Flatworm Crisis

[Billdogg]

melanurus wrasse would have that completely cleaned out eating them all in 3 days. Flatworms are like steak to melanarus wrasses

For me it was a pair of Blue Star Leopard wrasses. Beautiful fish and constant hunters for little stuff. When I put the first one in the DT, it swam right up to my very large Elegance coral and carefully started plucking the FW's from its relatively delicate tissue. Model reef citizens!

Definitely siphon as much as you can out of the tank before any treatment. Your photos basically shows a massive infestation. Put a filter sock at the end of a hose and run it into the sump to let the water drain there.


You need to have a follow up treatment 4-7 days after. And perhaps once more just to catch stragglers.

What ever you can see you probably have 5x that many. That's why take your time and siphon out as many as you can.

^^^What both of them said^^^

Before I got my Leopard wrasses I tried manual removal - yeah - I didn't have that much time in the remainder of my life! I then got some FWE and reluctantly gave it a try following the directions. It helped but they were still an issue. A week later, I dosed again at 2x. It got more of them but far from all. No effect on any of my other reef inhabitants at all however.

 

[Greg61]

To help settle the discussion regarding the melanurus wrasse. The fish I have in my tank is the adult male as shown on the bottom of the picture. The juvenile/female form is easily differentiated from the male not only in color but in size.
My male melanurus wrasse has not eaten the 1st flatworm in the month that he has been out or quarantine and in my display tank. I wish that he had.

 

[AdamB]

Same as you. I thought coralline algae starting to come in in 8 month old tank. I put a set of reading glasses on and said oh $&@_% /. Flatworm infestation ! I ordered Exit ASAP started siphoning off as many as I could for 3 days then treated . Once I started treatment I noticed I had a million times the flatworms I thought I had what I saw! Flatworms started to die within 5 minutes Crazy! I used a net and tried to get all out that I could . It worked well. I didn’t not have any wrasses in this tank btw. Anyway, in a couple hrs I done a25% water change and put 1 and 1/2 lbs of carbon plus poly filter pad to filter poison out and left them in for 24 hrs then I removed . I saw no ill effects to any of fish or coral during this time .
I followed up in 3 days with another application of Exit and did not see many flatworms floating around and then I added carbon in sump again just to make sure I wasn’t seeing them .
5 days later I treated again with the same results as second dose . Again no I’ll effects with life in tank.
Note , I saw a few flat worms 4 days later after last treatment so I’m going to pick up a wrasse to keep the flatworm threshold at bay hopefully !

 

[Greg61]

It is bad when you are old and blinder than you thought you where, and can't see what's going on in your tank. (the old and blind are my current symptoms).
I think that with the help I am receiving I will get this under control.

 

[AdamB]

It is bad when you are old and blinder than you thought you where, and can't see what's going on in your tank. (the old and blind are my current symptoms).
I think that with the help I am receiving I will get this under control.

Yes. Now I leave a pair of reading glasses by tank !

 

[Greg61]

Yes. Now I leave a pair of reading glasses by tank !

I think I will get one of those magnifying glasses you hang around your neck, don't think reading glasses will cut it anymore.

 

[Greg61]

Just FYI, I had to trim up my chaeto in my sump, and because of the flatworms I didn't feel good about giving it away. So I fed it to my chickens. Chickens really like chaetomorpha algae!

 

[Billdogg]

If it's any consolation to the old and blind (me too, btw ), I didn't have a clue until I took a bunch of close up photos of my various corals. When I opened the pictures in photoshop to color correct them I was more than a little surprised!!!!!!

 

[Stigigemla]

Some fishes have to be learned what is food. I take a turkey baster and blow up a few flatworms near the fish. Flatworms svirling around in the water is a much better trigger for eating. And when they have tasted it...

When i get in new peppermint shrimps I always put them in a small tank with aiptasia. But I often need to feed them freefloating aiptasia to get them to start to eat.

 

[DibsOnMcRibs]

I just got a blue line nudibranch from live aquaria for mine. I literally just go it, so I don’t have much feedback yet. But once I have some positive or negative results to share I’ll make a thread

 

[AdamB]

Just bought a melanarus wrasse yesterday . He is already chowing down this morning on remaining flatworms ! I also had to buy a clown fairy wrasse at my friends reef store .
Could not resist ! I know he will not take care of flatworms but he was just an exquisite fish!

 

[Jeff Jarry reef]

Just bought a melanarus wrasse yesterday . He is already chowing down this morning on remaining flatworms ! I also had to buy a clown fairy wrasse at my friends reef store .
Could not resist ! I know he will not take care of flatworms but he was just an exquisite fish!

melenarus adult or juvenile thanks

 

[AdamB]

melenarus adult or juvenile thanks

Adult

 

[Jeff Jarry reef]

Adult

That's what I heard adults only will eat flatworms.mine are juvenile .

 

[AdamB]

That's what I heard adults only will eat flatworms.mine are juvenile .

I didn’t know that actually . I am glad it was an adult that my friends had or I might have a flatworm issue in the near future !