Red Worms on Mushrooms

[MD11]

I have a few mushrooms in my tank. I recently found that there were rectangular Red worms on them. They are about 1/4 inch long, 1/8 inch wide, and almost paper thin. How do I get ride of them? Are they bad?

 

[Genin]

sounds like flat worms, pretty common. you could use flat worm exit, or if you feel they are only on that one rock you could do a quick freshwater dip to get them off. I guarantee if you see them on that rock you have them other places in the tank as well.

 

[gflat65]

Yup. Sounds like planaria 'flatworms'. I've never had any luck keeping them gone, but Flatworm Xit will kill some off for a while. The last time I used it, though, I lost every monti and stylo in the tank. I just use natural eradication these days (wrasses, mandarins, etc.). I've got several tanks on one system. Some have them, others don't, so where my fishes keep them at bay (everywhere by the frag tank it seems...). They are toxic to fish when they die off en masse, so if you do treat for them, siphon as many out as possible and be prepared to run carbon and do a water change after treatment. You can knock thme off of incoming frags with a dip in CoralRx or Revive (Revive is a good bit cheaper and does just as good a job, IMO).

 

[philosophile]

Yeah, eradication is hard, but it is possible... I've done it

Flatworm exit works. It can be pretty hard on your tank though. Mostly, its from the worms dying... But it can also be from the FWX itself. I've noticed it seems to at least irritate, if not kill, pods.

So here's what you do... Use FWX, syphon up the dying worms. Then repeat in about a week, when their eggs hatch. After that, you should be done.

Once I got rid of them, I ALWAYS dip everything in ReViVe and throw in a drop of FWX in my dip, to make sure I get those pesky worms.