Can someone help me identify these red spots in my tank? Are they algae? If so, how can I get rid of them?

[ggyyss]

Hey everyone,

I've encountered an issue in my tank. There are some red spots that I'm concerned about. I'm not sure if they're algae or something else.

Here's a picture of what I'm seeing:

Can anyone help identify what these red spots are? If they're algae, how can I get rid of them?

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[Reefing102]

Looks like planaria flatworms. I’ve had good luck with saliferts flatworm exit. It may require multiple treatments though due to the lifecycle of the flatworm and eggs. I’ve also had good luck with halichoeres species of wrasses. If you go the wrasse route, know they may eat other inverts like snails, crabs and shrimp too

 

[ggyyss]

thanks a ton! I'm gonna grab some Saliferts Flatworm Exit and give it a shot!

 

[monkeysee1]

Hi!
I had the exact same problem too, a while back. I got a Melanurus Wrasse and a Neon Dottyback and together they teamed up to make SHORT work of them. I'm talking they WIPED the little sheets OUT. That was over two years ago and I haven't seen ANY planaria in my tank since.......

 

[griss]

thanks a ton! I'm gonna grab some Saliferts Flatworm Exit and give it a shot!

Try to siphon as many out as you can before treating. They release a toxin when they die that can kill your livestock.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Try to siphon as many out as you can before treating. They release a toxin when they die that can kill your livestock.

Yes, this. Best done on a water change day, syphon them out, add fresh saltwater then treat.

 

[Paul B]

Flatworms. Occasionally I get an infestation like that. In a few months they disappeared. This happened 3 or 4 times over the last 50 years.

I just see them as free livestock and don't need to kill them. But thats just me.

 

[Timfish]

Since I have more tanks than Paul B I've seen them more frequently but pretty much the same experience with them dissappearing. I'll use steel straws during water changes to siphon them out and I have added wrasses that eat them but I would never treat a tank to kill them, there's too many beneficial organisms that I worry would be collateral damage.

 

[Paul B]

Timfish, I totally agree. Many of us are always looking to kill some natural creature with some chemical which almost always causes something much worse than the original situation and causes most of the tank crashes.

If I find a salt water crocodile, Great White Shark or Jane Fonda in my tank I will eliminate them. But almost anything else is welcome.

 

[ggyyss]

Thanks, everyone, for your suggestions! I'm going to hold off on using any medications for now and try these methods to tackle the red spots in my aquarium:

1. Adding Fish: I'm planning to add Melanurus Wrasse and Neon Dottyback since they've been effective in dealing with red spots.
2. Manual Removal: I'll try to manually remove as many red spots as I can with a straw to reduce the toxins they release when they die, which could harm other creatures in the tank.
3. Water Change: I'll do this on the day I change the water, siphoning out the red spots and then adding fresh saltwater to keep the tank environment healthy.

Thanks again for all your helpful advice. I hope these steps will help me sort out the issue!

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Just an FYI, melanurus wrasses are very effective at flatworm control but they also are very effective at wiping out your smaller snails and hermits. Ceriths, nassarius, astreas, small turbos are all on the menu. My wrasse would grab them with its mouth and smash them on the rocks or glass to stun them, them slurp them up. Ornamental crabs and shrimp are also on the menu. They sure are a pretty fish though.