Flatworm - Acoel Planaria

[Woodstock]

:waa: :waa: I got worms!! What do I do??

 

[ReefLady]

Flatworm exit, double dose.

 

[fugazi]

second the fw exit. used it with great success. No casualties

 

[KimPossible]

OOOoooooOOoooohhh Woody
How'd they get introduced?
My lfs has been batteling them and I've been staying away from their corals unitl it's under control.
Flatworm Exit is what they are using as well.

 

[reefjitsu]

Are they hurting anything? Most flatworms are harmless.
http://www.seaslugforum.net/display.cfm?id=5836
http://www.reefs.org/library/article/r_toonen19.html

 

[Woodstock]

Thanks! Flatworm exit double dose, k.

All the corals look fine. I'm guessing it came in on the clam? I've never seen them before and I can count may a dozen or so.

 

[mps9506]

Woody, I would just wait until you have added any newly purchased corals unless you plan on trading frags. In your tank with high flow barebottom and low amount of detrius I would suspect they won't multiply too fast. You can siphon a bunch of them out during water changes.
And the FW Exit works great.

 

[Woodstock]

I added a sand bed a month or so ago so they probably have a buffet now. They are soooo tiny it is going to be hard to target and siphon them out but I'll do my best.

Does a coral iodine dip kill these? If so, maybe I will begin dipping all new corals...

 

[Woodstock]

Here is some good info I found on Melev's web site: http://www.melevsreef.com/flatworms.html

 

[mps9506]

I added a sand bed a month or so ago so they probably have a buffet now.

:waa: Say it ain't so....

Iodine dips sound good to me, although I've heard both ways, that it works and it doesn't work (just like everything else in this hobby).

 

[Woodstock]

Hehehe... 'tis true. I am gritty now~

I ordered Flatworm Exit yesterday. I wish I could get it this weekend. I've noticed the population of worms is growing exponentially!

 

[cheeks69]

Sorry to hear that Doni ! There's so many pests out there now that it's like playing Russion Roulette when you add something to the tank :columbo:

 

[blue_eyes53813]

I just remembered that I went to a store In Iowa and the guys tanks had flat worms BAD.... He was still selling corals out of the tanks. I was looking around and he came over to me . I knew what they were but I asked him anyway what all those little things were on the glass and rocks. He told me the scientific name.... Gave me a story about how harmless they are and that they would die on there own... He must of thought I was new to SW. After he finished his long speel I told him they are flat worms and he shouldnt be selling or at least telling people lies about them. I was so mad when I left there.... You know if a pet store knows they have them it is unfare to sell.But I know they dont care.

 

[BHinAK]

hey, i got worms too. I just saw 2 of the ones pictured on Melev's site on the front glass of my 29g. I thought the little thingy was cool, hell I think every new thing I see in the tank is neat.

 

[Woodstock]

I would never trade frags when I have a pest problem. As a matter of fact, I had fragged my green leather for 2 reefers and was going to ship them next week I canceled the shipments until my tank is pest free.

Bummer BHinAk

 

[Woodstock]

Flatworm Treatment...

Well, I bit the bullet and treated my reef with Flatworm Exit this morning. So far, so good......

With 20 gallons of fresh saltwater waiting.... I began by vacuuming every flatworm I could find using a 3/4" vinyl hose which was routed back into the sump and filtered with a micron sock. I thoroughly rinsed the sock several times....

After all visible flatworms were gone, I dosed with 1 drop Flatworm Exit per gallon (90) and then continued to vacuum the dieing flatworms that began to emerge from EVERYWHERE They were literally crawling out of every nook and crany of the rock :columbo: . I vacuumed, and vacuumed, and vacuumed, and vacuumed, and vacuumed.......... I would stop to clean the sock every 15 min or so.....

After about an hour, I inspected the rocks and glass to find that there were still a few living flatworms... *sigh* So I decided to dose another 90 drops (I had read that many other reefers had to double dosed to completely irradicate them) and resumed vacuuming for another 30 minutes. Once I didn't see anymore worms, I then did a 20 gallon water change, added a LOT of fresh carbon, and replaced the polyfilter.

I plan on doing another 20 gallon change in the morning.

8 hrs post treatment: the clam was a bit withdrawn at first but is okay now and I lost a dozen or so mini-brittle stars. All the corals, anemones and clam look great but the urchin nor snails are eating and all the fish are hiding ........

I will give another update in the morning.

 

[blue_eyes53813]

Hope it works for you.... How long does the treatment take to start working? You have to suck them out right away and do a water change right away?

 

[Woodstock]

Thanks.

It starts working instantly. Yes, it is very important to remove as many flatworms as possible because they release a toxin when they die; doing that, adding carbon and doing a water change helps to remove the toxins quickly.

 

[Woodstock]

Tested the water a early this morning: amm = 0, nitrite = 0, nitrAtes = 0-5ppm, ph = 8.12, ca = 400-420, alkalinity = 9 dkh.

I then did another 20 gal water change.

The fish, corals, anemones, hermits, snails, shrimp, clam are doing fine. Yesterday the urchin and cerith snails were very lethargic but they seem fine today. No sign of flatworms! Yippie~~

 

[reefrelief]

In addition the chemically treating the problem, add a six-line wrasse. They love to feed on flatworms and bristle-worms and anything else that has the potential to be problematic.