Do i have flatworms?

[wamb0010]

I thought at first these were snails because I thought my turbo snail dropped a bunch of eggs but now my fear is these are flatworms...

 

[92awdGSX]

From the picture I would say absolutely.

[wamb0010]

great... add that to my zoa eating and monti eating nudibranches

 

The thing is I was hoping no since they are not red in color, they are light brown

[yoshii]

Yeah, those are flatworms...

 

Let the war begin!

[bluefunelement]

2 of my tanks have had the acoel type flatworms and have had no ill effects

I am more worried about using FWE to rid them then I am of the actual flatworms

I also believe if you get a pod predator you might rid their food source and lessen their numbers

[yoshii]

Wrasses can definitely help, and when you do water changes, siphon out as many as you can

[wamb0010]

2 of my tanks have had the acoel type flatworms and have had no ill effects

I am more worried about using FWE to rid them then I am of the actual flatworms

I also believe if you get a pod predator you might rid their food source and lessen their numbers

 

I have 2 ORA mandarins, 2 of hyperboy smore clowns, and 1 gold assessor basslet. I've been considering going out and assembling a QT tank for the fish for a few days and blasting in the FWE.

 

Wrasses can definitely help, and when you do water changes, siphon out as many as you can

 

I've only got a 28 gallon and I am at the edge of my stocking limit so I don't think a wrasse is a good option

[MikeTR]

I used FWE at double dose and had no coral losses. I've got a slew of corals.. all types of softies and LPS. I had to treat twice...but about a month later I saw 1 on the glass. Sucked him out and haven't seen any since. We shall see... but no worries in using the FWE.

 

do follow the directions.

[wamb0010]

I used FWE at double dose and had no coral losses. I've got a slew of corals.. all types of softies and LPS. I had to treat twice...but about a month later I saw 1 on the glass. Sucked him out and haven't seen any since. We shall see... but no worries in using the FWE.

 

do follow the directions.

 

Did you remove all of your fish first? I was thinking about gettign a 6-line wrasse but my LFS told me it is about a 50/50 chance they eat flatworms.

[animalmaster6]

Those look like Acoel flatworms. When I had them in my 12g, nothing bad happened.

[Bill Nye]

Those look like Acoel flatworms. When I had them in my 12g, nothing bad happened.

 

 

+1

 

Their populations seem to boom and then wane. I just sucked out as many as I could and now I never see any.

[wamb0010]

Those look like Acoel flatworms. When I had them in my 12g, nothing bad happened.

 

 

+1

 

Their populations seem to boom and then wane. I just sucked out as many as I could and now I never see any.

 

Great. This is good news. They are not rusty red and haven't seemed to bother anything. I have two mandarins so hopefully they will eat some too. I will try to siphon them out.

[animalmaster6]

I've heard that mandarins sometimes eat flatworms. Good Luck!

[Nano sapiens]

I've seen two or three very similar flatworms on my glass, too. I've also seen a white one that was thinner.

 

From what I have read there ae many flatworm species that do not prey on coral. Many are scavengers, so unless I find them specifically on my coral I don't worry.

[wamb0010]

I just tried an old school siphon during a water change and that didn't seem to work very well. I think I need more power.

[MikeTR]

I only have a fridmani dottyback and he didn't seem to notice anything goin on. Didn't lose any inverts.

[WelshMarine]

Flat worms are hit and miss , i noticed 5-10 went on holiday for 2weeks and returned and ive never seen soo many in my life , i bought a 6line because i was planning on anyway and nothing happend over a week , a LFS told me to try myxazin , now allot of people say its not reef safe , and not safe for inverts etc .... the LFS told me theyd used it for years with no ill affects on their tanks , so they gave me a little sample , i under dosed the recommended does and the next morning , no flatworms anywhere =) its been about 2months and touch wood , nothing has happend on my reef , ive got a few fish , allot of inverts , and allot of soft coral's only my imput tho ,

[Dani3d]

Neither of my green mandarins will eat any flatworms. They don't care one bit for them.

 

I tried a yellow wrasse and a checkerboard with no luck. I have bought 2 black velvet nudibranchs and I remove more flatworms with a 5 minutes syphoning than 2 black velvet nudi will eat in their entire 3 months of live!

 

So best method for me is syphoning. I read that flatworm exit is toxic to sponge and will remain inside them and block their flow.

 

 

I've heard that mandarins sometimes eat flatworms. Good Luck!

[skeeters]

I have them too. They don't bother anything. When I do a water change I use airline tubing to suck them out first, then I do a normal water change. Airline tubing sucks them right off glass and rocks.

[Trick]

I have these tiny brownish flatworms too. They've been living on all my corals for a long time. I'm not sure if they're bad though. I have had a fungia die with them on it but i don't know if they killed it. all my other corals seem to be doing ok, or really great. Sometimes my zoanthids close because of them as well. Also, my green nepthea hasn't been doing well, but its hard to tell if they are doing any damage.

[skeeters]

If you get toooo many they could block out light from your corals but you don't hear that much. Mainly they are just toxic when they die so you don't want large quantities dying at one time. I would just suck out as much as possible every week with airline tube. You could go the chemical route, but I wouldn't unless causing problems.

[wamb0010]

If you get toooo many they could block out light from your corals but you don't hear that much. Mainly they are just toxic when they die so you don't want large quantities dying at one time. I would just suck out as much as possible every week with airline tube. You could go the chemical route, but I wouldn't unless causing problems.

 

Do you hook the airline tube up to a pump? I tried an old school syphon and it didn't work.

[wamb0010]

Neither of my green mandarins will eat any flatworms. They don't care one bit for them.

 

I tried a yellow wrasse and a checkerboard with no luck. I have bought 2 black velvet nudibranchs and I remove more flatworms with a 5 minutes syphoning than 2 black velvet nudi will eat in their entire 3 months of live!

 

So best method for me is syphoning. I read that flatworm exit is toxic to sponge and will remain inside them and block their flow.

 

Did you try Flatworm exit? I did an experiment the other night with about ten of these little punks in a small bowl. I put in 10 times the amount of FWE and after like 2 hours one of those little suckers was still alive. I'm afraid I dose the tank and 4 of them survive and i'm back to square one.

[Bill Nye]

Do you hook the airline tube up to a pump? I tried an old school syphon and it didn't work.

 

 

What I used to do was use a turkey baster to suck them out when id see them or before a water change. I never really had a problem sucking them up with one, but if there was a stubborn one you can push it with the siphon/baster as your sucking and they will usually come off and get sucked in at the same time.

[jdl]

they will come and go....those are not that harmful and actually i think they help in part of the cleanup. i would not stress it unless they are red. ive had them since day one and no problems.