. HTH. Steve

 

[damer]

Would that be Imperial, or U.S. gallons?

Sorry, couldn't resist!

Trevor

either!!!!

preferrably imperial, therefore giving you a 540 litre system!!

 

[Shoreliner11]

Another natural predator is a Velvet Nudibranch. I hear they wipe out the population very quickly but after that...slowly die because of a lack of food source. Natural, yet not the most humane. I hear good things about the flatworm exit though.

 

[spongebob lover]

ya i started looking for the velvet nudibranch yesterday but so far no fish store have them over here so i think i'm just gonna have to get a yellow wrasse. I also wanted to ask you guys if is it normal that after having red slime, now that its going away slowly you get bubbles under and over the sand and on the algae too? because i have bubbles almost everywhere .
i guess i was having to much bad stuff in my tank eh

 

[NaH2O]

The bubbles could be a result of algae respiration or DSB processing. If you can, post a picture of what you have going on. Tell us a little about your system....how long it has been up, skimmer, flow, feeding & maintenance practices, water parameters, etc. These problem issues could be from excess nutrients, and perhaps if we get to the root cause, your problems will begin to go away.

 

[spongebob lover]

yes i will and also i read that the mandarin goby eats worms do you think he would eat these type of worms?

 

[damer]

as my earlier post says, mandarin's (dragonette, not a goby) do eat flatworms, but can be a bit hit and miss. also can be hard to keep if you dont have a lot of natural food, being amphipods/copepods. these fish go from rock to rock looking for food. unless you have LOTS of rock and maybe a refugium, you may struggle long term keeping this fish.

i never reccomend chemicals for tanks, but for flat wormsiit may have to be a consideration.

damien.