Red Flatworm Problem

sra127

sra127

Member
Ok, so i now have flatworms which stink. there are not many on the glass on my 90, last nite i saw maybe 10-15. but, on closer looks, there are many on the rocks. i have a sixline in there, and hes fat as anything, but the problem is still growing. i'm wary on chemical warfare (flatworm exit) so thats my last resort b/c my tank is stocked fairly well. should i even try the blue velvet nudi? or, should i just do the fe and handle it that way? or, should i chance another wrasse in there to help (forget which one) or should i shoot for a green mandarin and try that. please help.
 
Blue Velvet Nudi will eat them.
Some wrasses will eat them. African Leopard is about the best one IMO.

Otherwise treat with Salifert's Flatworm Exit. While I don't advocate medicating your display tank, this is one product that many have tried already and has been proven to be relatively reef safe. I have found that it can kill some of your small inverts (mini brittle stars and such).
 
chem warfare is my last resort. put new skimmer on last week, been syphoning them out, feeding less (as to make my sixline eat them) and gonna put a green mandarin in tonite. and gonna do a water change to help.
 
You could also learn to live with them. They do not eat coral.

They can multiply to the point that there is sufficient numbers to completely cover a coral which would in turn block the light from the coral which of course would be detrimental to the coral.

Otherwise, what you are doing, is about all you can do. The numbers of them seem to go hand in hand with water quality. More nutrients means more flatworms. Get and keep your water as good as you can and you will see the numbers subside.
 
Ive treated with exit many times and never had an issue. I too save chemical warfare as a last resort but was never able to find anything else that worked.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15670180#post15670180 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by DEIGNAN14
Ive treated with exit many times and never had an issue. I too save chemical warfare as a last resort but was never able to find anything else that worked.
Click to expand...

did it 1 year ago with zero detriment, on sps or lps.
 
Ditto coral fragger... he put it very well. I've also used it... best defense is to get some 1/8" airline tubing, start a siphon, clamp it off. As you see them float into the water column, suck em up. When the majority are gone, you may have a gallon or so of tank water out. Throw it away. On a 90 gall, you'll want to do a 20 gallon water change, so have that water mixed up and ready, and at temperature. Run carbon for a couple of days, and throw it away and replace.

The most important thing to remember is that they release a toxin when dying or stressed. Sucking them out, majority here, gets rid of most of the problem, and unless you're utterly infested, the remainder won't be a problem.

Never had a death other than flatworms when I treated. I've only had to treat twice. My sixline took care of a pretty good initial infestation on this tank, although I didn't know I had them until one morning I flipped on the lights and the little clear ones were on my glass. They launched into the water column and the sixline went to town.
 
what about snails, crabs, shrimp, fish? no detriment to them either correct. my brother did it, but he had no fish or coral in his tank at the time. my tank is stocked and i'm afraid to use chems.
so, last night i put in a baby green mandarin. from the looks of it, he ALREADY started eating the flatworms off the rock within 5 min of being in the tank, well after my 2 nemo's showed him that hes not allowed in their area, so lets see in a few weeks. the mandarin looks extremely skinny, where you can see the line on the side, so hopefully with the bounty of flatworms he will fatten right up. will keep all informed. thanks to every1 who put in their 2 cents.
oh, sufunk, is it ok that i did that???
lol....thats for you roblack.....
 
Are you sure the mandarin was eating the flat worms? Or did you just see him picking at the rocks which is what they do. Looking for pods and such. I don't believe I've ever heard of a mandarin eating flat worms.
 
i was looking all over online and saw from several sources that the green mandarins may eat flatworms. we will see if he does or doesnt. saw less on the glass this evening, but who knows. did a 10% water change, changed socks, cleaned sponge, added new carbon and have my phosban and uv running. so, let the battle begin...
 
i was looking all over online and saw from several sources that the green mandarins may eat flatworms. we will see if he does or doesnt. saw less on the glass this evening, but who knows. did a 10% water change, changed socks, cleaned sponge, added new carbon and have my phosban and uv running. so, let the battle begin...
 
i was looking all over online and saw from several sources that the green mandarins may eat flatworms. we will see if he does or doesnt. saw less on the glass this evening, but who knows. did a 10% water change, changed socks, cleaned sponge, added new carbon and have my phosban and uv running. so, let the battle begin...
 
I am getting a christmas wrasse (Halichoeres Ornatimuss) to see if that will control my flatworm population. IF it works, then after their numbers have been reduced, I will use flatworm exit to eliminate the rest of the population. I may not treat if the wrasse is doing a good enough job and keeping the population low.

I'm not normally a fan of buying a fish for pest control, but I've been wanting a wrasse for a while, and I really like the looks of the christmas wrasse.

I've read that the majority of mandarins won't eat flatworms - so if you get one that does, you are pretty lucky.

GL,
 
Be very careful with a Christmas wrasse. I had one, and it would constantly flip my snails over and eat them as snacks in between feedings, even when fed well. I too hate buying a fish for pest control, but we'll see what happens in these circumstances.

The flatworm problem will not likely be handled by these predators, as they're toxic, even to these fishes, at high levels, so the fish will not likely eat too many of them, especially when you cut down their diet of other food to try to get them to eat more planaria. The best way I've heard of or found is nutrient reduction and keeping them under control in the first place. I wish you luck and am excited to see if those fishes can take care of the problem now that it's more than just a few.

Sra, you said you just got a skimmer last week. Have you been doing regular water changes prior to that, and have your nitrate, ammonia, and phosphate levels been low during that time period? I might recommend skimming wetter and adding some GFO and see if that helps.
 
i had a skimmer, just a crappy one. i have a berlin x2 with a mag 5 pump now. my nitrate has just been anywhere from 0 to 20 the last few weeks. no ammonia, no phosphates, and i have a bag of carbon in the sump with lr and cheeto. i put a phosban on just to prevent any problems with that, and run a 18 watt uv.

question though, my skimmer isnt producing much. i built a platform for the skimmer so its not in the water as not to mess with the levels because the water in the sump in changing daily (evaportion, then adding ro water). i have the overflow tube from the skimmer in a bottle and probably only 2 cups of goo has come out the last 14days and its running full as to make it wet, but the bubbles arent making it to the top. should i take the platform out and leave the skimmer in the water? i was told the mag5 was better than the stock pump, but could that be the problem. i'm not understanding cuz these are made as hangons so it should work the way its set. this is confusing.
 
Flatworm problems can usually be resolved with better husbandry (water changes, skimming, water movement, predators). Hopefully some of the beneficial live will be spared, and if your flatworm problem persists, you can siphon them out during water changes, increase water movement and improve your skimming to try and control them. Also, possible predators include "target" mandarins and the "blue velvet" sea slug. Best Regards. AdamC.>
this was copied from wetwebmedia
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

U
Goniopora
Replies
3
Views
161
Uncle99
Uncle99
S
Overskimming on New Protein Skimmer
Replies
2
Views
125
wvned
wvned
M
help with new dracula goby
Replies
5
Views
568
leebca
L
S
Help with Overflow Design Issue
Replies
0
Views
130
SFMAquariums
S
R
LFS can order "red" or "blue" peacock mantis?
Replies
2
Views
139
game misconduct
G
Back
Top