Those weird brown spots on my mushroom are ALIVE!! wth!

[liriel]

I'm a beginning aquarist, we've had our tank up for about 6 months now. A few days ago my normally beautiful fuzzy mushrooms started looking pretty sad. I recently added a yellow polyp, and when I moved it farther from them they seemed a little better... However there is a green striped mushroom on the same rock, and he seemed to have coraline or something growing on him for quite some time now. I didn't think anything of it.

I had read a thread tonight about looking for predators with a flashlight, so for giggles I looked at them in the dark. OMG the spots are M O V I N G!!! My husband checked the water parameters day before yesterday, and you'll have to pardon my lack of information (he's at school right now), but he said everything was good and still stable, except the calcium was a little low (we have additives for that).

UGH. Any idea what they are? How do I get rid of them? I have a pseudochromis, two cleaner shrimp, and a coral banded to clean up bugs. I also have a mandarin and a pin cushin urchin along with my snails and hermits for clean up and control. I certainly don't want it spreading, but this is a gorgeous piece and I've never had problems with it. It's actually one of the oldest pieces I have.

Any suggestions/ideas/help?!!

 

[Caleb Kruse]

Those look like some type of flatworm to me. I'm not sure if they're dangerous.

 

[Leopard Wrasse]

Looks like you have flatworms. Increasing your flow will help, you can try siphoning them, and get a maybe adding a fish that will eat the stragglers. ( i.e. sixline wrasse, halichoeres ).

 

[Huhhhhh]

Dude those are flatworms. I'd do a fresh water dip on it ASAP. RO warter if you have it, tap if you dont. Dunk it and swish it around for about 10 seconds and you'll see them fall off. This kill's them pretty quick. If they have laied eggs you can expect to do this again and again every few days. Check all other specimans in the aquarium along with the rock, corals, glass and everything else.

If you just got the mushroom and noticed them you may be alright. More than likely they will be elsewhere in your tank. There is a product called flat worm exit that you can treat the tank with but it may wipe out your inverts.

You always want to inspect the corals you buy for those. Once you know what they look like you'll be able to spot them pretty quick. I wouldn't buy anything with flatworms on it unless you plan on treating it before you put it in your tank.

Good luck.

 

[liriel]

One of the guys that eats them is a sea hare, which I also have one of. I'll have to get a wrasse and start sucking them out. This is my first bug problem, and it doesn't look like it's too bad to take care of (thank goodness). I don't want to try the flat worm exit until i suck some of them out, I don't want a ton of them dying at once.

I have a tiny baby clam living in the inside of the rock, so I'm leary of doing a fresh water dip right away unless I can get him out.

TYVM for the quick response and answer. I learn something new about this hobby every day

 

[The Haj]

http://www.melevsreef.com/id/flatworm.html

 

[The Haj]

[welcome]

 

[Huhhhhh]

Oh by the way liriel how did you find us on RC? Have you given any thought to becoming a member? It's absolutely free, all you have to do is come to a couple meetings and you've already posted here so that's taken care of. Plus you get to meet all of us and experience a wealth of information just like this flat worm problem.

Check out the introduction thread, and the Mugshot & Screen name thread and feel free to post a pic so we will know who to say "HI" to if we see you at the LFS's

 

[liriel]

I'll have to check out the intro thread. Keri got me involved in all of this, and I met the head honcho at someone's house the other night who was tearing down his tank. I already have the Aug meeting on my calendar and look forward to meeting everyone!

P.S. we decided on the "many over the few" and just did a dip. They look a million times better already, and I'll let you know how they are doing tomorrow. Everything else looks fine, and I'll get a wrasse straight away

 

[thejrc]

yup those be flatworms, the method posted above at melev's works great, you can also try and find a predator but siphoning and adding flow is almost always the best since whatever you pick up to eat the things will eventually need live food.

Like Huhhhh said, join the club.... these guys are great!

 

[murfman]

yellow coris wrasse should take care of them for you. Once it does, you won't have to worry about it starving to death afterwards. I know clowninaround74 has a big issue in his nano with FW and is looking for a solution.

 

[Thurge]

If you do go the Flat Worm Exit route eventually, keep in mind that the recommended dosage on the package doesn't really do much. WHen I got rid of them in my mantis tank I uped the dosage to 5X the recomendation the first day and came back a few days later with 10X. No problem with the mantis, urchin, or any other inverts in the tank. Carbon and a water change are the key to eliminating them with FWE and not loosing anything.