Flatworm outbreak...

[TheNorthernLight]

Hello,

 

 

 

I have recently "aquired" a flatworm infestation that look like these :

 

 

(link to FULL VIEW)

 

 

 

First, why are these so bad? second I've been told to get them under control quickly. Tried a FWD, on what I thought was the only infected rock, but sadly,

 

they have spread all over my tank.

 

 

 

Why is the best solution, that avoids having to take my tank apart ?

 

 

 

Any help is suggested,

 

 

 

spyrule.

[Gerber77]

a sixline wrasse will take care of the problem.

[TheNorthernLight]

Oh,

 

my current lighting is 10 hours total, 4 under MH, rest under 110W

of .03 actinic.

 

my water perams are all at 0 for the bad stuff, and good for everything

else, except a little low on calcium (which seems to be normal in my

tank).

 

and I only feed 2 x / week,

 

usually a mix cyclopeze, mixed flake, DT's phytoplankton, organic nori,

spirulina, and 2 x per month brineshrimp. Plus I have a constant

floating mat of algae in my tank, that my tang picks at all day.

 

It is a reef tank if that also helps...

 

spyrule

[one8thscale]

I used Flatworm exit after doing some research. Some have had success, some not. I treated 3 of my tanks successfully. I just followed the instruction and some tips from fellow N-Reefers. I had to do 2 treatmnets to get them all. Good luck.

[SeeDemTails]

They will do no harm to you tank, other than make everything look red. Eventually they will dissapear after about 6 months, but you can speed this up by vaccuming them out with rigid airhose and a gallon jug. I like a milk jug better than a bag because it has a handle and you can carry it around the entire tan kwhile you vaccum. Sixlines eat them, but dont expect him to "clean up"...it will be a drawn out battle. The syphoning methond removes hundreds at a time, and will shorten their cycle to a couple months.

 

And while you have them, they make one heck of a clean up crew.

 

Check out the how to article on Flatworm Removal

 

FW exit is an option, but I persoanlly dont like putting posion in my reef tank, do you?

[rev138]

I, for one, welcome our new flatworm masters.

[Phixion]

a sixline wrasse will take care of the problem.

 

I wouldn't bet on that. Just like peps to aiptasia, 6lines are hit and miss with eating them. Some will take a fancy to them and some will not. Mine that I got about 2 weeks ago has yet to touch the ones in my tank that I've seen, and i don't expect it'll start eating them anytime soon either.

 

The siphoning method that SeeDemTails suggested seems to be the method of choice for removal these days. I'd only trust the Flatworm eXit once you have a minimal amount of them left, as too many of them dying at once from it can crash your tank instantly as some reefers have experienced.

[rev138]

Is that a sponge that they're crawling on?

[one8thscale]

Yeah, I siphoned out as much as I could before I treated my tank with FWE. They did bother some zoas and toadstool, so I had to get them out and like Phix said a 6line is a hit or miss, I have one in my larger tank and did not touch one of them. It all depends on what you want to do and risk. I personally just couldn't stand them anymore and I was getting tired of manually siphoning them out, they just come back in force, so last resort for me was the FWE.

[SeeDemTails]

Im just let it ride for a few months and they dissapeared, without the "tank crash you will get when they die".

[Mudfish]

I, for one, welcome our new flatworm masters.

Thank you, Kent Brockman!

[Six]

Im just let it ride for a few months and they dissapeared, without the "tank crash you will get when they die".

 

I agree. They go through population booms and droughts.

 

They dont cause tank crashes unless you kill them and other assorted critters at once. you can be sure that any "cure" that is supposed to specificly kill off one species can and will kill off many many more.

remember all the cool stuff you found on your live rock? no one can tell you every species of animal you have in there. how is a medication like flatworm exit supposed to know and kill off only the target species?

 

you can bet it kills your microfauna and thus your diversity. these and many more reasons are why people "cook" their live rock and have to reseed it with "pods" and "rodifer" cultures. IMO, i'd rather look at some weirdo flatworms than kill and reseed my whole population of microfauna.

[andrewkw]

I used flatworm exit recently what an amazing product. I dosed a bit higher then the recommended dosage but it worked like a charm. 1000s died, no harm to my corals and now my tank looks a million times better. I highly recommend it! Just be sure to get as many of the dead ones out as you can asap.