Help flatworms!

[Saltwatertaylor]

Hello. I bought a rock from a buddy, and now there are these red specks ALL OVER my tank. I did some research and found out they were flat worms (Convolutriloba retrogemma). What is the best way to remove them? Are they bad for a tank. Please help!

 

[Steven R]

Go get flat worm Exit works like a charm from Salifert here is a link. Good luck
Salifert Flatworm Exit

 

[Saltwatertaylor]

I have heard if you have too many and you use that then they release toxins and could wipe out your entire tank. Do they harm corals? I have noticed my favia showing a little skeleton near the edges and some zoas not opening fully. Im wondering if these flatworms could be connected to this? Also what about FW dipping?

 

[Rayzback]

Hoevens Wrasse?


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[aslmx]

Do a water change asap when you use the flat worm exit. The first time I used it I had a family emergency and had to leave the tank for 2 days. It almost killed my fish. They turned white and their eyes were real cloudy. The next time I used it I did a wc right after and everything was fine. It will kill them but they came back.

 

[Rayzback]

I think your supposed to run GAC after treating also.... may be wrong.

 

[sjnovakovich]

I had a huge infestation of them. I kept doing small to medium water changes every other day. When siphoning out the water, I use airline tubing and sucked up every little bastage that I could find. After about a week, they were gone. I bought Flatworm exit, but I got spooked by what I was reading and never used it.

 

[YVR]

FlatwormXit should work to help clear it up. I dip all my new corals in an iodine bath like Tropic Marin Pro Coral Cure before introducing them into my tank. Understandably I get a bit paranoid about introducing things like flatworms into my display tanks.

 

[jrom1300]

when i had that problem i used flatworm exit did a water change and used a lot of carbon and everything was fine just after you dose they are going to come back i have a six line wrase and and 4 yellow wrase and they cleaned my tank up after they started to came back

 

[BCORAL]

I used Flatworm Exit as well, and it didn't take care of the problem.

 

[Steve175]

I used flatworm exit 10 years ago at double the dose, followed by the addition of GAC and a 50^ water change with no prob. Since then I have dipped into a QT for 6-8 weeks

 

[Otter_rs]

A variety of wrasses will eat them. A few that I know of is six lines, Christmas, and yellow coris. I hate and will not use flatworm exit. I have seen it used many times, and it can cause problems if you are not careful. besides, I don't know anyone who knows what exactly it is and what possible long term affects could have on a reef aquarium, either from the dying worms, or the chemical itself.


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[Ryan2112]

I had them what a pain in the butt. The first time I used flat worm exit I went by the box and it killed tons did the water change and added carbon. One week later my tank looked liked I had 5 times more then what I started with. So I added even more flat worm exit then repeated the last steps one week later I still had them but nowhere as bad. I did it all over again but this time I got some tubing from a spray bottle and air tubing with a sock on the end and sucked as many out as I could find. And used what I had left in the bottle at this point I figured they will all die or the whole tanks coming down mind you I only had a bio cube 29 at the time very little tank and I used the whole bottle. Never seen them again fast forward 6 months later I broke down the cube to move to the 75 gallon. I left the cube up and running just for the sandbed that I left in the tank 2 weeks later I remembered I left some snails in the sandbed so I went digging. One week later my cube was covered with worms again. Also have never had any flat worms in the 75 in 2 years its been up and running with all the rock and coral from the cube.

 

[George209]

Christmas wrasse and Yellow Coris wrasse will eat them. I have them in my tank just in case any pests make it thru the dip and quarantine phase. IMO, it's always a good idea to have natural predictors in your tank.


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[George209]

I meant natural predators...that auto correct...lol


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[Swordfish215]

hate to say it, but u may have to redo your reef.....I had them(Red planaria) so bad once, you couldnt even see the coraline on the live rock...One thing I can tell u, they die almost instantly when dunked in freshwater...In fact if u have a specific rock that has a lot of them on it, u can sit that rock in a bucket of Freshwater and watch them literally explode within a matter of seconds....Once the water turns brown from the exploding, get the rock out and give it a good sw rinse...Good luck man....Once youve beaten them, youll inspect every frag/new addition to your tank like it may be carrying the plague...lol.

 

[DecanoLA]

If there is one thing I am proud of myself in this hobby, is defeating these little red *******s!

I had them in my 75 gal covering entire rocks, the sand, and even on corals... it was getting really bad!

So I tried the flatworm exit medicine, followed by a 100% water change. You could see the worms dying and thousands floating around in the water column.

So, the medicine worked. BUT, as ppl here have mentioned... a couple of weeks later everything was the same. I repeated this procedure like 3 tmes.

Finally I was about to give up, but someone suggested I get an african Black Leopard Wrasse (a hard fish to keep), and I was willing to take the risk. I put two of these in the tank along with a small coris wrasse I (cause I thought he was cute).

In maybe 2 weeks there was not a single flatworm in sight!!!!! It was the most spectacular thing I had ever seen! Now, I dont know if it was the leopard wrasses or the coris wrasse... I actually never saw them eating a flatworm... but man, I'm telling you, from rocks and glass and sand COVERED in red, to ZERO flatworms.

So I would say try with a small coris wrasse (or a couple of them), see how it goes, if they fail, get those african black leopards. It can be done!!! you can do it!!!