Battling flat worms...YIKES!!

[monalisa]

Here's what I've done so far...
I've siphoned out a whole bunch of the little buggers by fashioning a suction device consisting of clear tubing that is slipped into a plastic straw to make the siphoning end a little more rigid for vacuuming. At the end of the tubing going into the tub, I fastened a nylon stocking to catch anything unwanted so I can reuse the water. So far I've taken out quite a few, but when I go to look again, it seems they're back again. I will continue to siphon until it looks like they're beginning to dissipate a bit, then I'll try some Flat worm exit.
Any other ideas that I can try? I don't know where they came from, but they sure did make themselves at home. I don't want to lose any corals to them. Any suggestions are VERY welcome!!
Thanks in advance.
Lisa

 

[sbaumann14]

i've got some of em going on in my tank also. i cut down on my feeding to see if that will help any. will let ya know if that works

 

[monalisa]

Originally Posted by sbaumann14
http:///forum/post/3024813
i've got some of em going on in my tank also. i cut down on my feeding to see if that will help any. will let ya know if that works
Thanks, I've tried that myself, feeding every other day rather than every day. So far, no luck. I want to make sure that when I add the flat worm exit, they aren't going to be toxic to my other critters. Siphoned again tonight...got a lot less of them out, but then there weren't nearly as many to get out. Maybe I'm making some headway.
Lisa

 

[teresaq]

I had them in my frag tank once. The flat worm exit worked good. I just made sure I had water for a water change after treatment
T

 

[wakeboard3584]

be really careful with flatworm exit. i almost killed everything in my tank once. i sucked as many of them as i could out before i used the chems, got tons of carbon ready, followed the directions and so many died under the rocks and in the substrate that they poisoned the tank. all of my fish developed white film over their eyes, were breathing very fast and dropped to the bottom of the tank. my basslet bounced his head off the rocks for 2 days until i had done 3 30% water changes. after this, the fish started eating again and looking somewhat better but i kept up with water changes every day for a week until i knew all of the water was new. i only lost 1 cleaner shrimp, but it was rough. i refuse to add any medications or chemicals like that into my reef. its too delicate of a system. siphon what u can and cut back on feeding. also, good flow helps alot! keep it natural and you have alot less chance of crashing ur tank. remember, the flatworms dont hurt anything in the tank. they are just ugly.

 

[wakeboard3584]

btw, the flatworm exit didnt even get rid of all of the flatties. they came back and i have be dealng with them on and off ever since. they come and go in cycles. oh well, we all want a little part of the ocean in our homes and guess what? flatworms are part of it

 

[valgae]

i've read in a magazine that the rust/brown worms eat pods and that if you can get your pod pop. down they should decrease also. that's why some think mandarins eat flatworms. they dont, they decrease the pod pop. thus decreasing the worms. you just notice the decrease after the addition of the madarin. on the other hand, sixline wrasses eat flatworms, but sometimes they have a lot of attitude.

 

[wakeboard3584]

Originally Posted by VALgae
http:///forum/post/3026728
i've read in a magazine that the rust/brown worms eat pods and that if you can get your pod pop. down they should decrease also. that's why some think mandarins eat flatworms. they dont, they decrease the pod pop. thus decreasing the worms. you just notice the decrease after the addition of the madarin. on the other hand, sixline wrasses eat flatworms, but sometimes they have a lot of attitude.
good to know. what else eats pods?

 

[coral head]

Originally Posted by wakeboard3584
http:///forum/post/3026816
good to know. what else eats pods?
Red Scooter Blenny.

 

[big]

Originally Posted by Coral Head
http:///forum/post/3028550
Red Scooter Blenny.
A Diamond Goby is a pod eating machine too.......... I have both a Red Scooter and a DG, with a nearly 50 gallon fuge....... Those two eat them as fast as they can reproduce. I seldom see a pod anymore with these two guys...........The worst is of late I have had a few red flatworms too........

