I think I have flatworms

[mastocker]

I think I may have flatworms :thumbdown

Take a look at these pics and tell me what you think. I think they might be Acoel flatworms.
The Sea Slug Forum - Acoel flatworms in aquaria

Just want a positive ID before I start to try to nuke the bastards.

I notice them on the glass as well but it is hard to get a useful shot of them on the glass. It just comes out as a brown blur.

What is an effective way to off these things? Freshwater dips?

 

[slapshot]

Yep :uzi:

I have no experience in eradicating them other than 6 line wrasse or a leopard wrasse. Check carefully before using Flatworm exit or like products I have heard both pros and cons. I would try to remove as many as possible by syphoning them out then add a couple of wrasses.

 

[mastocker]

Are there any alternatives to flatworm exit? What about freshwater dips? I read that they are very sensitive to changes in salinity

 

[plantankerously]

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1379099. lotsa good info. the end pages are more relevant. DON'T overdose or stuff will start melting, but if you follow the recommendations it works like magic. Just used inkmakers levasole and didn't have a single loss....other than about 500 flatworms

 

[EvMiBo]

I'm 95% sure these are acoels. In fact I have them in my tank too. They're harmless. Acoel = without gut (they aren't going to eat your corals), they have zooxanthellae like some corals. I will suck them out sometimes during waterchanges, but other then that that's all I do. None of my corals have been harmed, + these guys tend to like shadier areas during lights on.

Is it possible to suck up a couple with a pipette for a better picture, closer up? Just want to make sure.

Under microscope with my acoels in an invertebrate zoology course I also found these do not seem to have a noticeable pharynx used in feeding, supporting that they're pretty much dependent on light.

 

[SparseReef]

I agree with most of what EvMiBo said. They're pretty much harmless (assuming this is what you have) unless they get to such plague proportions that they are actually covering corals and blocking out light. Always a good idea to double-check and make sure that this is in fact what you have.

However, I feel compelled to make a couple corrections (sorry, I'm not putting you down EvMiBo, I'm an invertebrate zoology instructor and it's sometimes hard not to teach when there's an interested audience). Acoel = acoelomate, this means that these organisms lack a body cavity (known as the coelom), but this is quite different from a gut. For example, in humans we have a gut (stomach, intestines and all that jazz) that runs through our coelom, but the coelom itself is the actual cavity where all of our organs reside. This is also specifically defined as being lined with mesodermal tissue, though that's a whole other issue.

Long story short, the flatworms do actually have a gut (as EvMiBo points out, many have a pharynx for feeding) and most likely do feed to some extent, but in that regard they just act as detritivores and help clean up the tank just like the rest of the CUC. Unfortunately they turn that detritus into more unsightly flatworms instead of bristleworms that are hidden out of view in the rocks.

 

[mastocker]

So what is to stop these things from becoming numbered in plague proportions? I have quite a bit now, but they don't seem to be covering the corals as of yet. I do notice them on the corals though, as you can clearly see in the second pic near the bottom of the zoos (on the stems)

 

[EvMiBo]

Thanks for the review sparse, I have much to learn still
mastocker- you can nuke them if you'd like to, but I prefer "population control" through waterchanges as I mentioned before. "Normally, however, the worms disappear on their own accord after a few months, presumably after having exhausted some necessary nutrient" -Mike Norton. I'm not so sure how that would happen unless there's no detritus??

 

[Elysia]

In my opinion, it is so easy to suck these things out with water changes, there is no reason to add a pricey toxic chemical to your tank to deal with them. Use some thin diameter rigid tubing and air line, start a suction, and "hoover" them out, if you will. Simply call it your water change of the week/month. If you have lots of them, it likely will not do your water chemistry any favors to kill them all at once, anyway. And its unlikely that Flatworm Exit kills only flatworms.

 

[mscarpena]

All I did was cut back on my feeding and all of mine died off after about 2 months. Never seen one since. I tried FE, but did not work.

 

[mscarpena]

FW or iodine dip will kill them.

 

[theROYSKIE]

FW or iodine dip will kill them.

+1 on the fw dip. they detach from the rock and coral in seconds.