mandi29221
Active Member
Flatworms? We bought a digital microscope for this. I only have zoas in my tank.
Flatworms
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mandi29221
Active Member
So how do I go about killing them?
Mikedawg
2500 Club Member
This may help; I don't have personal experience with them. http://aquariumcoraldiseases.weebly.com/rust-brown-flatworms.html
Might look up results using Salifert's Flatworm eXit as well
Might look up results using Salifert's Flatworm eXit as well
yup. pretty much harmless but they can reproduce quickly to reach plague proportions. Manual removal can work if there's just a few. FlatWorm Exit has worked for some, but if it doesn't get them all, they'll be back with a vengeance. I prefer the natural method. For me, that was a pair of Bleu Star Leopard Wrasses that total eradicated them from my system within a couple weeks. As an added bonus, not only are they model reef citizen, they are also one of the most visually stunning fish you can get.
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mandi29221
Active Member
So my issue with adding a small wrasse is my eel eats small things.... any other wrasse?
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mandi29221
Active Member
That's a better cheaper option and the eel will eat them after....
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mandi29221
Active Member
Any curtain kinds?
Flatworm exit works well. You have to dose more then once for it to be completely effective though. Manual removal works but it's a real pain. I have them in a 10 gallon nano that I didn't want to dose and it's taken several months of daily removal to get the numbers down. Once it got to a "countable" number I'd remove 50 per day. Now with the population thinning I spend about 5-10 minutes looking for 20 a day to remove. Every time I missed a day there were substantially more visible the next day.
CindyKz
Valuable Member
I have had acoel flatworms for over a year. I see more of them on the glass when my nutrients go up I think. They don't seem to harm anything. My melanarus wrasse keeps them in check. I don't know anything about your eel but my melanarus is a good 4 inches long, maybe too big for your eel?
FWIW, I woudn't do anything drastic unless the flatworms are actually causing harm.
FWIW, I woudn't do anything drastic unless the flatworms are actually causing harm.
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mandi29221
Active Member
He's 18inches. Big boy. Can a bird wrasse help? The bigger the better i have a 75g. Can a bristletooth tang help? Probably not hubby is asking that
biophilia
Well-Known Member
This species isn't usually a problem and is fun to watch! Their population will wax and wane with nutrient levels in your system. They possibly feed on copepods -- so higher levels of organic waste and algae will boost copepod populations and, in turn, these flatworms. I'd bet if you ignore them for a month or so and focus on good tank husbandry you'll find that their population diminishes.
CindyKz
Valuable Member
^ this.
There are many stories of remedies like FW Exit doing more harm than good (I am not speaking from experience, I've never tried them). These particular flatworms are pretty benign though. I've been ignoring them for over a year without issue - kinda like dust in the corners LOL.
I didn't notice any change in FW population after adding a bristletooth. Idk if bird wrasses eat flatworms or not, but I think they need a bigger tank than 75 gal. LA suggests a 125 gal.
Midrats
Valuable Member
I've had luck with C. hemicyanea, C. cyanea, and currently C. springeri. I was having a moderate infestation a couple of months ago so I put in three springeris. Haven't seen a flatworm since. My buddy put one cyanea in his IM Lagoon, same thing, all the flatworms are gone. I had no luck with Flat Worm Exit. They always came back. It also killed all my stomatellas and brittle stars.
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mandi29221
Active Member
Thank you so much
My personal experience -- 3 bottles of FW exit didn't do a dang thing. Sure, it killed some, but unless it kills 100% of them it doesn't matter. I could clearly see them on the glass enduring the treatment.
The only thing that obliterated them was a leopard wrasse... And I ended up getting them again from a frag plug. Dips don't kill eggs, and it's really hard to find eggs for some of these guys.
biophilia
Well-Known Member
Just for the record, I had an outbreak of the slightly more problematic flatworm (red planaria/Convolutriloba sp.) in my old tank and, as a test, made a mixture of 50/50 Flatworm Exit and saltwater and put some of the flatworms in it. After a little over an hour, they were still crawling around like nothing had happened. I'm not sure if that species is a from outer space or what, but they seem invincible. I ended up getting rid of them by sucking them out with a turkey baster every day for about two months and eventually the population crashed and was gone completely.
