Aussie gold torch and red planaria - one lost head

bknope · Oct 29, 2019

I was putting it off for a long time, but on Friday my Aussie gold seemed more closed than normal. When I squirted some water at it a tentacle came off.

For the last few months, it has had many red planaria/flatworms on it and it seemed to be doing okay. However, this day, I decided to do a quick dip (~10 minutes) in Flatworm eXit. Hundreds came off of it in the container.

I put it back in the tank and it seemed to look better except for one head.

Yesterday I decided to dip it in Reef Dip to help give it a boost. The one head looked really bad. That head slowly melted away.

Today, one of the three heads looks a lot better, and one looks so-so. I am thinking about doing another dip but do not want to stress it too much in such a short span.

Any recommendations? Has anyone heard of red planaria causing something like this or is something else happening? I don't notice any brown jelly...it just looks like the head deflated and melted away. Did the reef dip just speed it along?

Thank you!

reef lover · Oct 31, 2019

Fw can cover a coral to a point it starves for light...id get an appropriate sized wrasse for them...
And can we get current parameters just in case...

AdamB · Oct 31, 2019

I would buy flatworm exit and treat your tank if you had hundreds on and then get a 6 line or a melanurus wrasse to keep them in check .
I had flatworms a month ago in my tank. I thought I had a 100 or so but when I treated with exit I found out I had a 1000! Amazing what Exit can do in 5 minutes !

bknope · Oct 31, 2019

Thanks all. The remaining heads have rebounded and it looks to be improving a ton.

My plan this weekend is to treat the full tank with FWE when I have enough water prepared for large water change...so I think I bought myself some time. I’d love a 6 line but I hear they turn in to big jerks.

I don’t have current parameters to give at the moment...it’s been a long week

Jeff Jarry reef · Oct 31, 2019

Just remember how many you see multiply that x5 flatworm exit is great stuff just follow directions. And you will be fine. Wrasse is great but sometimes it's best to get under control a little then the wrasse can keep up better. IMO

reef lover · Nov 1, 2019

Be forewarned they will release toxins as they die and if theres enough of them it could be detrimental. I dont care for using chemicals myself unless i have to i like the natural approach...siphoning them out and critters whom eat them.

Gareth elliott · Nov 1, 2019

How many euphylia do you have other than the torch? You could remove the die off fears if instead dip your euphylia every 5-7 day for a month. Will stop the breeding cycle by killing the adults before they can breed again. Need to do this for 3 or 4 generations to make sure you got them all. And has to be all your euphylia corals.

reef lover · Nov 1, 2019

The problem with that is theyrw not restricted to just the coral...theyll be in the rocks and substrate as well as other corals.

Gareth elliott · Nov 1, 2019

Eefw are just so large, I mean 1 is like 100 aefw in mass lol.
Fwiw do not need a six line most halichoeres wrasses will also eat fw. Stay away from the very large species,Halichoeres idris(difficult to acclimate), and Halichoeres ornatissimus(can be agressive).

bknope · Nov 1, 2019

Gareth elliott said:
How many euphylia do you have other than the torch? You could remove the die off fears if instead dip your euphylia every 5-7 day for a month. Will stop the breeding cycle by killing the adults before they can breed again. Need to do this for 3 or 4 generations to make sure you got them all. And has to be all your euphylia corals.

I have many haha! 2 torches, elegance coral, hammers and frogs pawns.

it’s looking really good today (checking cameras from work) so I want to stay on top of this so it doesn’t happen again. I was able to siphon them off my elegance coral over 8 months ago, but when I tried on my torch...it sucked off a tentacle! So I think I need to be extra delicate with it as it seems weakened by the FWs currently