Boret July 10, 2009 July 10, 2009 All of a sudden my refugium is filled with these!!! What are they?? I really hope they are not flatworms!
basser9 July 10, 2009 July 10, 2009 They are just your run of the mill flatworms any i have ever had in my 150 are quickly eaten buy my leopard wrasse....for me a leopard wrasse and copper band are the most important fish for my reef and the pest that will visit from time to time.......those blue nudis eat flatworms like crazy also.
lanman July 10, 2009 July 10, 2009 Yes... those are flatworms. Are they kind of reddish-orange?? Those are the most common ones. bob
Kevin Garrison July 10, 2009 July 10, 2009 Yup, flatworms they are, another possible solution would be a velvet nudibranch. Black with neon blue stripes, very cool looking and known as a flatworm disposal. Biggest problem is that's all they eat.
Jon Lazar July 10, 2009 July 10, 2009 I wouldn't do anything. I've never heard of these clear flatworms causing any problems. Even the red flatworms don't cause any problems, but they are ugly. Jon
Jan July 10, 2009 July 10, 2009 They are flat worms. If you want to get rid of them try it natrually first. I've spoken to someone recently who used a flat worm remedy in their tank and in seconds the flat worms started to die. They sort of explode. The problem is when they die from being chemically treated they emit a very strong toxin that can wipe out live stock. That's what happened to this person. They didn't lose all but they lost a lot. I was also told that not all flatworms are bad but I haven't read anything to confirm this, so as far as I'm concerned they're all bad until I can prove otherwise. Good luck!
reefhunter July 10, 2009 July 10, 2009 Boret, these are probably from me. They are not the bad ones. I have a six line in my display and I think that is why I dont see any in there. However, my frag tank had some. They mostly run around on the glass, I have never seen them on coral. You can treat with flatworm exit and it will wipe them out, just run carbon and skim afterwards.
dgtlwar July 10, 2009 July 10, 2009 I've been wondering what those were, I thought they were baby snails. I have them in my refugium, but I've never seen once in my display. I guess my six line has been taking care of them.
ctenophore July 10, 2009 July 10, 2009 Boret, these are probably from me. They are not the bad ones. I have a six line in my display and I think that is why I dont see any in there. However, my frag tank had some. They mostly run around on the glass, I have never seen them on coral. You can treat with flatworm exit and it will wipe them out, just run carbon and skim afterwards. Agreed, they are not bad and will not reach plague proportions like the red ones. Don't worry about them.
zygote2k July 10, 2009 July 10, 2009 I have them too. They are like a free convenient snack for the fish.
Boret July 10, 2009 Author July 10, 2009 phew!! thanks guys! It puts my mind at ease. They are indeed the transparent ones, no reddish coloration at all. I only see them in the refugium. Now I understand why my sixline is getting so fat I am planning on adding a wrasse in the frag tank, so I will keep it in the refugium first to trim down the population and then move it into the frag tank. I don't see a single one in the display tank... but it really freaked me out when I saw so many in the fuge. I appreciate the input. I will try natural remedy. I don't want to add any quemicals to the water unless I have to. Will the nudibranch eat the chaeto in the refugium? Will it eat too many beneficial things? The fuge its supposed to be a food generator for meaty gracers, right? Is there any specific fish/livestock you recommend in there that will keep things under control without eating all the pods? Basser9, how do you keep your copper band alive? I only had one, long time ago, in my 55 and it died fairly quick, so I didn't want to add another one. Thanks again to all of you!
Jan July 10, 2009 July 10, 2009 Hunters right. They're not the bad ones... http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fltwmid.htm Boret, these are probably from me. They are not the bad ones. I have a six line in my display and I think that is why I dont see any in there. However, my frag tank had some. They mostly run around on the glass, I have never seen them on coral. You can treat with flatworm exit and it will wipe them out, just run carbon and skim afterwards.
Boret July 10, 2009 Author July 10, 2009 last night I started browsing for a microscope too... it is incredible the things you will consider buying because of the tank!
treesprite July 10, 2009 July 10, 2009 several months ago I found one flat worm in my fuge, one that looked like the one pictured. It's the only one I have ever seen. Is there something that makes them populate quickly that we should all avoid?
Jan July 10, 2009 July 10, 2009 several months ago I found one flat worm in my fuge, one that looked like the one pictured. It's the only one I have ever seen. Is there something that makes them populate quickly that we should all avoid? They like pods. It's in the article I posted.
lanman July 11, 2009 July 11, 2009 Basser9, how do you keep your copper band alive? I only had one, long time ago, in my 55 and it died fairly quick, so I didn't want to add another one. Thanks again to all of you! I have had my copperbanded butterflyfish for about a year; he started out eating aiptaisia - and then moved on to mysis. Never a problem. I think you have to be lucky. bob
basser9 July 11, 2009 July 11, 2009 copperbands are easy if you feed live black worms they will look for glass anemones between feedings......dont think for a moment that flatworms can not take over a tank thats why you need certain fish for certain pest you should get these fish before you get the pest.......my 2 cents....
Boret July 11, 2009 Author July 11, 2009 I manage to get the six line in the refugium. I hope it doesn't overdose on flatworms!! I have a Copperband in QT. It is eating brine and mysis. So far so good. I really hope it survives QT and gets fat and healthy to have a long prosperous life in the DT Are black worms nutrition enough?
ceejay2005 August 13, 2009 August 13, 2009 Yes, flatworms indeed and they are the common ones. Over half of all known flatworm species are parasitic, and some do enormous harm to humans and their livestock. Schistosomiasis, caused by one genus of trematodes, is the second most devastating of all human diseases caused by parasites, surpassed only by malaria.
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