Whos the expert on polyclad Flat Worms?? Need help!

[Reef_a_holiks]

So after seeing the signs on my SPS and really confused about why they are receeding and changing so weird out of no where, I have finally found the flat worm. it seems to be only one, What can i do to remove the flat worm? he seems home in a rock that I can remove and maybe dip into fresh water or a solution. What do you guys recommend?

 

[Graffiti Spot]

Its not just one, they hide on the corals underside and near the base. If your corals are receding there are a LOT more than one. There are weekly dip regimines that you can do to get rid of them. Research dipping for aefw and you will find some good info. Its a pain and you have to do it without cutting any corners but its not hard once you get into it, just time consuming and annoying.

I am confused on how you know its home is in a rock? They are very hard to see without taking the coral out. They don't really go off the coral much at all unless its to lay eggs near the base, hide when lights are on or travel to another coral.

Good luck!

 

[duke62]

I'm guessing he saw a polyclad flatworm and is thinking it's a AEFW

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

I got it out this morning this has to be the biggest flat worm ive seen, I dipped the entire rock in freshwater after 2 min in the water the flat worm started to wiggle out the rock but never completely came out, so i had to blast and suck him out with a turkey blaster. This guy was about the size of a dollar bill when he was fully opened. I happend to rip him in pieces when sucking him out, but got all of him out, and left the rock in the fresh water for additional 15 min to make sure everything is dead. I concluded this is a AEFW because he would come out at night and bind to my acros base , where he was on started to recede. This is him in a bunch of pieces.

 

[Vmacisback]

That doesnt look like AEFW, did it look like this prior to your pictures?

 

[Reef_a_holiks]

That doesnt look like AEFW, did it look like this prior to your pictures?

yes thats exactly how it looks but bigger, ide say about a good 4-6 inches fully open . If its not a AEFW, what ever it was , was really irritating my sps

 

[pirate2876]

yes thats exactly how it looks but bigger, ide say about a good 4-6 inches fully open . If its not a AEFW, what ever it was , was really irritating my sps

Wow, I had no idea they could get that big.

 

[afamousjohnson]

Polyclad flatworms get that big - they eat snails and such - never heard them being the issue with killing sps before tho.?.

 

[Battlecorals Verified Sponsor]

I am about 99.999% sure that aefw's do not get anywhere near 4-5 inches. you would have half inch bite marks. lol

cant think of the name but theres a big whitish worm thats eats clams that sounds more like what it may have been?

 

[Vmacisback]

yea thats not aewf im for sure but something that could cause some terror.

 

[evolved]

Title changed; the size you're describing and the remnants in that cup are of a polyclad flatworm.

 

[Reefnjunkie]

Title changed; the size you're describing and the remnants in that cup are of a polyclad flatworm.

That's exactly what you've got in that picture and chances are extremly high there are more. I'm inclined to dose my tank with the high potassium to kill mine-i can't keep clams as a result of that worm.

Snails and clams won't stand a chance with them in the tank slowly over time it'll consume them and sadly there is no natural predator for them Im afraid to say

 

[Graffiti Spot]

You still need to figure out why stuff is receding and changing, what are the signs your talking about?

 

[Emac909]

Here's what a polyclad looks like
http://youtu.be/seNa2SwLnFY
Sounds like what u caught was a polyclad too. If u have one it's really likely u have more. Do u find snails dead in your system?

U also might have aefw too. Do u see any bite marks on the under side of your sps
They'll look like this

Also what's the parameters in your system?
And what test kits and ages are they?

 

[menglish]

Pulled this one out of my tank last year. was caught killing one of my snails.
Nasty buggers. Was able to catch him bc i pulled the whole rock out and peeled him off the bottom.

 

[menglish]

here is one i pulled out of my tank. caught in the act of killing a snail

 

[saltyhog]

Here's a short video of one of three I caught in my tank. They are much more active at night. I caught all three hunting on the sandbed about an hour after lights out.

[video]http://s47.photobucket.com/user/huntindoc/media/aquarium/hiker8-3_zps6cc14881.mp4.html?sort=3&o=236[/video]

 

[tofucube]

If it's the huge polyclad worm and probably is judging from the size you described, then I'm pretty sure they don't harm your corals. They will kill your snails though like others have mentioned. Worst worm I have ever dealt with was the eunicid worm. That alone is the reason why I will never start a tank with live rocks again and will always chop off the base of any corals I put in the tank.