 

[monalisa]

Wow, I'm really glad I decided to post here again today. I've been siphoning every 2-3 days now, and it seems that the fw population is diminishing some...not much, but some.
Question...at what point would it be a good idea to try the fw exit? I don't want to compromise the stability of my tank and critters. Any advice is greatly appreciated.
Lisa

 

[bjlsnez]

are flatworms and bristle worms the same? if so i have a wise man that taught me to build a trap for them that will catch plenty up to 100 or so depending on how many u have in one night! i just put mine in the tank a few mins ago and tomorrow ill see what happens. i use flake food as bait. so far all the critters are curious lol but ill see what happens. disregard the hair algae in the pic its under treatment and on the decline lol i just added another 10 hermits today. well here is the pic of the trap. hope it help out for all our sake.

 

[sbaumann14]

hey lisa, where ya from in WI? also any probs with your coral beauty munchin on things? The GF wants one, but we've heard all the horror stories

 

[big]

Originally Posted by BJLSNEZ
http:///forum/post/3032993
are flatworms and bristle worms the same? if so i have a wise man that taught me to build a trap for them that will catch plenty up to 100 or so depending on how many u have in one night! i just put mine in the tank a few mins ago and tomorrow ill see what happens. i use flake food as bait. so far all the critters are curious lol but ill see what happens. disregard the hair algae in the pic its under treatment and on the decline lol i just added another 10 hermits today. well here is the pic of the trap. hope it help out for all our sake.
No not the same brown or red flatworms can explode in population.
Brissleworms are not such an issue. They can be good clean up helpers if there are not too many. Most the time if there are too many it is from overfeeding..... On the otherhand the flatworms can be an issue. They are small about 1/8 to 1/4 inch. You will find them on the glass and under rocks. Most of the time you can see a sort a fork to the shape on one end. White ones seem to be no problem, but the darker ones may or can be threw overpopulation and covering corals and the such. Check out the sticky threads under New Hobbiest for more info........
As to your Algae problem, cut you lighting way back for a while. It will starve the algae to death. That is better than chemical treatments. Also it will not harm other things in the tank

 

[monalisa]

Originally Posted by sbaumann14
http:///forum/post/3033007
hey lisa, where ya from in WI? also any probs with your coral beauty munchin on things? The GF wants one, but we've heard all the horror stories
Sbaumann,
I'm from about 30 miles north of Madison...in Beaver Dam. I've never had any problems with my coral beauty munching anything she shouldn't...but then, she's pretty advanced for her age

I agree completely with big on the advice regarding bristle vs. flat worms...if it was bristle worms in my tank, I wouldn't be quite as concerned. Ditto on the advice regarding the hair algae as well.
Lisa

 

[sbaumann14]

used to live in Fall River. moved up "Nort" and love it. well, that and the fact I live 5 mins away from "the DR's" and i have friends that work there

 

[monalisa]

Originally Posted by sbaumann14
http:///forum/post/3033362
used to live in Fall River. moved up "Nort" and love it. well, that and the fact I live 5 mins away from "the DR's" and i have friends that work there

That's the first thing I thought of when I noticed that you were from Rhinelander...isn't there also a huge frag swap located in Rhinelander? I think I heard about that from someone.
But I digress...
The flatworm problem is slowly coming under control, so far only with siphoning whenever I can. They're very persistent, but then again, so am I when it comes to my tank and my precious livestock and corals. Little by little....
Lisa

 

[sbaumann14]

yeah, they have one every year, but are going to scale it back to once every two years. hell, giving away all that free stuff can be expensive!! last year they gave away two 180 gal systems (lMH lights, filters, stands...ect), a 150 system, a 90 and a whole bunch of goodies

 

[oceansidefish]

The reddish/brownish/rust colored flat worms are completely photosynthetic. They do not eat pods... A yellow corris wrasse or a Melanarus wrasse will both eat them

 

[rdub62]

Originally Posted by Oceansidefish
http:///forum/post/3044994
The reddish/brownish/rust colored flat worms are completely photosynthetic. They do not eat pods... A yellow corris wrasse or a Melanarus wrasse will both eat them
exactly what i would have said xD.