What are these? Please help.

[thewackyreefer]

Can anyone tell me what these are? If I need to get rid of them or not? and how I can do so?

they look like they have a little red dot or something where they're pointy on the back. pics aren't the greatest but should suffice (hopefully).

Give me some good news guys!

 

[wicked demon]

flat worms -bad- get either flat worm exit or a preditory fish, like a wrasse.

 

[thewackyreefer]

Boo...I had a sneaking suspicion. Sounds like I'll have to pick up a wrasse as I hate to add anything unnecessary the system.

 

[Reef Goddess]

or use Flatworm Exit

 

[ZoAcan Princess]

flat worms! ahhhh!!! get the yellow corris wrasse. they'll eat them up quick!!! i used flatworm exit 3 different times and it didn't get rid of all the flat worms... but the wrasses did a great job... do it asap they multiply like bunnies!

 

[thewackyreefer]

Well, I guess this means I'll have to take a trip out to Vivid before the Coral Farmers Market on Sunday. Oh shucks.

 

[Alpha Aquaculture]

Oh no!!! Those are the worst kind of flatworms. Ime I have seen many types of flatworms but those were the first I ever experienced having a reef. They are a much brighter orange than the average flatworm. I got them in my first ever reef, a 10gallon. I did not use flatworm exit and actually have never had success using that product when using it on other flatworm populations. Also if you kill them in the same tank as your corals the toxins from their dead bodies will harm your ecosystem if their are many of them.

Talking about many of them... it looks like your getting some carpeting already... it will get worse, eventually imagine the carpet you walk on, nothing but flatworms. They are parasitic in that they will perch on anything that can give them more light and block the light from your photosynthesizing reef creatures.

You can increase your flow and that will deter them from carpeting but thats not a real solution. I don't know about fish solutions but I did successfully eliminate them from my first reef. I set up 3 temp acclimated freshwater baths and a new clean tank. Dip in first bath and shake like hell for 30 secs then the next and then the 3rd. The key is to shake each piece of your tank off. The flatworms will fall off and die in the freshwater. Get rid of your sand or clean it thoroughly too, basically everything in your entire tank.

Its a serious procedure but it worked for me and I never saw them again... now I quarantine and hate them. But not all flatworms are bad, just those bright orange rusty ones, they carpet everything and are parasitic!

good luck man,
Kris