Flat Worms!! and the Battle Begins

ChrisKirkland

ChrisKirkland

Reef and Coral Fanatic
Ok, so I have the dreaded flat worms invasion going on in my tank which I am trying to get back up and going. So far I have the following SPS coras in my tank:
Red Monti Cap- 16+ inches- has STN at the moment but is beginning to regrow- flat worms possibly?
Pavona Coral- 8-10 inches
Unknown Monti coral

I do not know if these are affected by the flat worms as I have never had to deal with an out break in an SPS tank (guess it was my time). I am about to move to a new house and this tank will be going to it. I would like to know what needs and can be done since I'm going to be taking all th water out and the coral. I have heard of Dipping corals in Iodine but what else can be done? I want to nip this in the butt before I get the tank fully stocked and going again. Any help would be appreciated.
 
Since you are moving the tank...i would siphon out as many worms as possible then dip the rocks in flatworm exit...then siphon all the worms off the rock before placing them back in the tank.
 
Buy flatworm exit and treat the tank. Follow directions and you should have no problem with your coral. You will have to treat multiple times during a weeks time to make sure you kill all worms and worms that come from eggs already present.

Oh, buy a piece of tubing that reaches from the tank to your sump. Put a small mesh bag on the end and create a siphon. Siphon as many out before you treat. This way you do not lose any water and you can eliminate as many as possible before treatment.

Deal;ing with them myself at this time. Treated once before but I did not treat multiple days. Instead I treated one day and then about 3 days later.

Going to try every other day for 5 days.
 
Are you saying you have Acro Eating Flatworms or just red planaria? All the advice given so far is geared towards red planaria.
 
I believe I have Identified these as Red planaria. Which are non coral eating instead they will nest on the corals and block the light. Anyone had these before? They don't seem to be eating the coral.
 
Sounds like the normal red Planaria. I just use Flatworm Exit acording to the directions. Siphon out all the FW you can see, treat the tank, filter with carbon, then do a water change. I have done this many times with no loss of coral, fish, or inverts.
 
milkman55 said:
Sounds like the normal red Planaria. I just use Flatworm Exit acording to the directions. Siphon out all the FW you can see, treat the tank, filter with carbon, then do a water change. I have done this many times with no loss of coral, fish, or inverts.
Click to expand...

Ok, so with a move coming up would it be easier to drip the corals and live rock in FWE or even freshwater? rather than treat the tank?
 
red planaria arent a whole lot to worry about... got nervous for you when i saw your thread title... but use some flatworm exit by salifert, at what i would recommend 4x times the recommended dose, and then get a sixline or the like, and you should be fine with no worries :)

and be prepared for a hefty waterchange and to run some carbon immediantly there after as the worms release one heck of a potent toxin when they die off...
 
Pallobi said:
red planaria arent a whole lot to worry about... got nervous for you when i saw your thread title... but use some flatworm exit by salifert, at what i would recommend 4x times the recommended dose, and then get a sixline or the like, and you should be fine with no worries :)

and be prepared for a hefty waterchange and to run some carbon immediantly there after as the worms release one heck of a potent toxin when they die off...
Click to expand...

So it looks like flat worm exit is the choice for me. I will order some and give it a go. Still considering dipping my corals in the flat worm exit when I move the tank and then treating if they reappear.
 
Read AND BELIEVE the directions carefully. The only times that red flatworms are dangerous in a tank are when you poison them. They are very toxic and if you treat and kill large quantities of the worms at one time they will poison your water and kill your corals and fish. I have seen this happen and its quite dramatic. The Fw you speak of cause no damage if left alone. I have seen many species of wrasses and anglefish that will eat them in my systems for sure. I for one would never treat my tank with flat worm exit. (ever again)
 
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I wouldn't bother with flatworm exit. It won't kill everything and will definitely cause some stress/kill certain animals like mini brittle stars. I tried it and it killed a lot of planaria, but they i still had a population of them left after. I added a Pygmy Tanka's wrasse that didn't eat them right away, but within 3 months, all planaria were gone.
 
Ok so what I am thinking about doing is dipping all corals when I move in Flat Worm Exit or Fresh water and then getting an wrasse to finish killing/eating the rest of them.
 
I have one of these guys and he obliterated my red planaria. I've not seen one.

p-74616-tanakas-possum-wrasse.jpg
 
Wetmorella tanakai aka Tanaka's pygmy wrasse. There are other pygmy possum wrasses as well. I didn't notice him eating the flat worms for the first month or so, plus he was extremely shy. After awhile he started being on the hunt whenever he wasn't sleeping. He completely eradicated my red planaria. I haven't seen a single one in months.
 
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