Flatworm - Acoel Planaria

[jthomps123]

Would a fresh water dip kill them on any frags sent out of the tank?
Jason

[bluespotjawfish]

Freshwater dip works good to prevent them going to another tank (or coming into yours). Make sure that after the coral sits in the dip, before you take it out that you swish the coral in the water to remove any remaining loose ones.

Match temp and pH.

[Twisted]

Sorry I am new to these forums, so just thought I would chime in on here with a recent experience...

My 55 gallon mixed reef developed a flat worm problem a few weeks after a frag swap I attended, all my corals from the swap appeared clean, so I assumed they were eggs when they came in.
They quickly populated my tank. I attempted Blue lifes Flatworm control, with no effect at all on the flatworms. <I like to try new products, sometimes that is the results>
My wife said she wanted to redo the floors in that room, so I figured tearing down the tank was a good time to treat it, so I borrowed another tank from a friend, and I freshwater dipped all of my rock going into the new tank, and put all my corals infront of a powerhead for a few seconds.
This knocked the flatworm population going into the new tank down a ton. Then I treated the new tank with a double dose of Salifert flatworm exit. The remaining flat worms pretty much dropped dead with in minutes.
When the floors were done, I moved everything back to my tank, and got it all set back up and hit it with another double dose of flatworm exit.
It has been almost a month and I have not seen a single flat worm, and I have another bottle of flat worm exit sitting here just in case. I figure if any eggs survived, I would be ready to hit them as soon as I see them to prevent a reoccurance.

Someone mentioned their local store was battleing flatworms, I got this idea for treatment from a local fish store when I helped them do the same thing to the SPS display tanks.

However if you see a coral you must have at that store, take it home, put it in a gallon jug of saltwater, use a double dose of flat worm exit, then after a few minutes put it in another bucket of saltwater and slosh it around a bit. You should be ok at that point, but if still concerned set up a QT tank, I told myself I would,, and I still haven't.

[Woodstock]

Thanks for chiming in Twisted!

I QT everything now... fish, corals, inverts, everything. Ya just never know!

[rlcline76]

From what I understand just about every tank will have flatworms. The white ones are harmless and their presence means you have a good pod population (that is their diet), those rust colored ones got to go! So Salifert eXit plus watch your water quality. Seems everything bad for your tank multiplies like flies when the parameters are off.
Flatworms

[leahski]

what do the rust colored ones actually eat?
i definately have a good population in my tank that i've been battling by physically removing them them from the glass, but i've recently discovered them on my substrate and rocks.

i heard that when you use flatworm exit you have to be careful to remove most of the worms first so that they don't produce toxins when they die that will pollute the tank...is this true?

[rlcline76]

That is what I also understand, Leah. You might want to do it and have water ready for a change when you are done. You can try siphoning them out with a turkey baster when you do it (whoever thought that a turkey baster would be a multipurpose tool???). You could also try a wrasse...they might help take care of the situation. This is all depending on what you already have in your tank and what you want someday. Sometimes biological control is just as dubious as chemical.

[leahski]

yeah, a wrasse really isn't in the picture. i have an 8g and i'm saving my fish inches for a firefish goby and maybe another tiny one eventually...

so you recommend that they need to be disposed of? i wasn't sure if they really posed any threat to my tank since it will be softies and a goby...no acro or sps.

[rlcline76]

Yeah, sounds like you have more than a couple.
How is your water quality in the 8 gallon?

[Craig Manoukian]

Wow, I never had any flat worms in my 80 or 20 gallon. What did I do wrong?

[rlcline76]

I've never seen one in mine. There are worse things to complain about than a successful tank! lol

[leahski]

my water is pretty good. before yesterday, i had only CUC and 3 sexies and some shrooms and zoas, wasn't dosing or feeding anything, so water chem has been pretty stable. ammonia and nitrites 0, nitrates hang around 10 (i think...) pH is stable...and that's all i'm testing for.
i need to pick up a new test kit, but the one i have always gives the same results.

[Woodstock]

I got my flatworms from newly purchased corals. It is VERY important that you inspect the surroundings of a possible purchase very carefully for such things as flatworms and aiptasia.

Now, I QT all new corals (and anything WET) to prevent any undesirable creatures from getting into my reef.

Originally Posted by leahski

so you recommend that they need to be disposed of? i wasn't sure if they really posed any threat to my tank since it will be softies and a goby...no acro or sps.

There are many different types of flatworms... some eat ditritus, some algae, others corals. If yours are not bothering anything, you can leave them alone. Some people say their population will dwindle with the food source. Just do not trade corals with anyone otherwise you will spread the flatworms to other reefs.

[boozeman]

Korallen-Zucht.de - Tipps & Tricks

[Craig Manoukian]

Great link Booze!