stupid question????

[cathy joe]

i know this question has been ask before and i know people that have delt with them. what does flat worms do to your tank. and how would you sugest getting rid of them? how did i get them, i have had my tank for almost 2 years, never had this problem before. the only thing i added to my tank is a sea apple that attatched its self to a rock from the fish store, and after it moved off the rock i took the rock back to the lfs.

 

[dburr]

You got them from that rock. All you need is water contact and bam, you got worms.
Most of FW are harmless but look bad when you have thousands in your tank.
I got rid of them with Flat Worm Exit by Salifert. I dosed twice with the fist dose being 1.5X the recommended on the box.
HTH

 

[cathy joe]

will killing the flat worms harm anything else in my tank. a friend of mine use some chemicle to kill his flat worm and it also killed all his recordias. but i could leave them in there and nothing will be harmed. the only problem is they dont look good. is there anything that will eat them

 

[crazyzeus1]

Velvet Nudibranch will eat Flatworms. From another website:
Eats flatworms (Planaria), an eyesore to the marine aquarium that eventually becomes plague proportions. These flatworms will quickly cover all the live rock in the aquarium and spread rapidly throughout the aquarium. Nearly impossible to get rid of without using harmful chemicals in the reef aquarium that are detremental to fish and corals. According to Julian Sprung, The Reef Aquarium, Vol. 2, Velvet Nudibranch literally suck them up like a vacuum. Though some mandarins will eat flatworms, it's a hit and miss kind of thing. The only thing which works everytime is the velvet nudibranch. The only thing these creatures eat are flatworms and they will absolutely devour them.
Never had one in my tank (Nudi), but maybe that will work///

 

[rubberduck]

try turning your ights off for at least a week maybe 2 to get rid of them if your serious, this will hurt corall so it probley wont be ideal for your tank, also like he said nuds eat them ut the change of buying one is low due to lack of market/low life span/ and specific diet, mandrins are very needy so dont buy them only for consuming flatworms so will eat them some wont, you can always just squirt them off the rock but that is temperary, fresh water dip works great from what i heard but could cause problems with coral on the rock and they will probly eventually grow back, make sure you are careful with the chemicals as some are bocus and could invole harmful chem. try to use a brand you know will work, after alll the trouble you could get into make sure you REALY want them gone, then pick your method wisly, my 2 cents
travis

 

[crazyzeus1]

Originally Posted by RUBBERDUCK
try turning your ights off for at least a week maybe 2 to get rid of them if your serious, this will hurt corall so it probley wont be ideal for your tank, also like he said nuds eat them ut the change of buying one is low due to lack of market/low life span/ and specific diet, mandrins are very needy so dont buy them only for consuming flatworms so will eat them some wont, you can always just squirt them off the rock but that is temperary, fresh water dip works great from what i heard but could cause problems with coral on the rock and they will probly eventually grow back, make sure you are careful with the chemicals as some are bocus and could invole harmful chem. try to use a brand you know will work, after alll the trouble you could get into make sure you REALY want them gone, then pick your method wisly, my 2 cents
travis

I'm a "she"

 

[rubberduck]

Originally Posted by crazyzeus1
I'm a "she"

lol what do u stalk this thread, u rezsponded in like 2 min

plz forgive i forgot, i know it says godESS but it was ZUES a male, :thinking:
plz forgive
ps. i think the info was valid though

 

[kaholic]

I recently just went through this. If you use Sailfert FW Exit, make sure you run carbon and do a water change. Especially if it's a small system. The FW Exit is harmless but the worms excrete massive doses of iodine when they die and will harm or kill your inhabitants if you aren't careful. My water actually started turning yellow from the die-off but I got it under control with the carbon and doing a water change. And heed the warning on the box about underestimating how many you may have. There can be tons hiding in tiny little crevices. Rabbits don't have anything on flatworms as far as reproduction.

 

[cathy joe]

been thinking of using the chemicle, but i am affraid to use it. ran a search on flat worms on saltwaterfish.com and they say that a banded coral shrimp and an arrow crab will eat flat worms also. has anyone seen this