Flatworms??

[kmbyrnes]

I assume these are flatworms on my mushrooms.
They must have come in on some hermits and snails I bought this weekend.
Whats the best remedy??

 

[inthedeep2]

possibly flatworms
ive always gotten them from either mushrooms or softies

 

[CoralBeauty13]

sixline wrasse, or flatworm exit.. better make a move fast tho

 

[UTCReefer]

Flatworm exit will work on those kind for sure

 

[johnike]

I got 'em bad.
I just ordered a pair of Velvet Nudibranchs and have read Springers Damsels eat them so I'm going to try a couple/few of those. I have a Melanarus Wrasse in the big tank that eliminated them there.
Make a siphon from rigid airline and soft tubing and siphon out as many as you can if you go the chemical route, as they release a toxin when they die.

 

[billdogg]

My vote is for flatworms as well. I used a diy airline tubing siphon and could never get on top of them. I finally broke down and used FWE at 1.5 x the suggested dosing twice, a few days apart and that got a goodly number of them, but they came back anyway. You MUST be prepared to do a very large water change and run lots of carbon because of the toxins released. A pair of Blue Star Leopard Wrasses, on the other hand, have completely rid my system of them, and they continue to be a pair of my favorite fish. Very colorful markings, always out and about and on the hunt for little pests.

hth

 

[johnike]

Bill, how reef safe are the Leopard Wrasses?
I was considering a pair of possums kinda, I was told they may eat them as well

 

[cloak]

If you can remove the rock that the mushrooms are on with ease then just give it a quick freshwater dip. The osmotic shock will have the flatworms falling off in a matter of seconds. GL.

 

[johnike]

If you can remove the rock that the mushrooms are on with ease then just give it a quick freshwater dip. The osmotic shock will have the flatworms falling off in a matter of seconds. GL.

I was actually planning on doing that myself this weekend.

 

[billdogg]

Bill, how reef safe are the Leopard Wrasses?
I was considering a pair of possums kinda, I was told they may eat them as well

My tank is a mix of LPS/SPS, and a couple clams. There are also a few various mushrooms and a gorgonian. They are model citizens. They swim around all day every day picking at all the tiny stuff. Don't bother anything else at all. About 20 minutes before the lights go down they are buried in the (sugar fine) sand for the night.

If you can remove the rock that the mushrooms are on with ease then just give it a quick freshwater dip. The osmotic shock will have the flatworms falling off in a matter of seconds. GL.

I forgot that trick. My Elegance was hardest hit by the little buggers. I was advised to try a temperature adjusted ro/di dip by the owner of my LFS. Although skeptical, I gave it a try. 15 seconds with a couple light swishes at the end.

Here's the results



The problem was that they were also all over the stuff I couldn't remove, and so they quickly moved back to their buddy the Elegance.

Leopard Wrasses to the rescue! It was fascinating to watch them zero in on one on the elegance, zoom in, and pluck it away.

 

[kmbyrnes]

That wont be easy. It's on the bottom of a big pile.
Looks like I will be giving FWE a try this weekend.
Thanks for all the advice, I knew I could count on RC!

 

[dbigfoot111]

i hope you can get rid of it soon. they're a mess

 

[FullBoreReefer]

Melanurus wrasse worked for me!

 

[Nina51]

i had thousands of them at one point. they were on the rocks, glass and sand. never did see many on any of my corals but they were SO butt ugly. i got a vrolik's wrasse and within a couple of weeks, i saw zero flatworms and have not see any since.

 

[kmbyrnes]

I had a Red Coris in there until 2 weeks ago. Moved him to a different tank becasue he got too big. I wonder if there's a connection between moving the fish and seeing the flatworms? Was he keeping them under control? If so, I can certainly get some different wrasses. I was thinking of some flashers. Do they do the same job?

 

[johnike]

No idea, but I ordered a pair of Blue Star/Divided/Vermiculite Leopards yesterday.