Kessil

how bad are thse critters?

jeremys

jeremys

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Not sure what they are, I'm thinking they are flat worms. I hope not, they have been in the tank for about a week they don't seem to be getting bigger. They are in my quarantine tank, so not to much harm, hopefully.

If they are whats best to use to get rid of them, and if not any ideas

thanks jeremy
they are very small,
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Attached files /attachments/sites/default/files/bug in 10g 2.jpg /attachments/sites/default/files/bugs in 10g.jpg
 
Flatworms are no big deal unless they are AEFW (doesn't look like them) or they reach a plague proportion. Most reefers have them in their tank and just life with them. They tend to be a food source for some fish :p
 
Hm, those do like flatworms to me as well. If you and I are wrong, I'm sure someone will chime in :)
I always think the best method for flatworm removal, is manual removal -and in a quarantine tank, hopefully this doesn't prove to be fruitless task. When I had flatworms in my nano tank, I sort of flipped out. What I did was use airline tubing, and rigid airline tubing to siphon out as many as I could see, once or twice a day, every day consecutively for two or three weeks. It seems like a lot of work, and it is, sort of -but it is only a 15g tank. Heack, it worked though, and I didn't need any chemicals :D If after two or three weeks of constant manual removal shows no results, I would just hit them with Salifert Flatworm eXit.
 
Are they clear or red? Neither are bad but reds can get out of hand if you have elevated nutrients. The clear are 100% harmless.
 
I agree with Gresham, and I speak from experience when I say those red ones grow really fast ... it's unbelievable IME.

Gresham -
Would you happen to know the identification of the red and clear flatworms? The red ones I assume are Planaria sp., only because that is what everyone calls them. I think the red ones are also photosynthetic correct? What do the clear ones use as a food source?

Mario, when I had the red flatworms in my last reef tank, my six line wrasse placed a good dent in their population. Everything looked great, until the six line realized he could be eating pellets and mysis instead :D
 
I couldn't syphon with out hitting all my frags over repeatedly in my crowded 12 gal. I thought it would do more damage than good, so I used Flatworm exit. It took 4 doses though. You think they are gone, then they pop up a few days after putting carbon in the tank. I haven't seen anymore for about a month+.

I know they are harmless, but they bothered me; sliding over the glass as they do, and I wondered if they released toxins as I squashed them using the magnet cleaner. So I opted for mass removal. Easy to do in a small tank too.
 
The clear release no toxin and are harmless algal and detritus eaters. I guess they prey upon copepods according to some. I'd personally love to see that.

The red on the other hand can release toxins if killed.

I have both full names some where, but not here at work. I'll post later :)
 
they are the clear ones, will a wrasse eat them or any other fish, damsel. And what treatment should I use on them, GreshamH you said you would like to see them? Would you leave them alone, I don't feel comfortable moving those frags to my display tanks. Maybe if I had fish in the tank they wouldn't be so bad. I don't know what I should do, to .many diff. opinions.
S)
 
Well the clear ones are totally harmless. I susepct any flatworm treatment would work on them as well, Salifert has Flatwrom Exit.

Coral banded may help as well as fish, I just don't know as I never tried to get ride of them. I never had that many for some reason,e ven when I had a high nutrient load.
 
The little cute red ones are probably in the genus Convolutriloba. If you slap one under the scope, you can chk out the endosymbiotic algae within. It must be neat to be partially solar powered!
 
I had a problem with flatworms on some of my live rock. I read that a freshwater dip would kill the flatworms. I dipped each of my rocks in de-chlorinated freshwater, and watched those terrible little flatworms quickly release from the rock and drop dead, to the bottom of the bucket. Amazing. However, the copepods didn't appreciate the hyposalinity either.
 
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