Always amazed

[njbeacher]

Part of the fun of this hobby is finding new life in the DT and fuge. Found 5 or 6 of these guys on the glass. The first shot is him/her/it next to a mexican turbo snail for scale. He moves like a snail, but has no shell. He has a flappy end (the bottom part of the pic) that he uses like a net to capture things that get too close or that float by. Anyone know what it is? My son and daughter are always right next to me with their own magnifying glasses looking at the tiny creatures that live in the fuge. I like to be able to tell them what they are looking at.

I find the fuge to be as entertaining if not more so at times then the DT.

 

[yosemite sam]

Those, unfortunately, are red flatworms, also known as planaria. They are not a good thing. They can be easy to get rid of, if you act fast. Try siphoning them out while doing a water change. You can also treat your tank with a product called Flatworm Exit. If you do a search on the board, you'll find some good threads on the subject.

 

[njbeacher]

Damn. Thanks for the id.

 

[njbeacher]

I suspect this came in on some macro algae I picked up recently. There were numerous Aiptasia on the Cheato clump that I removed. Guess they came in on the same boat. Would it be advisable to dip the macro algae in something? If so, what? And if dipped, would that kill any pods that might be in there too?

 

[yosemite sam]

The problem is they've gotten into the rest of your sump. If they're just in the sump, and not in the main tank, then you should be able to siphon most of them out. What kind of macro algae is it? You could probably float it in some fresh water for a bit to try and get any flatworms off. You could then suck out the rest of them in the sump while the algae is soaking.

 

[teen]

they'll go away on their own if your tank isnt rich in nutrients.

 

[donald]

Flatworm exit, and fast. If you decide to do a freshwater dip keep in mind that it does not kill them it causes them to fall off whatever they are on. The FW messes up their ability to hold on. If you use flatworn exit on your tank be sure to read all the directions. Dead flatworms give off a toxin when they are dead that can crash your tank. The amount of taxin depends on the population of flatworms, "more flatworms, more toxin".

 

[cam78]

I used it on mushrooms. I had flatworms on the shrroms so I put them in a qt with flatworm exit. They died quick. Problem is, they are on another set of shrooms. Not sure what to do. Not sure what is concidered "A LOT" of flatworms. Really don't want my tank to crash.