ugggg flatworms

[minireefkeeper26]

I have flatworms obviously. They are orange in color. I believe they are not the coral eating kind, I was told those were grey. I have been sucking them out every other day, it never seems to lower the number of them. What else can I do to get rid of these things? aaahhhh!

[er1c_the_reefer]

six and four line wrasses are supposed to eat flatworms. mandarins do sometimes, but that's a hassle. black velvet nudibranchs are supposed to be the best when acclimated properly.

[limestro]

I have flatworms obviously. They are orange in color. I believe they are not the coral eating kind, I was told those were grey. I have been sucking them out every other day, it never seems to lower the number of them. What else can I do to get rid of these things? aaahhhh!

 

 

minireefkeeper26,

 

Here's a quick trick. Try this. Grab a ball of cheato to spare. Place it at a position where the most flatworms are at. Give it some time and wait for the flatworms to infeast the chaeato. You can treat the cheato with some flatworm exit in a separate container, rinse, reuse and repeat the steps or you can wait to almost all of them infest the cheato then toss it. This is a more conservative way of doing it. Give it a try. Be patient and good luck.

 

~Mike

[Callous1]

Here's a link you may find interesting

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

There are more links at the top of the page pertaining to flatworms as well

 

and as a absolute last resort you might want to try this

http://www.melevsreef.com/flatworms.html

 

Hope this helps

[minireefkeeper26]

Those are awsome replies. I will try some chaeto. I actually just bought what the LFS called a christmas tree coral with a bunch of tubeworms of various colors on it. While it was in the bag the owner of the store said look theres that nudibranch. It was about a half an inch long and black. I hope it is a black velvet just to see if he helps. The article was an interesting read, thank you so much. I will keep siphoning and cut back on my addition of phytoplankton, try the chaeto and look out for that nudibranch. Thank you all!!!

[darkwaterdevil]

the clear flatworms arnt bad i had hudreds of them and didnt care the rest are bad. ps mine went away by themself

[Armadildo]

Hyposalinity shocking them will do wonders for the tank, but you bust be quick and precise with it in a waterchange or else risk shocking the rest of your tank.

[geekreef_05]

I had a orange flatworm infestation about 6 months back in my 60 gallon. I never put too much thought into it, cause I know these guys are fairly harmless. But about 3 months I noticed the flatworms had disappeared. I caught glimpses of my sixline and dottyback snacking on these guys. Im pretty sure they rid the tank of them.

[dga]

 

i took this pic of a red planaria flat worm (common) that infested my tank from some zoo's i purchased and didnt do a lugols dip first. i researched and found that "flat worm exit" works well when the directions are followed. after application and many had died, i sucked out as many as i could with a baster. this is required if there are a lot of dead flay worms due to the toxins they produce after death. very strange creatures.

the below videos are 2 different flat worms in a single drop of water under a 30x scope with my digital camera. the instrument you will see is the tip of a dental pick. (the size of a pin)

 

Video

 

Video 2

[minireefkeeper26]

update: I tried the chaeto method that a fellow reefer mentioned. It works really good, some of them come right to the chaeto, I just pull it out rinse them off and put it back. I don't know how fast they reproduce but it seems like they multiply quick, I hope all of them are attracted by the chaeto. P.S. thank you for the private message, I am glad to see you care, you know who you are, i deleted the message and forgot your name. But thank you.