How much should I worry about flatworms

[ggfish]

In my 125 Gal mixed reef ,Flatworms are starting to proliferate, I'm worried that they might get out of hand ,Also if there are any preditors for them, How much should I worry?

 

[TekCat]

They will multiply to gigantic proportions, and then suddenly die all at once. When they die, they release very powerful toxin that will kill other life in your tank.

I recently battled them with product called FlatwormExit, and was victorious!! Here is a helpful link .

good luck

 

[BenH98]

Instead of putting chemicals into your tank I would offer these choices

1 - get a natural predator - wrasses - yet they can consume other things in your tank that you might need (pods, etc...)

2 - Just wait it out they will eventually go away

3 - Suck them out with a turkey baster. It's tedious, but it will help keep them away.

4 - Aggressive skimming and increased flow. If you notice, the flatworms aren't in a high flow area.

They won't do harm unless they start to cover some of your corals depriving them of nutrients.
I had flatworms in my tank about a month ago and I have done 2-4 (didn't get a wrasse). They are still around, but not in as huge numbers.

Here is a picture of one of my rocks..

 

[Paintbug]

first we need to ID what kind of flatworms he has . if they are clear then theres nothing to worry about. they will bloom then starve off. its not like they will die at once so no need to worry about toxins. if you have the red ones like in the pic above, they can get out of hand. they will reach such numbers they can smoother a coral, and block the light for it to live. if you have the red ones i would look at useing Flatworm Exit, and then make sure you syphon the dead ones out. because then they will die in large numbers at once and the toxins could crash the tank.

 

[ILikeFish]

red bad, wrasse will kick its butt!!!

 

[KillerReef]

I agree with what ben says except #2. Mine have been in my tank for a while with no signs of just disappearing. I have heard a lot of good about leopard wrasses and six lines doing the job. I pick up my leopard wrasse this week...YEAH!!!

FWE seems like too much of a risk due to the die off and unless you can remove everything alive in your tank, not worth it as far as I am concerned. They say you can siphon out most of them and then use it but how do you know there aren't a bunch you can't get to with a siphon?

The flow thing works. I aimed my powerheads in different directions(more toward the front glass) and now my front glass is almost FW free...

 

[6Speed]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6567011#post6567011 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by BenH98
Instead of putting chemicals into your tank I would offer these choices

1 - get a natural predator - wrasses - yet they can consume other things in your tank that you might need (pods, etc...)

2 - Just wait it out they will eventually go away

3 - Suck them out with a turkey baster. It's tedious, but it will help keep them away.

4 - Aggressive skimming and increased flow. If you notice, the flatworms aren't in a high flow area.

They won't do harm unless they start to cover some of your corals depriving them of nutrients.
I had flatworms in my tank about a month ago and I have done 2-4 (didn't get a wrasse). They are still around, but not in as huge numbers.

Here is a picture of one of my rocks..

.

Wow, I have fw's in my tank, but they don't look anything like that! Mine are much smaller and brown colored. I have had them for months with no issues of them dying and releasing toxins. I tried FW exit twice and have not been able to get rid of all of them. I just bought a 6 line wrasse this weekend and he is waiting in QT till it's time to put him in the display.