well got a bunch of lil red flatworms in the 75 havent botherd to do more than suck as many out as i can when doing a w/c. my hope is to not have them in the 90 when i move everything over. so i was hoping for some ideas i plan on sucking as many out as i can and i should be able to get a lot as i wont be filling the 75 back up i was also planing on using exit in the 90 just b4 or after the move. i was wondering if mixing some exit with some of the 75 water in a buckit and diping and shaking the rocks on there way to the 90 might be effective ( i plan on haveing the specs dead on so i will not need to acclmate everything) so let me hear what u guys think. this wont be for a few weeks but geting a head start.
are they a nuisance flatworm? i have flatworms in my 34g and they dont bother any corals. if you think they are some kind of AEFL or something equally nasty try tropic marin pro coral cure. you could make up a 5 gallon bucket with a heavy dosage and just dip each rock for 15min before transplanting. it might be a little rough on your microfauna but probably not as bad as some of the non-reef alternatives like interceptor.
I’m pretty sure I have rid my aquarium of flat worms, but Shawn nailed it on the head. Figuring out what type of flat worms you have first is the key. I know of 2 types at least that are red that are dramatically different. Do they stay on the stonies all the time? Hand out at the bottom of the aquarium? Any photos? Would you consider your current aquarium low flow and high nutrients?
My biggest word of warning is to not just use any product randomly with out doing some research. Many flat worms release toxins when they die and if enough present(if you see 2 there is probably 50 or more) they can kill your fish, your corals, your microfuana, or just completely kill everything in your tank and send you running out of the room gagging from the smell of the toxins they released.(not even joking)
I have a good bit of experience though if you can be a little more specific in your description.
Take a look at this page for starters and Google around some more:
thanks ill try to get some pics up they tend to hang out low on the rocks or sand a few on the glass. they havent seemed to piss anything off so i dont wana try any thing high risk just hoping they dont make it in to the 90 there anoying to look at.
I can probably help you get rid of them or at least cut down there numbers to the point where you hardly ever see them, but first take a look at the links and give us an idea of what you are up against. Regardless I wouldn’t have you try anything high risk if by that you mean damaging your corals, your fish, or yourself.
[quote=“Gordonious, post:7, topic:1889”]
Regardless I wouldn’t have you try anything high risk if by that you mean damaging your corals, your fish, or yourself. [/quote]
ESPECIALLY the corals or fish! lOl :-)lol
I hear there are hundreds of types of flatworms in the oceans, but only a few are troublesome or coral predatory in our tanks. I have sustained a population for 10 years of a small type that is kinda brown and mottled but does no harm. I hardly ever see them. they kinda look like a flounder. similar spotty colors. but i have also had the red planaria in the past. they become harmful by virtue of their numbers and the toxic chemicals in them to prevent being eaten. and then there are the ones that eat coral flesh. but those are only a few types. I think the ones i keep are good food for manderins and other bug eater fish. and there are some flatworms that eat other flatworms.
some of the treatments for killing the bad flatworms are hard on the corals and other critters, some not so bad. so like Jon said, identify your FW first, and then see if you need to do anything. we try to create a wide diversity of life in our tanks to make them more stable. but only the bad players need to be kept out or removed.
have you considered some reef safe wrasses, or mandarins? just a thought…nice n natural. :TWOCENTS
now thats a great idea im at work on the comp and i cant get to the links to idea my pest but hopefully will get around to it 2night. is there a risk of them geting eaten 2 fast and relasing the toxins in to the tank.?
try searching the reefcentral forums for “levamisole” its the active ingredient in flatworm exit. It’s also a lot cheaper .I can’t find the exact thread right now but a guy on there figured out the dosages…the problem is it will kill all of the worms at once so you will need to be ready to do a water change and run carbon to remove the toxins
[quote=“GreenFishyNHam09, post:11, topic:1889”]
now thats a great idea im at work on the comp and i cant get to the links to idea my pest but hopefully will get around to it 2night. is there a risk of them geting eaten 2 fast and relasing the toxins in to the tank.?[/quote]
im not too sure about that one, but im pretty sure that the fish will process it in their stomachs into sometin a lil less potent, but like i said, im not sure, so do some research first
as said mandarins, some wrasses and gobies eat flatworms. what i had in my tank and still do a little is Red Planaria Flatworms. They look red and Green. My brother showed me a brilliant idea really. To get a magnifying glass that is real skinny or those ones you lay right on the page. Then you can put that bad boy right on the glass and get a better look at whats going on for those of us minus a SLR camera. I have the camera from Craig but can’t figure out how to focus on small things. lol
I used flatworm exit with pretty good results. my total Gal exceeded what the bottle could treat but it did well anyways
[quote=“ds4x4, post:14, topic:1889”]
I have the camera from Craig but can’t figure out how to focus on small things. lol[/quote]
The “Flower” icon on the settings dial. That and I used to shoot through a magnifying lens if I needed an extreme close-up.
