Flatworms

[Rpbustillo]

I just recently have discovered these flatworms in my sump, can anyone ID and let me know if they are going to be a problem.



This is the best picture I could get, worms are a real clear tan color with a darker spot in the center.

 

[carey]

Yep, I can see them, I am very familiar with them unfortunately....

If they are that abundant IN the sump I can almost guarantee there are a zillion more in the tank itself.

I would for sure keep an eye on the display tank and go from there. You can and should suck up the ones you can see at your next water change cause those guys will spread like wildfire, even more so in a well fed tank. If they spread into the main tank you have only a few options...one, to leave them be and limit your feedings and keep their numbers down or Two, dose with flatworm exit.
If you do decide to dose, I can't stress enough to FOLLOW the instructions to the tee!!!! I had more than Ii thought in my 125g and dosed a half dose and didnt run enough carbon afterwards and killed HALF the fish in my tank. I know better too but it still happened. :-( You would have to suck up as many as you can see, dose it and then run alot of carbon after like an hour or so. Then maybe a water change in addition. The chemical they emit when they die is lethal to fish, extremely deadly. Not to scare you but I want you to be careful. I had used it a half dozen times in other tanks with no ill effects, but the last time was a tragedy.

 

[Rpbustillo]

Thanks for the reply Carey, are there any fish/inverts that would help me keep them in check?

 

[carey]

Wrasses eat flatworms. To avoid any issues I added a melanurus wrasse into my 180g just in case I ever get them again.

But yeah, a wrasse would be safer than adding the flatworm exit, thats my opinion, I may be a little jaded as I lost 5 fish using it, BUT it was my error in the end not the products fault.

 

[Rpbustillo]

I prefer not to add any chems/meds into my tanks, would a 6line work? I've always wanted one just haven't ever picked one up.

 

[carey]

I believe a sixline would eat them, I'd say I am 90% sure of it anyways. lol

Yeah, I prefer not adding things like chemicals but sometimes its the easiest and quickest way to solve an immediate issue. Doesnt always fix things long term but sometimes a band aid is good enough til you can get the issue addressed.

This would be a great time to tell you that you should use a coral dip before adding any corals, I do it and have not had an issue like flatworms since. I use coral rx or revive, they smell like pine sol but all sorts of little buggers come out after being dipped. Overall the flatworms you have a pretty harmless BUT they will multiply and soon could coat everything in the tank like I had.

 

[Rpbustillo]

So far I haven't seen any in my DT only the sump, I've read that flatworm exit can kill a pod population. Did you have a problem with that when you used it?

 

[carey]

Cant say I noticed. I do know that those mini serpent stars that everyone has do not like it one bit. They all come out and spaz out, some died and some didn't.

 

[Rpbustillo]

Ok, I'm just worried about my mandarin I'm pretty sure she does not eat frozen food so she would starve if my pod population drastically declined.

 

[carey]

Ahh I see... I would ask around and see, that is if you go that route. My mandarin ate frozen so I never had any issue using the flatworm exit with her in the tank.

 

[Rpbustillo]

Gotcha thanks

 

[Lloydxmas]

The other problem here by adding a wrasse they will out compete the Mandarin for pods and it will slowly starve.

 

[Rpbustillo]

Well I guess what I'll do is take some airline tubing and try to remove what I see to keep them under control. I don't see any in my DT yet, hopefully I can manually remove them. Will a freshwater dip remove them off of corals?

 

[carey]

You can dip the corals in coral dip, that should get the majority of them off.....

I totally forgot about the mandarin, yes, the wrasse will eat the pods too. Not the best solution, sorry I forgot to mention that