Strange tiny green thingies

[bubbles3660]

Hi All,

 

My pico has a new denizen - but I have no idea what it is. Tiny, flat green platelets that move slowly on the live rock and glass. No bigger than a millimeter. I don't have any pics because my camera can't focus on something this small. My concern is that they seem to be multiplying very quickly. A bunch of them have migrated to the top of my live rock in search of the light - so they appear to be photosynthetic. Could these be some kind of flatworm? Or moving macroalgae?

 

 

--bubbles

[circusordie16]

sounds like flatworms to me. look here and see if anything looks familiar- http://www.melevsreef.com/id/flatworm.html

[c est ma]

Sounds VERY much like the kind of flatworms you don't want, though the color & size seem off. (I, too, initially thought my brown flatworms were some kind of alga!).

 

See if they resemble any of the pics on this page:

 

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fltwmid.htm

 

(Or search here on flatworms--Renee has some outstanding pics of them...)

 

Note: despite what you might hear, white acoel flatworms are harmless. But yours aren't white...

 

And yes, the colored ones do photosynthesize and seek light. One way to concentrate them for siphoning out.

 

HTH,

 

--Diane

[bubbles3660]

Thanks Diane and Circus. Looks like this is exactly what they are - "acoel flatworms known as Convolutriloba retrogemma"

 

I'll try some aggressive siphoning and flatworm exit.

 

 

--bubbles