Flatworms and bubble algae

[PeterLL]

Hi everyone, I am having trouble with what I believe are aceol flatworms and bubble algae. My tank is currently fallow and I’d like to get rid of these before I add my fish back.
The flatworms: I’ve tried flatworms exit 3 times now. 1st was a full diss and left a week. Killed some but not all. Tried again at full dose, same result. Tried again at 1.5x dose, again didn’t kill all my faltworms but also killed a brittle star and 3 cerith ty snails. The flatworms are harmful it seems but I’d still rather get rid of them.
The bubble algae - I can use vibrant as I have tonnes of macro algae in the display. Is my only option manual removal?
Thanks

 

[Gareth elliott]

Flatworms often contain toxins. So though a reef safe treatment may not kill livestock itself, the dying flatworms will. If not a coral eating variety, a picture will help here

Bubble algae 2 options.
Quickest method is taking each rock and scrubbing them with a tooth brush, and using h202 to splash(coral free rocks) or using a pipet for ones with corals.
Have a bucket of wc water to dip the rocks in every few minutes and to rinse off excess h202.

Other method is vibrant, will take weeks to months but works with most bubble algae ime.

 

[Oshengems]

Flatworms can be manage with wrasses Melanurus and six line can really keep your tank pest free or at least keep them at bay, and for the BA Vibrant will work but it will take some time, I’m on week 6 and most are gone but it’s a slow process, I had really high nutritients so my sps are still doing good but Vibrant can crash your tank if not careful and use big doses

 

[reef lover]

Manual removal fo both...start a siphon and run it into a filter sock and you can suck the fw out for as long as you want and not lose water. For bubble algae i use a scalpel to pop them off the rock...

 

[Reefcowboy]

I feel your pain with bubble algae. I hate those more than any other pest. In my experience, besides Vibrant which I never used, popping them will make them come back with a vengeance months later. The spores will attach to the surroundings and seed new formations.

I had a system which I added emerald crabs and they cleared them within weeks. I was temporarily relieved soon to be surprised with 3x the amount a few months later.

Ive noticed keeping very low nutrients will erradicate them. In my current system I designed an oversized algae scrubber and had been running its lighting regimen way longer what I should be. My NO3 dropped to 0.5ppm and the bubble algae spots decreased in size and dissapeared. Ive since then increased nitrate to my liking levels and sure enough the bubbles slowly appeared. In much smaller quantity and size, but I can see they grow proportionally to nutrients, resilient little jerks.

IMO treat with Vibrant before it gets out of control. There are many positive reviews on its efficacy treating BA. My only concern about it is it does contain vinegar(small amount), so I would ramp dose very slowly to avoid bacterial issues in the system.

Removing the rockwork with peroxide treatment seems plausible, but it will destroy your scape and seems like an insane amount of work in my opinion.

As far as the flatworms, fix it the natural way. Throw a large wrasse in the tank and watch the FW dissapear as the wrasse gets fat. Those fish are awesome controlling those pests

 

[wattson]

regualr Naso tang for your bubble algae and Flatworm Exit for the flatworms..
take care of your flatworms first then add a Naso tang after the flatworms are gone..
tangs are sensitive to the flatworm exit medication and toxins from the flatworm die off..
do you research on how to SAFELY do a Flatworm Exit medication process..
Melevs reef website is a good source of info for this topic..

 

[PeterLL]

Thanks everyone. I don’t think I can use Vibrant as I have lots of display macro algae.m and I have heard that this will kill them. I also can’t remove the rocks as they’re all putties in place? Any other options?
Per the flatworms, is it normal for flatworm exit to not work? I can’t/ don’t want a wrasse as my tank is tank bred only and it also just wouldn’t fit with the other tank mates. I want to get rid of them once a for all but this sounds like not an option as the FE hasn’t worked?
Cheers

 

[Gareth elliott]

Thanks everyone. I don’t think I can use Vibrant as I have lots of display macro algae.m and I have heard that this will kill them. I also can’t remove the rocks as they’re all putties in place? Any other options?
Per the flatworms, is it normal for flatworm exit to not work? I can’t/ don’t want a wrasse as my tank is tank bred only and it also just wouldn’t fit with the other tank mates. I want to get rid of them once a for all but this sounds like not an option as the FE hasn’t worked?
Cheers

Flatworm exit does not work for all flatworms. I am not the one to ask which ones though: The makers of vibrant also make a reef safe product for aefw. Not sure is effective on all fw though. Will still have to be mindful of fw toxins with it.

There are some inverts that will protect their immediate home coral or anemone. Acro crabs, anemone or coral shrimp, wont remove from the entire tank though.

 

[PeterLL]

Thanks, they’ve been IDd as Aceaol flatworms and aren’t causing problems to corals. Since FE hasn’t worked your saying that there’s nothing I can do to get rid of them 100%?

 

[wattson]

springeri damsel,,melanarus wrasse ,,yellow tail damsel,,Halicoris species ofwrasses,,are all dam good flatworm eaters..just an idea for you..

 

[lapin]

I have both.
Here is my suggestion for the bubbles.
Emerald crabs. I buy the large size. They are the males and they will eat it. They wont eat it all. They know to leave some so they have a meal tomorrow. The crabs dont like a lot of flow if they can get food else where. Its more management instead of eradication.

I have not got rid of the flat worms yet. They are only in my separate 20g fuge. They are the red ones. In the DT I have wrasses so no flat worms to be seen. Since my fuge is full of macro I tried Flatworm-exit. 3 times, 1 week apat each time. 4 x the recommended dose the last time. I even drained out 3/4 of the water and rinsed all the macro before treatment. Lights on and a week later they were back like nothing happened. I tried pig de-wormer and Prazi Pro. No luck. Im going to get a Blue Velvet Nudibranch. The only thing they eat is flat worms. I have 20gallons worth for it to feed on. If it runs out I will have you send me some if you still have them.
Good luck with your tank. Hope you are successful.

 

[PeterLL]

Thank you guys, I have an emerald crab but might get a couple more to help the BA.
Other fish or a nudi would be a last resort for me.
In the meantime I read if you triple dose flatworm exit it will kill aceols so I recon I’ll try that. Wonder if I complain that it didn’t work they’ll send me a free bottle as I used up my current one on single doses that didn’t work...