Anyone have pictures of what flat worms look like?

[Black Mammoth]

I got something in my tank and I have no idea what it is...actually I got a bunch. I thought it was an algae at first and then I realized that they were moving. I haven't had a chance to get a good picture of an ID. Got any flat worm pictures?

 

 

Crap! I found a picture and it looks like flatworms! However, they really haven't touched any of my corals. How on earth did I get these? I guess I'll be purchasing some flat worm exit.

[dhoch]

THere are lots of types of flatworms, not all are bad.

 

Take a look at this page before you panic:

 

http://www.melevsreef.com/id/flatworm.html

 

Is it one of those first 3 pics (the most common types of flatworms).

 

Dave

[Black Mammoth]

It looks like a combination between the 2nd one on Melev's Reef and the picture in this thread.

 

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthre...light=flat+worm

 

 

BTW...How was I able to put the edit in my first post without it saying edited? I posted a reply to it and it just put it in the body...weird

[dhoch]

Interesting... are they really tiny? (what size would you say they are).

 

As to your editing...If you post twice back-to-back on the same thread within a specific amount of time(not sure how long) it combines into 1.

 

Dave

[lanman]

I got something in my tank and I have no idea what it is...actually I got a bunch. I thought it was an algae at first and then I realized that they were moving. I haven't had a chance to get a good picture of an ID. Got any flat worm pictures?

Crap! I found a picture and it looks like flatworms! However, they really haven't touched any of my corals. How on earth did I get these? I guess I'll be purchasing some flat worm exit.

 

Here's what my flatworms look like:

 

Although I can't find any recently...

 

bob

[Black Mammoth]

They are pretty tiny. The tiny digital (in macro mode) I have couldn't pick them up. Later I will try to get the macro mode working on my digital SLR. Hopefully my photo skills are good enough to get them. They don't appear to be bothering any of the corals, but there is a lot of them and it's just nasty looking.

[lanman]

They are pretty tiny. The tiny digital (in macro mode) I have couldn't pick them up. Later I will try to get the macro mode working on my digital SLR. Hopefully my photo skills are good enough to get them. They don't appear to be bothering any of the corals, but there is a lot of them and it's just nasty looking.

Mine came in on a frag. I could tell because the day I first saw them, they were like 'radiating out' from that frag. That pictures is in digital macro mode; the flatworm in the picture is between 1/16 and 1/8" long. If you're going to use EXIT - be sure to read some threads about it, and be sure to read the instructions, and be sure to have some water ready for changes. EXIT is not supposed to harm corals or fish, but the toxins released by dying flatworms can. So the basic objective - suction all of the flatworms you can out of the tank, then treat, then use carbon and water changes to reduce the toxins. The fewer flatworms you have when you treat, the better. I am considering treating my system now because I can't find ANY - but I'm reasonably certain there are still a few around. They generally won't harm anything unless you get thousands, to the point where they drape across all of your corals.

 

When I moved from the 45 to the 58, I treated everything, including all rocks and sand with EXIT before I put them in the new tank. I've seen ONE flatworm in the 58; and that was when I first moved everything. The one thing I didn't treat was my frag rack - so there might have been one or two hidden there. Just wasn't thinking when I moved it.

 

bob

[Guest minimalist]

http://liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=375