noobtothereef
New member
Ive read quite a few of your posts paul and my favorite saying of yours is "I don't know where they came from but they are welcome to stay" Thats cool to have that mind thought. 
Billions of flatworms
- Thread starter Paul B
- Start date
noobtothereef
New member
Paul, Here's a situation to ponder.
I had flatworms in a 5.5 gallon tank and thought that some day I'd do something about them. One day they just disappeared (along with all the stomatella snails).
Not sure if the emoticon should beor :beer:
Three years later the tank is doing just fine without flatworms or stomatellas.
I had the same thing happen as well, i had a massive bloom of flatworms and they just dissapeared, i did add a small six line that looks like he swallowed a marble but theres no way that he was the reason they dissapeared , i think the sheer numbers make them use up theyre food source rather quickly and starve themselves off
john rochon
New member
problem with flatworms in large numbers is sometimes they will die off at any point which could lead to a total wipeout of your tank. The toxins released kill fish very very fast. not to mention corals etc,, I've seen it.
Paul B
Premium Member
Well it seems that the flatworms are leaving. I am not sure where they are going but most of them are gone as I knew they would be. I didn'y need any flatworm exit, six line wrasses or grenades and the tank is not crashing. They are just geting bored I guess.
There is no need to go into a panic and buy all the products on the market for these events. I am going to miss them, The ones that are left are very thin, I guess they are starving. I don't know but I assume something else will appear. I hope so, as that is the beauty of this hobby.
Maybe I will get an infestation of manta rays :lol:
There is no need to go into a panic and buy all the products on the market for these events. I am going to miss them, The ones that are left are very thin, I guess they are starving. I don't know but I assume something else will appear. I hope so, as that is the beauty of this hobby.
Maybe I will get an infestation of manta rays :lol:
Algaenot
New member
I've been dealing with flatworms for almost a year now. During the initial population explosion I battled back using high levels of Salifert's eXit. I went through this process three separate times and the flatworms would eventually come back with a vengeance. I was aware of the toxin issue John mentioned above so I spent several days manually removing the worms prior to adding the eXit. Fish seemed OK but the process did claim a cleaner shrimp. During the past several months I've let nature take its course to see what would happen. During that time I did observe a population explosion but the numbers began to decline on their own after about a week. I also added a 6-line wrasse a few weeks ago and at this point there are only a few worms visible.
msman825
New member
wonder where they went
Paul B
Premium Member
JWC I don't have any aiptasia but I did have plenty of majanos. I killed all of them I could see and now I just kill them when they get a little larger. I don't mind a few of them as they are natural and not much of a threat but aiptasia can grow to plague proportions in numbers and they need to be eliminated.
They will fill all the holes in your rock and for some reason some tanks house thousands of them and some tanks they just can't survive. I don't know why. In the beginning of the hobby we actually would buy them and try to get them to survive.
They will fill all the holes in your rock and for some reason some tanks house thousands of them and some tanks they just can't survive. I don't know why. In the beginning of the hobby we actually would buy them and try to get them to survive.
jcw
Active member
thanks.
I had 2. Now I have probably 8 scattered around the tank. They are all small and don't seem to be growing at any alarming rate.
I want to let them be but I don't want to regret it later.
GROSSR
Active member
While I can't say I have a 40 year old tank, which to me is AMAZING, I have had saltwater tanks for over 30 years. It surprised me how we can change the environment and amazing things happen. I went from a 90 to a 29biocube, no fish, only snails and peppermints right now, and the snails are laying eggs, no one is eating them. The Peppermints are pregnant, no one will be eating them. Got me a few flatworms, looking to get rid of them, but there is really no coral in the tank. It is amazing when there are no predators in our tanks how differently they thrive. We Don't need no stinkin' fishes. Well maybe we do.
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Paul B
Premium Member
You can probably just turn off the lights if you want to kill the worms but I am not sure how long that have to happen. The snails and shrimp would not mind. I have a tank of shrimp in my basement for 2 years and they rarely get any light except from a small window. They seem happy as they smile a lot 
gods child
New member
If you have a diotom filter put a longer tube on the pick up side an use that . You can go all day an not have to empty the buckit back in to the tank .AN if thay are stubborn you can use a turky bastor as a mini water jet
mndfreeze
Invert Sexy Time!
I have a ton of red planaria flatworms in my nanos. Drives me nuts but they don't seem to do anything except dirty my glass and somehow kill coraline in the spots on the rocks they sit.
I had a tiny aptasia outbreak, berhgai solved that. Blue velvet slug is next on my list of biological control methods. I have a six line as the only fish in my 14g now due to those flatworms but I have to many small shrimp in my 20 to put him in that next. sixline def controls worms but is a pain in the arse when it comes to other inverts.
I had a tiny aptasia outbreak, berhgai solved that. Blue velvet slug is next on my list of biological control methods. I have a six line as the only fish in my 14g now due to those flatworms but I have to many small shrimp in my 20 to put him in that next. sixline def controls worms but is a pain in the arse when it comes to other inverts.
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