flatworms-good or bad?

[darthmatt]

I have been searching past threads on flatworms and really didn't get any useful info. My question is, why are the red ones so bad and the white ones are safe? What is the difference? I have noticed quite a few white ones, will they get on my fish?
Any info to clear this up would be great. matt

 

[pyro]

I think (not sure though, just a thought) it's just an in general rule of thumb. The bad ones are normally the red ones and vice versa. Don't think their color actually has anything to do with it.

 

[bang guy]

The White ones eat Copepods and other invert larvae which is a bad thing but they rarely get to plague proportions because of food limitations.
The Red ones are mostly photosynthetic so if you're tank has light then there's nothing to stop their population growth. They often get to the point where they cover every square inch of exposed rock and it's pretty unsightly.

 

[jimlssc24]

Wow Bang!
I didn't know that the white ones eat pods! Great information. What about the ones that are light green?

 

[thomas712]

Originally posted by Bang Guy
The Red ones are mostly photosynthetic so if you're tank has light then there's nothing to stop their population growth. They often get to the point where they cover every square inch of exposed rock and it's pretty unsightly.
The man is absolutly correct. I am one that has had them in plauge proportion, they split by fission and seem to be completly immortal. It really gets to be a nuisance when you see your hermits, snails and live rock absolutly covered by them. If there is a large population in your tank and a good percentage die then you have a toxic problem as well. The toxins of the dieing flatworms can kill fish and corals. I have a candy cane coral that is recovering from such a massive die off of the red flatworms.
This is also one reason that I run carbon 24/7.
Thomas