eddi June 16, 2005 Share June 16, 2005 So my 125 is not even 8 weeks old, after setup, and I have flatworms. Good start. I know Flatworm Exit is a good product, but it is not found locally. Does anyone know of another method to eliminate them? Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lee Stearns June 16, 2005 Share June 16, 2005 Most of your wrasses are supposed to love them. I have only seen one or two in my tanks ever- but have usually had a wrasse of some type in there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traveller7 June 16, 2005 Share June 16, 2005 So my 125 is not even 8 weeks old, after setup, and I have flatworms. Good start. I know Flatworm Exit is a good product, but it is not found locally. Does anyone know of another method to eliminate them? Thanks. 33365[/snapback] The little brown or beige flatworms you see on the glass are common in newer tanks and tend to die back pretty quickly. The red/orange flatworm/planaria are a whole other issue. Which type did you find? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
craby June 16, 2005 Share June 16, 2005 I got a rock from someone who had red flat worms. I've had out of water for about (2) months now. Any idea how to clean the LR so that they don't get in my tank? I don't know if any eggs can survive out of water. Maybe I can bleach/boil the LR. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddi June 16, 2005 Author Share June 16, 2005 Traveller7, They are still too small to truly distinguish color. They could be brown or orange. Good to know they may die off quickly, I will wait on treatment for a while and monitor their color as they grow. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex wlazlak June 17, 2005 Share June 17, 2005 what are flat worms? i think by the way that you described them by beige or tanish colored things on the tank, it looks like i have alot of them on the back of the tank. are they helpful or what do they for or against your tank?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traveller7 June 17, 2005 Share June 17, 2005 I got a rock from someone who had red flat worms. I've had out of water for about (2) months now. Any idea how to clean the LR so that they don't get in my tank? I don't know if any eggs can survive out of water. Maybe I can bleach/boil the LR. 33383[/snapback] Extended Freshwater soaking does a fine job on most flatworm problems. They are still too small to truly distinguish color. They could be brown or orange. 33387[/snapback] Eddi, post a picture. Some of us are far too familiar with the bad ones. Do you beleive they came in with the Live Rock? what are flat worms? i think by the way that you described them by beige or tanish colored things on the tank, it looks like i have alot of them on the back of the tank. are they helpful or what do they for or against your tank?? 33413[/snapback] Most reef specimens are actually not flatworms, but a type of a planaria that looks and move like an amoeba cruising in single direction. In my experience this RC thread shows the "worms" which are not the bad ones: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.p...ht=flatworm+red In my experience this RC thread shows the "worms" that are the bad ones, please make note of the head shape: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.p...ht=red+planaria Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddi June 17, 2005 Author Share June 17, 2005 Traveller7, No, they could not have come from the rocks as I cooked them for weeks before resetting the tank up. I have a pretty good idea where I got them, however I can't be certain so I would rather not accuse anyone. I will try to take a picture this weekend, but judging from the links you posted, I have the 'bad ones'. However, let me ask you. What do you mean by bad? I have had them before and I never saw them on any coral. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest ScubaTodd June 19, 2005 Share June 19, 2005 I had a real bad case of them a few years back. Tried every wrasse that supposedly eats them, none did. Tried siphoning, but they always came back. The method that worked for me was to starve the tank as much as possible, siphon, and then buy a few velvet nudibranches. They suck them up like a vacuum cleaner and its fun to watch, but unfortunately they die after they're all gone ime. I realize this isnt an ideal fix, but it worked flawlessly for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Grav June 19, 2005 Share June 19, 2005 No, they could not have come from the rocks as I cooked them for weeks before resetting the tank up. I have a pretty good idea where I got them, however I can't be certain so I would rather not accuse anyone. 33421[/snapback] Not me. I've never seen one. (knock wood) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest alex wlazlak June 20, 2005 Share June 20, 2005 ill try to get a picture of them, but it will be with my cell phone so the quality wont be too good.i dont know what they are then because it doesnt look like those flat worms.okay so i tryed to get a picture of them with my phone, but it doesnt show up..ill wait unitl i can get a digital camera, and hopefuly that'll work better. but after some high nitires, heres a pic of my zoos! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traveller7 June 22, 2005 Share June 22, 2005 What do you mean by bad? I have had them before and I never saw them on any coral.33421[/snapback] In my experience the only real problem with them is they are unsightly, they hinder your ability to trade frags, and they reproduce to huge numbers if the conditions are right for them. When the population grows large enough and the wipe out the food supply(apparently small pods), the colony can crash releasing quite a toxic substance into the water. Had my long term BTA colony bleach from such a crash. Fish made it, but the anemones are still recovering, almost 1 year later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest reverai June 22, 2005 Share June 22, 2005 In my experience the only real problem with them is they are unsightly, they hinder your ability to trade frags, and they reproduce to huge numbers if the conditions are right for them. When the population grows large enough and the wipe out the food supply(apparently small pods), the colony can crash releasing quite a toxic substance into the water. Had my long term BTA colony bleach from such a crash. Fish made it, but the anemones are still recovering, almost 1 year later. 33577[/snapback] I actually got some from a live rock I got two meetings ago. They're in 10 gallon tank I have the things I plan to place in my refugium when I get it set. That past is getting closer to actually happening. I see them along the inside of the glass. They seem to come and go. The problems with the various remedies to make them go away tend to have a major inpack on pods and those mini stars. I've read on Reef Central how people have lots all their pods and something the larger as well smaller brittle stars even when the die off the flatworms was low. So be careful. I wish I knew what I did to make them go away for so long. I know they don't like really salty water. But neither do pods but they can handle it for short times.... Steve Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mutley29 June 22, 2005 Share June 22, 2005 I had a real flatworm explosion in my main tank earlier in the year, not wanting to go the chemical route to rid myself of them i replaced the Six-Line wrasse that had at the end of last year gone carpet surfing has taken care of the flatworm problem completely in my main tank. I still have a largish number in my refugium, nothing else in the tank has changed so can only put there decline down to the wrasse. HTH Anton Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armson June 22, 2005 Share June 22, 2005 I use to have a huge population. The funny thing was I had two 50 gallon breeders set up side by side. One actually drained into the other. In the first tank I had so many flatworms that the whole tank was orange. That tank drained into the second tank and there were absolutely no flatworms in it. I could not for the life of me figure out how that was happening. But something in the second tank was massacring any flatworms that came through. I even pulled rocks coated in flatworms and moved it to the second breeder. By the next day it was clean. So I know there is something(s) out there that flatworms have nightmares about. It wasn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.jpg.7bfaca13382600fc0d1da29d2e298192.jpg)
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now