HEEEELP!!! QUICK! FLATWORM!

[Still_human]

11 hours ago, davelin315 said:

That thing is bigger than Texas! ?

Hahahahahahahahaha!!! Nice!

[Still_human]

10 hours ago, ReefdUp said:

There are an insane number of flatworms out there, and many of them have extremely specialized diets (similar to many nudibranchs in that regard). The massive polyclads typically go after only clams. Then there's AEFW. I've seen elegance-eating flatworms too. 

 

In other words, if a coral is in bad shape and you find a flatworm... I recommend caution unless you know for sure that it is "reef safe."

AEFW?

[nburg]

7 hours ago, Still_human said:

AEFW?

Acropora eating flat worm. The bane of stick heads. 

[nburg]

7 hours ago, Still_human said:

That’s good, cause yours looks awesome, that’s cool that u got to keep it with no problems. Did u keep seeing it, or just the one time?

thats about the size of the one I had. I feel bad cause I started getting attached to it by watching it for awhile. I felt really bad getting rid of it:(

 

It was from my first tank in 2006, so I don't remember how often I saw it but it was rare, mostly right before the lights went out. I will say it freaked me out the first time I saw it. I banished it to my fuge, but again, don't remember how long it stayed in there. 

 

I was trying to figure out what it was eating. I figured it's skin pattern should match its prey, so maybe clams, but the clams I had were really healthy with no signs of getting munched on.  

Edited February 26, 2020 by nburg

[Still_human]

On 2/26/2020 at 8:24 AM, nburg said:

Acropora eating flat worm. The bane of stick heads. 

AHHHHHHhhhhhh, yes, thankfully I’ve never had any problems with them. In fact, as far as I can remember at the moment, this may be the only pest worm/slug I’ve ever had, and thankfully I got it before it got into my tank.......or so I believe, so far:/ I’d imagine any spawn would have long since made their presence known. 

[Still_human]

ACTUALLY, starting about a week after this, one of my hammers, my most expensive one, started dying back with jelly, so I couldn’t help briefly wondering if there was any correlation, but nothing came off in the multiple heavy dips. Sadly but Thankfully, it’s a branching, so only the one side with 3 very close heads, died off. The last head is a good couple inches away, so hopefully it’ll be fine:/

[nburg]

Good luck! I hope they make it out okay. 

[DFR]

On 2/27/2020 at 6:43 PM, Still_human said:

ACTUALLY, starting about a week after this, one of my hammers, my most expensive one, started dying back with jelly, so I couldn’t help briefly wondering if there was any correlation, but nothing came off in the multiple heavy dips. Sadly but Thankfully, it’s a branching, so only the one side with 3 very close heads, died off. The last head is a good couple inches away, so hopefully it’ll be fine:/

It could also be your frequency of dipping that caused it to die back.  I may be wrong and someone correct me if I am, but I think Euphilias are a little more sensitive to dips (higher concentrations or longer durations). After losing a couple Euphilias shortly after addition, I resorted to dipping them for just a short period (maybe a minute with real gentle turkey basting). Probably not doing much for tests but I feel it is still better than direct addition.
But as a side note, have you considered Springers Damsels?  They’re pretty passive and a natural way to control flatworms.

[treesprite]

9 hours ago, DFR said:

It could also be your frequency of dipping that caused it to die back.  I may be wrong and someone correct me if I am, but I think Euphilias are a little more sensitive to dips (higher concentrations or longer durations). After losing a couple Euphilias shortly after addition, I resorted to dipping them for just a short period (maybe a minute with real gentle turkey basting). Probably not doing much for tests but I feel it is still better than direct addition.
But as a side note, have you considered Springers Damsels?  They’re pretty passive and a natural way to control flatworms.

 

There are captive bred Springers damsels, so if you get that type of fish, please consider the captive bred over the wild caught. 

[Still_human]

On 3/1/2020 at 6:30 AM, DFR said:

It could also be your frequency of dipping that caused it to die back.  I may be wrong and someone correct me if I am, but I think Euphilias are a little more sensitive to dips (higher concentrations or longer durations). After losing a couple Euphilias shortly after addition, I resorted to dipping them for just a short period (maybe a minute with real gentle turkey basting). Probably not doing much for tests but I feel it is still better than direct addition.
But as a side note, have you considered Springers Damsels?  They’re pretty passive and a natural way to control flatworms.

I didn’t know about springers, are they good for all flatworms?

[Still_human]

On 3/1/2020 at 3:37 PM, treesprite said:

 

There are captive bred Springers damsels, so if you get that type of fish, please consider the captive bred over the wild caught. 

I always would PREFER to get captive bred, but i generally can’t afford them. I guess that’s why they’re not as available as they could be:/

[treesprite]

7 hours ago, Still_human said:

I always would PREFER to get captive bred, but i generally can’t afford them. I guess that’s why they’re not as available as they could be:/

 

I really think the cost difference balances out. The likelihood of an individual fish dying early on and/or causing an entire tank of fish to get sick and die, is so much higher and such a costly situation.

 

I do wonder though, if captive bred will be as likely to eat flatworms, since I doubt the breeders are feeding flatworms in the facility.

[Still_human]

14 hours ago, treesprite said:

 

I really think the cost difference balances out. The likelihood of an individual fish dying early on and/or causing an entire tank of fish to get sick and die, is so much higher and such a costly situation.

 

I do wonder though, if captive bred will be as likely to eat flatworms, since I doubt the breeders are feeding flatworms in the facility.

Thanks for the heads up about springers, that’s great to know! They’re beautiful, too! 

[GraffitiSpotCorals]

There are also snail eating flatworms that get huge and look like that. But they get huge like 1”, the babies though will look like large aefw or eefw. 

[treesprite]

7 hours ago, GraffitiSpotCorals said:

There are also snail eating flatworms that get huge and look like that. But they get huge like 1”, the babies though will look like large aefw or eefw. 

Yikes!