keith34 Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 I think I might have a few sliders .... I wish I had a camra to take pics with ;( anyway I think I have seen a few very small flat worms on my glass are they hard to get out of the tank. what can I about them . are they very bad . all i have are corals and one shrimp and a few hermits a few snails and one feather duster its a small 12gal nano any help will be great thanks keith Link to comment
Pili Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 Are they clear or do they have color? Clear ones are fine and only eat pods. Colored ones are where its starts to get nasty. There are little colored ones which are not good but not horrible and can be taken care of relatively easily but there are also big ones that can be really bad. When your doing a water change, try to suck them out with airline tubing. Link to comment
c est ma Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 As Pili said, there's no need to worry about the white ones at all. The brownish ones are more of a problem because they can really build up in numbers and cover your tank in a pretty unsightly way. The best way to try to eradicate them is through regular, thorough siphoning. There is a product, Flatworm Exit, that also does the job but if you use it you must be very careful to remove any dead flatworms you see and do regular water changes. They release a toxic compound when they die and if left in place they may poison your tank. More info here: http://www.wetwebmedia.com/flatwrmfaq2.htm --Diane Link to comment
keith34 Posted February 13, 2006 Author Share Posted February 13, 2006 thanks for the help .......... the ones I have are for the most part trans-parent with a dot in the center not brown or really any color .... I can see why I might have them or a few that I did see I have pods swarming like mad in my tank the sides of my tank have white dots everywere the ones I seen on the web page that was marked bown and such wen't like the ones I have so far . and I only seen a few ..( and I have to say I removed them ) before I seen the posts I try to live by what I was told one time when in dout take them out .. also something funny I turn one of the lights off (blue light ) and a few mins after all thies small fuzy shrimp like things came out like mad and my corals were going nuts trying to get at tehm swimming around.so I have to say my tank cant be doing that bad anyway thank you for your help I think just to play it safe I will buy the flat worm exit . just to have it on hand if things worse'n later thanks keith Link to comment
shag26272 Posted February 13, 2006 Share Posted February 13, 2006 a mandarin will eat them Link to comment
c est ma Posted February 14, 2006 Share Posted February 14, 2006 Oh, great advice to a newbie! Note to newbs: mandarins can be difficult to maintain properly and should be thoroughly researched before taking the plunge! keith34--sounds like you have harmless flatworms. Just enjoy them while they last. Here's an excerpt I posted on a similar thread some time back; HTH: >>Thought you might like to know what Delbeek & Sprung (The Reef Aquarium, vol. 1) have to say about your flatworms: "There are approximately 14 different non-parasitic forms that have been seen in aquariums...Some of these feed on small copepods, others feed on diatoms and others act as scavengers...The most commonly encountered flatworm in the reef aquarium are the small, semi-transparent, whitish ones belonging to the suborder Maricola. These are usually found in newly setup aquariums with live rock. They have a length of 5-10 mm with a rounded anterior end and fork-shaped rear end. Mainly active at night, they are usually found crawling along the glass or rock but they can swim short distances when disturbed. These small worms should not cause any undue alarm as they are actually quite helpful and will usually disappear within a few months as their food supply diminishes. If they do not, it could be that you are overfeeding the aquarium..." --Diane Link to comment
keith34 Posted February 14, 2006 Author Share Posted February 14, 2006 thank you again I did get to see one of the small sliders grab and eat a pod tonight i have seen a few but they dont look anything like the bad ones I have looked up. I have had this tank set up for 3 months maybe in a month or so I like to get one or two small fish maybe that would help the pods everywere thanks all keith Link to comment
keith34 Posted February 17, 2006 Author Share Posted February 17, 2006 the flat worms that I see here and there are white like and clear with a darker center and then a white like center in that as well ... and they are quite small how do the ones that are bad look like anything ike I have stated I have also order some flatworm exit just in case they are a problem . I dont see any on my lr or on my corals but I do see some on the glass. thanks keith Link to comment
drg0nzo1 Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 I had a problem with the red/brown ones in my cube. They still pop up on occasion, just keep siphoning them out of the tank during water changes, and when their numbers dwindle they shouldn't be a problem at all. Link to comment
nUgZ Posted February 17, 2006 Share Posted February 17, 2006 If you go to that wetwebmedia link posted above the second pic down shows the bad ones. Link to comment
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