monkeyCmonkeyDo
7500 Club Member
Do not dose flatworm exit. Ive used it to rid a tank of planaria outbreak. If your tank gets that bad yes use.
This is my opinion.
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This is my opinion.
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What is this!?
- Thread starter KeMiKiLL
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KeMiKiLL
Active Member
How do you recommend I get rid of them? I have no problems sucking them out as I see them, but this seems like it may be an uphill battle if there are alot I don't see.
I'm reading up on the life cycle right now to get a better understanding of them. I see people recommend wrasse to eat them but I also see many threads saying the wrasses were ineffective because they won't just target them specifically.
I'm not sure if I can get a nudibrach locally. Seems those are pretty effective.
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monkeyCmonkeyDo
7500 Club Member
Your whole tank will be red cuz they wilp mutliply like crazy and cover everything. You will know when you have an outbreak. You have pics of the red ones?
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KeMiKiLL
Active Member
Also, why do you recommend against eXit unless the tank is in outbreak? So far, everywhere I see says that the danger is in the toxins released when they die. To me, that would mean the best time to eradicate is when their numbers are minimal, not when their is a ton of them...
monkeyCmonkeyDo
7500 Club Member
Your oxygen and ph will plummet. I dont want you to stress your tank is all. They will release from the rockwork as the exit kicks in. Scoop em out with a net into a 5g bucket. I dont think you have planaria but maybe you do.
I overdosed a little. I wanted rid of them. It did it.
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I overdosed a little. I wanted rid of them. It did it.
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monkeyCmonkeyDo
7500 Club Member
If those are red thats them. :/
Usually a hitchhiker on a frag from a tank with em.
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Usually a hitchhiker on a frag from a tank with em.
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monkeyCmonkeyDo
7500 Club Member
Idk what cause the outbreak or multipling.
Hopefully they dont spread like the plague. Its really your call to treat now or later but eventually u may be doing it anyway so i get your point of doing it now.
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Hopefully they dont spread like the plague. Its really your call to treat now or later but eventually u may be doing it anyway so i get your point of doing it now.
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KeMiKiLL
Active Member
I get your point of not stressing the tank. I just spent a week nursing this tank and the corals are finally starting to open up (after a move). I'll have to really weigh the options. If I could find a nudibranch, that would be ideal. They look super cool too.
Red planaria can be rather easily collected as they will congregate where there is light. Just position a spotlight of any type in a corner for a while when the main lights are off and then suck them out.
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KeMiKiLL
Active Member
Great tip. That must be why they were on the glass. I'll try this for a few days. I can't see there being a massive amount of them as they had to have come in on the frags last night.
Old school method. Best not to use chemical solutions in a reef tank if there are other solutions available.
monkeyCmonkeyDo
7500 Club Member
^specially if your just getting your corals to open up again.
Get some kent iodine base coral dip.
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Get some kent iodine base coral dip.
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monkeyCmonkeyDo
7500 Club Member
Dip the next corals and vigorisouly swish them. Specially if from same coral person.
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KeMiKiLL
Active Member
Quick update - I've been manually sucking these guys out of my tank and it seems to be going well. I check my tank every few hours and suck out about half a dozen. Most are tiny but I see the odd large one that is clearly red.
The LFS has a six line wrasse in stock. This is a 5 gallon pico so I'm concerned with adding a fish to such a small tank but I have already lined up a permanent home for it if my 32 gallon isn't ready by the time it's done his job, or if he looks stressed. It will be the only fish in the tank and the LFS says its under 2" in length currently.
Is this a good idea? I'd like to avoid chemical intervention if possible but I will be purchasing FWE while at the store, just in case.
The LFS has a six line wrasse in stock. This is a 5 gallon pico so I'm concerned with adding a fish to such a small tank but I have already lined up a permanent home for it if my 32 gallon isn't ready by the time it's done his job, or if he looks stressed. It will be the only fish in the tank and the LFS says its under 2" in length currently.
Is this a good idea? I'd like to avoid chemical intervention if possible but I will be purchasing FWE while at the store, just in case.
JohnTheReefer
Active Member
I agree with Nano Sapiens. Best not to use chemical solutions if it can be avoided and manually remove them. 5 gallons is fairly small for a six line. Maybe wait a few days to see if the manual removal is making a difference?
Red planaria typically multiply rapidly in newer systems, then reduce greatly or disappear over time. I had them when I first set up a 55g and after a few short months they completely disappeared. Good husbandry (no excess food floating around) is very helpful and not overly intense lighting.
A 2" Six Lined is pushing it in a 5 g IMO as they are quite active fish. I've seen them as small as 1", which would be much better for a while, at least.
A 2" Six Lined is pushing it in a 5 g IMO as they are quite active fish. I've seen them as small as 1", which would be much better for a while, at least.
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KeMiKiLL
Active Member
It definitely looks like I'm making an impact with manual removal as I'm only seeing a few here and there currently.
My concern is that, since these are a asexual and there is no real solid information of life cycle (that I could find), it will just result in me just visiting the tank a dozen times a day with a pipette to suck out whatever I see while not knowing the extent of the issue. I caught some in the substrate and even in the filtration chamber, so who knows how many are actually in here and how fast they will reproduce... Missing even one means many more are inevitable.
I hope the wrasse will be much more effective than I could be as it will be in the tank and able to see even the ones in the substrate and rock work that I can't maneuver into.
