Do I have red bugs? (good pic)

[smleee]

The look similar to everything I've seen online, but I can't tell for sure. I don't have ANY SPS. Just softies and LPS. They are one some of my yellow polyps though.

 

[HorsePower]

Those are flatworms not redbugs...

 

[Pickupman66]

From my experience, redbugs only feed on SPS corals. more than likely they are some sort of flatworm then

 

[smleee]

Good call guys, somehow I missed that... :thumbsup:

 

[twelvejewelz]

Def flatworms. I dont think those are the ones that feed on corals but you never know. I had an outbreak of the same ones and had thousands, then one day there were none.Really odd but they never bothered anything. When the die though they turn a really weird fluorescent orange color and glow in the blue lights.

 

[Toddrtrex]

Yeah, these are red bugs,

 

[dots]

Just to clarify: You have the flat worm commonly called Red Planaria.

They are the wimpy little sisters of the Acropora Eating Flatworms (AEFW), but don't underestimate them and you need to address this now.

Tons o' articles on RC and the web on how to deal with the type you have. Salifert's Flat Worm Exit is the most common treatment.

 

[dancewithethan]

Flat worms for sure. I took these from my tank. they can take over your tank fast.

Good luck!

 

[Pickupman66]

dont fish like a 6line wrasse and some of hte other wrasses like a melanurus eat them?

 

[twelvejewelz]

Be careful treating your tank with flatworm exit or any other chemical for that matter. It can kill all of the beneficial things in your tank and cause a crash. You may want to get some kind of wrasse fish that will eat them and keep them in check.

 

[Mr. Brooks]

I've overdosed flatworm exit with no problems.

 

[milkman55]

A Melanarus Wrasse is a better bet than a Six Line IMO.
Mine patrols the tanks for anything it can pick off the rock or glass.

I have also used Flatworm Exit without problems. Just make sure and follow directions, especially the carbon and water change.

 

[Akrite]

Don't waste your time with wrasse they will only eat them if hungry and they will only eat enough to stop them from taking over but not eliminate flat worms. Siphon out as much as you can over 2 days then add flatworm exit as instructed. You must have a lot of carbon on hand and do as large of a water change as possible immediately after dosing Flatworm Exit.

 

[johnwonus]

I agree with Akrite. I have followed that tecnique and it worked perfectly. Be sure you are ready to siphon the dead ones as they start to die immediately and in mass quantities. They release toxins in the water when they die so you have to get them out.

 

[Alysiak00]

I agree with everyone lol. so in other words kill them with flatworm exit, siphon them out, then ADD A WRASSE for safe keeping lol. :lol2:

 

[moogoomoogoo]

and you will likely need to treat several times in succession

 

[serpentman]

I've found that if you treat flatworms just like you would an algae breakout, they seem to abate naturally. In otherwords, FW's like excess nutrient. By reducing nutrients, they seem to reach critical mass and then recede. They don't necessarily go completely away, but their populations will shrink to negligible size. At that point, you can leave them be or dose something like FWE.

 

[preef]

I had a small outbreak about a year ago. They were only on a colony of shrooms. My LFS recommended a green spot mandarin. I had already seen others recommending a green spot for the same reason. My LFS has a fat green spot that they temporarily add to a client's tank to go after the flatworms. They move him from client to client as needed.

Anyway I bought one. he was very skinny when I got him. I never actually saw him eat any of the flatworms but they were gone in a month or so. Mandarin is doing well too. He has never eaten any food I have added to the tank. He just pecks at the rocks all day.

Mandarins are supposed to be tough to keep and there is no guarantee a green spot will eat your flatworms. In order to give the guy a chance of survival your tanks should be mature, roughly 75g or larger, have a lot of LR and a fuge to grow pods.

 

[dots]

I thought this was an interesting bit of information for the nerds in the room.

http://sites.google.com/site/macropyga/identification

 

[dots]

Be careful treating your tank with flatworm exit or any other chemical for that matter. It can kill all of the beneficial things in your tank and cause a crash. You may want to get some kind of wrasse fish that will eat them and keep them in check.

The philosophy of being leary of adding things to a tank unless absolutly found needed is a good thing to remember.

At the very core of it, it can complicate an issue.

My grandfather used to say "They can't make a mechanic small enough to fit in one of those bottles" when referring to some magic elixer or snake oil automobile additive.

Natural methods of FW's is typically a "control" not a "solution" of the infestation. FLE has shown to be effective with this problems.