Brown flat worm help?

[nakadoc]

Well, I now have a brown flat worm problem never new what those things were until I read someones post. My question is how do I get rid of them? It is way to much to just sit there and pick them out one by one. Someone told me manderins eat them? I have never heard of that on before, is this true? If anyone knows of something that can take care of them please let me know, they have not eatin any corals YET and I want to keep it that way. Thanks

 

[alyssia]

Mandarins won't eat them. I would try Flatworm Exit.

 

[puffer32]

I used flat worm exit and it worked well for me. I sucked out as many as i could with a baster, used it, sucked out the dead ones, then did a large water change.

 

[fender]

I had good luck with a leopard wrasse. Ate them like they were going out of style, but it is hit or miss with them.

 

[candycane]

Go read about Flatworm exit before making any decisions. There could be hundreds of them around your tank. Other may only have them on live rock and sand. The flatworm exit is not the problem, it's the "juices" from the dying worms in the process. I tried flatworm exit several of times. Any fish on the planet is pretty much hit or miss, some people get lucky, while others fishes ignore them completely. I had to run carbon and change it out every 40 minutes. After all of this I ended up just breaking down and getting a blue velvet nudibranch. Hopefully you have several of people that you can pass it on to.
However these nudibranchs are EXTREMELY effective. The can reach near anywhere in you tank and just suck them up like a vacum cleaner.

 

[lion_crazz]

Flatworm exit is bad news, in my opinion.
I just sucked them out every time I did a water change on my tank. They were gone in a matter of weeks.

 

[candycane]

Yeah they seem to pop up if you get stronger lighting or feed your tank to much. Annoying little things. They can actually cut off the light source to corals when they get big enough.

 

[alyssia]

Originally Posted by candycane
Go read about Flatworm exit before making any decisions. There could be hundreds of them around your tank. Other may only have them on live rock and sand. The flatworm exit is not the problem, it's the "juices" from the dying worms in the process. I tried flatworm exit several of times. Any fish on the planet is pretty much hit or miss, some people get lucky, while others fishes ignore them completely. I had to run carbon and change it out every 40 minutes. After all of this I ended up just breaking down and getting a blue velvet nudibranch. Hopefully you have several of people that you can pass it on to.
However these nudibranchs are EXTREMELY effective. The can reach near anywhere in you tank and just suck them up like a vacum cleaner.

But after the nudis eat all the flatworms they starve to death.

 

[tizzo]

Nudi's are nice, but you hafta nudi proof your tank. They can get sucked in the powerheads, skimmer, filter etc... They "fly". I tried the nudi... I think I had him for about 3 hours.

Then I tried the mandarin and for me that was also a miss...
Then I sucked them out with the baster and did the flatworm exit treatment... gone. All of them. If you do it right, and have the carbon on hand as the directions suggest, then it should work well.
After that I dipped every single new coral purchase in a FE bath before putting it in my tank. Ended up being a good idea...
I swear, when I started this dip, I had no idea that these coral pieces had flatworms.

 

[crox]

Very impressive Tizzo. I have to consider my self lucky that I never received a shippment with flatworms!!

 

[candycane]

That makes me wanna FREAKIN PUKE!!!
I just tried Flatworm Exit so many times. If it works the first time, then do some kartwheels in your backyard. Thing is though, that if you don't get them the first time - which flatworm exit does NOT kill the eggs (from what my understanding is) they build an immunity. You DON'T want to sell your house to kill the flatworms. Because the stuff is expensive. Much more expensive then some filter pad.

 

[tizzo]

Originally Posted by Crox
Very impressive Tizzo. I have to consider my self lucky that I never received a shippment with flatworms!!
It wasn't a shipment, it was more of a rescue. A friend of mine had the coral and had no idea why it wasn't thriving. He thought it was his lights so he gave it to me. Here's his thread, the pics are gone cause the thread is old, but you get the picture...haha, pun!
https://forums.saltwaterfish.com/t/133502/frogspawn-hammer
I always had to add more than the directions indicate, but it's worked well for me.

 

[viet-tin]

This is the reason why I dip and qt all coral before they enter my tank. Although the flatworms are generally harmless, if their population gets outa control then they can smoother coral. Flatworm exit works well if you use it properly. These little brown guys are nothing compared to the acro eating flat worms...A buddy of mine whos tank inspired my own has lost basically all his prized acro colonies. I have had my share of bad hitchkikers as well...red acro bugs and those guys are bad news as well. The best way to fight these guys is prevention. I would suggest the flatworm exit and syphon all the dead fws out as they are toxic. Ive never had luck with mandarins eating them but sixline wrasses do ok and so far the best choice for fw I would say is the green tail spot wrasse

 

[candycane]

Notice how the fish keep changing? that will happen as long as this post is running. There is no single fish that is even 50% guaranteed to eat flatworms. Flatworm Exit turns the flatworms into poision - risky no? I don't care how many flatworms are in there. BEST form of eradication is natural. That is good water care, waiting it out and lower nutrient levels. Along with a blue velvet nudibranch.
That picture still make me wanna FREAKIN PUKE!!!!

 

[viet-tin]

Flatworm exit isnt as bad as it seems. Just run carbon and syphon out the dead ones. You shouldnt even have to bother with these guys if you prevent them from getting in. The blue velvet nudibranch is an excellent choice for eradication but also have a short lifespan and will starve after all flatworms are gone. Best way and safest way is prevention.

 

[poniegirl]

Originally Posted by candycane
Notice how the fish keep changing? that will happen as long as this post is running. There is no single fish that is even 50% guaranteed to eat flatworms.
That picture still make me wanna FREAKIN PUKE!!!!
I have to agree with the first statement, but disagree with the second.
Some in the fairy wrasse family from experience, cigar wrasse from experience, and I have heard sixlines as well, do eat flatworms. They are carnivorous fish, and mine are avid hunters.
If you have room and like wrasse fish....

 

[candycane]

Do you know what family they are? What about vision capablities?
The family that the sixline is in, Pseudocheilinus, have eyes that are like microscopes mounted on a fish. They eat them by choice, because they may not have anything else to eat. The other family, Cirrhilabrus, eat them mainly by chance. They see something small crawling around, and they eat. Their pallet is not that heightened, so they can't really tell what it is. It's a 50/50 chance that the fish will eat them.

 

[nakadoc]

WOW! alot of good info and I think I am going to try and get out as much as possible and then maybe will use the flatworm exit. Not to sure yet. I got to really looking today and I have a really bad problem so I need to get on this before it really gets out of control. thanks for all the responses.

 

[poniegirl]

Originally Posted by candycane
Do you know what family they are? What about vision capablities?
The fairy wrasse was cirrhilabrus. The cigars are hologymnosus. I don't know vision capabilities of the cigars, but my guess would be that their vision is outstanding.

 

[scoobs]

Yea..If you look at my tank pics i have these things every where.. came from a LFS.. I had no idea what they was at the time i got the star poylps.. then about 2 weeks later i had them every where so i found out they were flat worms.. AND MY LFS STILL HAS THEM EVERYWHERE.. anyway I am going to get a nudi and hope they can keep enough of a population for the nudi to live.. Even if they dont it will be well worth the 30 bucks to get rid of them