Flatworms that eat algae?

matttaylor

Jeeper in my free time
I have a ton of flatworms in my tank that i thought were going after some zoo's i have, but as it turns out they are eating green algae on my rocks. Has anyone seen this before? I'll post some pics a little later. They are eating algae in straight lines across my rock, and after hours of observation today, i am positive that they are in fact only eating algae and not affecting any of my corals, as there aren't any flatworms on my corals. Any thoughts or similar experiances?
 
Yes, I have flatworms like that. They don't cause me any problems but they seem to have some relationship with isopods because I've noticed that their population levels are closely linked.

Paul
 
There is not really a way for my to get a pic due to my camera not zooming in well in the tank. They are clear with white splotches on their backs. At first i thought they were small snails since my cerith snail are constantly reproducing, and the newly hatched snails look almost the same without a magnifying glass. However, once the flatwoms migrate to the glass i can inspect them with the magnifying glass, and that is how i was able to identify them as flatworms. I'm not worried about them anymore. I am however keeping a watchful eye on my corals, and if i see any signs of flatworm activity on them it's time to take up arms. So for now, it's a very interesting development that i've never seen before, and i'll keep this thread updated.
 
Red planarians irritate your zoas and corals. Especially posilapora and some monti digis. Flatworm exit works great when done perd directions. Get rid of the flatworms they are doing a lot more damage than you can imagine. It is silent but nasty.
 
Actually right now they aren't doing any damage to anything other than algae on the rocks. I have yet to find one on any of my corals, in fact all corals are in exceptional health and growing wildly. Unless i have proof that they are damaging anything in my tank, they are a welcome algae control device.
 
I would like to know if there is an update to this...it has been several years...
I have just recently encountered a flatworm species in my tank that seems to have zero interest in my coral...it is in my frag tank, they are tiny orangey red, approximately 1mm wide by 3mm long...I have a wide variety of frags in my tank ranging from montis, acros, acans, toadstools, gorgonians, zoas...not one of them shows any sign of stress, I have never seen a worm on any of the corals...they stick to the rocks, racks, frag plugs and glass...
I am convinced they are dealing algae, though they are so small I cant see what they are eating, but it is the only thing that makes sense, since I havent seen any on my coral.
 
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