well got time to check and i think im dealin with red planaria flatworms my big Q is if i try a six line or the like to eat some of these and help me out would the toxin be digested or still released in to my tank if so could this happen at a tank crashing rate? i think my real goal is to get the pop down low so i can treat the 90 when i move every thing over or maby treat the 75 then move everything? still not sure yet.
What might not be a bad idea is to treat stuff as it moves from the 75 to the 90. If you dip each rock, algae, and coral in a 5g pail that has flat worm exit in it, it will kill off any flatworms, but you wont have to worry about toxins in either tank. Then you put the new clean rocks and corals into the 90g.
I am guessing that a wrasse would slowly pick the flatworms off the rocks, and that the gradual decline would allow for the toxins to be broken down, but I’m not sure. You might wanna talk with the other Jon about that… he has quite a bit of flat worm exit expierence I belive.
I probably wouldn’t recommend buying a fish just for the purpose of removing the worms. However if the fish is on the list of things you would like in your aquarium and it gets along with everything else then it works out. As far as toxins being released I had a targett mandarin chowing down on flat worms the entire time I had them and it I didn’t see any problems.(I had a really healthy tank with great microfuana and actively growing fish and coral)
What I would recommend doing is similar to what icy said, but with a big change.
These FW from my experience only survive in low flow and high nutrients. So when you move up to the larger tank plan on moving a lot more water and looking at how much nutrients are in your tank at any point.(More filtration, less feeding, different type of feeding, more water changes, and so on)
Reason I mention this first is I will tell you now it is pointless if you plan on using the same equipment to move water in the 90 and plan on feeding and doing water changes the same way. Several people told me that these FW are never a problem in a properly maintained system and I now agree with them strongly.
Now what I would do and what I have done in the past is line up 3-4 buckets between your 75 and your 95.(You might have to modify slightly if the tank is going to sit in the same place) Pull out tank water into all of the buckets. Add 3 times the recommended Salifert Flat Worm Exit dosage to the last bucket.(keep track of which one this is)
When you go to move any rock or coral from the tank dunk it in a bucket with just tank water in it and swirl it around almost like a washing machine motion. If done strong enough you will see TONS of flat worms fall off the rock. Then shake in the second bucket of tank water. Then the third. Finally shake it in the FW exit bucket and let it sit in the bucket for 30-60 second, then shake and place in the tank.
Once your first bucket gets over run with FW, flush the bucket and fill it again with tank water.
WARNING, when you flush the bucket of flat worms do not hang out in the room and do deep breathing exercise. Flush the toilet immediately, run the fan, leave the room, and close the door. I don’t know exactly what it is the reeks accept that has something to do with the toxin they release and I gagged the first time I smelt it and would recommend avoiding exposure.
Personally I wouldn’t transfer the sand bed to the new tank for many reasons including the flat worms present in it. I would recommend running carbon on the new tank for a week, then removing the carbon and following Salifert’s recommendations for treating the tank.(and repeat again after several weeks as the directions say)
Now at this point with 95% probability you are flat worm free. The second you buy another coral from another reefer or store or wherever you run the risk of introducing flat worms again. I would read up on a QT procedure. Using FW exit again on new corals you can likely prevent them from being reintroduced to your system.
As a foot note, I have never been to a wholesaler, transshipper, or local fish store since I first discovered my flat worms and not been able to find several.
Hope I included everything. I’ve been planning on typing this out and putting it into an article forever, but haven’t had the time to type it perfectly. There are risks involved, so DO NOT just take my recommendations without doing further research and completely understanding what you are doing.(or at least don’t blame me for any problems you may incur, just post and I can try to help/clarify)
Oh and my tank was just about over run with Flat worms and I haven’t seen a single flat worms outside of my QT tanks for well over a year.
i’ll agree that they seem to live in low flow areas. They are in my fuge but not really into the DT except one or two sometimes that make it to the glass. I would imagine that the Fish are gobbling them up as they enter he water column with the lights on. a bucket of Flatworm Exit would probably work as well but you’d have to have some carbon and skimmer going for that to catch the toxins.