a little help with ID

[ryndne]

hi all - been browsing reefcentral for a long time but first time posting with a question on the ID of these critters and advice: should I be concerned, is there a natural predator?

Couldnt find my ruler for scale -- these are about 3mm in length and are now covering a few areas of my glass and substrate. When disturbed, they are clearly mobile. I'm sure I'm just being ignorant and I should know exactly what I'm looking at.

on glass:

on substrate:

 

[Rich1427]

http://www.melevsreef.com/id/flatworms.html hope this helps pests and alot of them

 

[hollister]

I think they are flat worms..

 

[hollister]

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

 

[Lynnmw1208]

yep flatworms. use flatworm exit or buy a wrasse

 

[ryndne]

was thinking about trying a spotted mandarin and hoping i get lucky (mixed reports using them). my LR and fuge are rockin a beautiful pod population with no one relying on them as a food source -- if the mandarin likes the flatworms (after i siphon a ton out to give a head start) it could be a win-win since i get my mandarin i've been considering and the flatworms have an enemy. any thoughts?

 

[IridescentLily]

I've never heard of Mandarins eating flat worms.
I don't think they will eat them to be honest.....
But you could try a six-line wrasse. Many reefers here have had good luck with them. Keep in mind it's not a 100% guarantee but that's what I would do.
Plus use flatworms exit as others have suggested

 

[ibefishy]

:eek1: Wow thats impressive, not in a good way though. I picked up a Melanarus Wrasse a few months back when I noticed some flatworms (nothing like that mind you) and within a few days I couldnt find any. Plus it is a beautiful fish, if you look closely at the photo you can see some of the flatworms I had on the rocks.

 

[sjwitt]

No one mentioned it, and I'm sure you probably know this, but on the shell of your hermit you also have aiptasia, which is also a nuisance and can get out of control quickly. Get rid of that too. Either peppermint shrimp (worked for me but reportedly not for everyone) or Aiptasia-X.

 

[returnofsid]

Flat Worms, definitely. Red Planaria, to be more specific.

Salifert Flatworm Exit will help. However, read the directions very well. You can triple the suggested dosage, without any problems at all.

The MOST important things to consider are:

Flatworms become toxic, when they die. There's many many more than you see. If too many are left in your tank, dead, their toxin can crash your tank. For this reason, it's CRITICAL to remove as many as you can, by siphoning them out, BEFORE you treat. When you treat, they'll start dying, almost immediately. They'll be floating all over the water column. Use a brine shrimp net, to scoop them out, as they're floating around. Use a turkey baster or power head, to blow all of your rocks off. This will suspend any dead worms that are in the rocks.

Again, the MOST CRITICAL aspect of treating for flatworms is to remove as many as you can, before treating and then to remove as many dead ones as you can, during and after treatment.

 

[disc1]

No one mentioned it, and I'm sure you probably know this, but on the shell of your hermit you also have aiptasia, which is also a nuisance and can get out of control quickly. Get rid of that too. Either peppermint shrimp (worked for me but reportedly not for everyone) or Aiptasia-X.

Is that an aptasia or a little button?

 

[ryndne]

No one mentioned it, and I'm sure you probably know this, but on the shell of your hermit you also have aiptasia, which is also a nuisance and can get out of control quickly. Get rid of that too. Either peppermint shrimp (worked for me but reportedly not for everyone) or Aiptasia-X.

not aiptasia actually, its just a miscellaneous hitchhiker button polyp. had a problem with them in a tank a few years ago and yes, peppermint shrimp are pro's.

going to start the flatworm battle today -- i had read one claim about mandarins, but doubted it myself; thanks for confirming those doubts.