Please identify

Westside Guy · Sep 28, 2019

These are starting to appear on my glass, what are they? Sorry for the lack of detail but this is the best I could take, I took one shot with flash and one without.

hllb · Sep 28, 2019

No idea. How big is it? Anything on the back of it like a shell?

CoralKid23 · Sep 28, 2019

They look like Flat worms. Are there a ton of them?

KJ · Sep 28, 2019

Convolutriloba sp. Flatworm.

Westside Guy · Sep 29, 2019

CoralKid23 said:
They look like Flat worms. Are there a ton of them?

Yes, there are large numbers. What should I do to correct this invasion?

Oldreefer44 · Sep 29, 2019

Check your water parameters. Usually a result of excess nutrients. Have to feed on something.

Westside Guy · Sep 30, 2019

OLDREEFER44 said:
Check your water parameters. Usually a result of excess nutrients. Have to feed on something.

Sal 1.025
PH 8.4
Alk 8
Cal 360
Phos 0
Nitrate 0

Oldreefer44 · Sep 30, 2019

No PO4 or Nitrates is suspicious to me. Need some to have a healthy tank. Would consider an ICP test for reference.

BayouReefer · Sep 30, 2019

It is definitely flat worms. I would suggest vacuuming them up and then using flatworm exit. https://www.lionfishlair.com/hitchhikers-guide/

2mk · Oct 4, 2019

BayouReefer said:
It is definitely flat worms. I would suggest vacuuming them up and then using flatworm exit. https://www.lionfishlair.com/hitchhikers-guide/

Very good link. just identified what I have in my DT. I will remove them definately.

Westside Guy · Oct 5, 2019

BayouReefer said:
It is definitely flat worms. I would suggest vacuuming them up and then using flatworm exit. https://www.lionfishlair.com/hitchhikers-guide/

My LFS is coming to do my monthly service tomorrow, we have discussed what is happening and he is prepared to tackle this flatworm invasion.

Westside Guy · Oct 6, 2019

Update, the manager of my LFS came with an assistant yesterday and spent almost 5 hours cleaning up my tank. It was unbelievable to see how many flatworms he siphoned up into 2 large filter socks which were almost filled even before he added the Salifert Flatworm Exit to the tank! After adding the chemical he waited about 30 minutes, added carbon and then spent another 2 hours siphoning the dead flatworms. Finally he did a water change. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the Salifert Flatworm Exit nuked all of the flatworms as this was a nightmare I would not want to have repeated!!! :mad:

C. Eymann · Oct 6, 2019

Westside Guy said:
Update, the manager of my LFS came with an assistant yesterday and spent almost 5 hours cleaning up my tank. It was unbelievable to see how many flatworms he siphoned up into 2 large filter socks which were almost filled even before he added the Salifert Flatworm Exit to the tank! After adding the chemical he waited about 30 minutes, added carbon and then spent another 2 hours siphoning the dead flatworms. Finally he did a water change. I am keeping my fingers crossed that the Salifert Flatworm Exit nuked all of the flatworms as this was a nightmare I would not want to have repeated!!! :mad:

I'd hit it again with FW exit in another week or two, maybe even again after that if you want to be sure they are gone.
other than cost of medications it cant really hurt anything.

Westside Guy · Oct 6, 2019

C. Eymann said:
I'd hit it again with FW exit in another week or two, maybe even again after that if you want to be sure they are gone.
other than cost of medications it cant really hurt anything.

I still have plenty of FW Exit left in the bottle and was thinking of doing it again in 1 week. The only issue I might have is removing the dead flatworms without being able to siphon them out. Will the dead flatworms simply float into the overflow and then get lodged on my filter floss or will they simply remain in the DT either lying on the sand of floating in the water?

C. Eymann · Oct 6, 2019

Westside Guy said:
I still have plenty of FW Exit left in the bottle and was thinking of doing it again in 1 week. The only issue I might have is removing the dead flatworms without being able to siphon them out. Will the dead flatworms simply float into the overflow and then get lodged on my filter floss or will they simply remain in the DT either lying on the sand of floating in the water?

The majority of them should be wiped out already from the first treatment if the aquarium tech did a heavy dose, the amount that will die off during 2nd SHOULD be very small compared to the initial which is why I think you would be okay with just running a high quality carbon after 2nd treatment.