What is this on my coral? Is it flatworms?

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TheChad

Aquarium Advice FINatic
Joined
Dec 20, 2005
Messages
568
Location
Warrensburg, IL
Hey All,

I got this frogspawn coral a few months back and these brown circles seam to be multiplying, I now see a few of these same brown circles on my Xenias.

l_c3ccedd7d6297773873c22c33985458c.jpg
 
I've dealt with them before... and yeah - those are flatworms. You've got yourself a world class infestation there.

Mine were on my rocks, so I was easily able to suck them out with a siphon hose. That would be the preferred method. Salifert sells "FlatWorm Exit", a chemical that will kill them off. BUT... you want to get as many out as possible first and follow the directions CAREFULLY. As the flatworms die, they'll release a toxin. Enough flatworms dieing is enough to nuke the tank, so you if you're killing them you want to suck them out immediately.
 
I have also used Flatworm Exit. As Kurt said get as many out as you can before using it. Also you want to make sure to follow the directions very closely and have some carbon ready to run after you have treated the tank.
 
Yep they were definitly flat worms. I went to the LFS and bought some flat worm exit, and the second I treated the tank, The flat worms began to vacate all my corals instantly! It was actually pretty neat to watch. They were running for their lives, and falling off the corals.

I plan on doing a 20g water change this afternoon, so that should hopefully take care of any toxins..

how long after the treatment should I run the activated carbon? How long does it take for the flat worms to die? should I re-treat, if so when?

Thanks,

-Chad
 
Suck out any and all worms that are accessible with a siphon hose. Keep as many from dieing in your tank as possible.


Well that's the problem, with the circulation and all my LR, not much is accessible. I could get a few here and there, but the majority of them are scattered around. I took the coral in the picture which is where 90% of them were out and shook it off inside a cup upside down, and 98% of them fell off in the cup, so I'm going to say many 50 or so that I could see foating around the tank...

-TheChad
 
How did your treatment for flatworms go?

Did you lose any fish? also how many times did you have to treat your tank and are they gone. I know it's been a couple of months but any help would be appreciated. Thanks
 
Since we are back on this Thread? How do you even get Flat Worms in your Tanks? What causes that?
 
I am having problems with flatworms. I'm thinking of getting a 6 line or Melanauras Wrasse but I'm worried about my red coco worms. I don't really want to put chemicals in my tank.
 
Flat worms usually get into the tank from something we put in the tank like LR, a new frag that kind of thing.

Flatworm exit is a very good product. I don't like using chemicals either, but it does a very good job. The best suggestion I can make is to siphon as many out during your next PWC. You want to remove as many as you can before you treat your tank. Follow the directions. Make sure to have fresh carbon on hand to run in your system after the treatment. I ended up repeating the process a few days after the first treatment and I haven't seen them since.
 
Since we are back on this Thread? How do you even get Flat Worms in your Tanks? What causes that?

Hitchikers on corals. When I had mine, they came in on my torch. And I recently noticed a couple on my Ricordea that I recently got, but have sucked those off. Haven't seen any since... but I'm sure they're hiding somewhere!
 
Hitchikers on corals. When I had mine, they came in on my torch. And I recently noticed a couple on my Ricordea that I recently got, but have sucked those off. Haven't seen any since... but I'm sure they're hiding somewhere!

Should I be making sure before I buy coral to look and see if there are any Flat Worms on them?
 
Yes, but...

The thing about flatworms is that they don't stay put. If you see some on a coral in a LFS, then most likely they're on other corals too. There's a LFS near me that has a tank full of beautiful zoanthids, but the tank is FULL of flatworms. They're getting a handle on it, but still... no thanks.

Flatworms are the one thing that has made me think twice about possibly doing a preventative dip (iodine) on incoming corals. But for the most part, the LFSs I frequent keep really really clean/healthy tanks so I haven't done it yet.

Looking over corals reaaaallllly good before buying for any type of hitchiker is really good. I've passed over beautiful looking corals that I've really really wanted because I didn't like the look of some of the macro algae hanging off the rock. Granted, I can pluck the algae off before putting it in the tank, but I've learned you can never get it all off. The more I get into this hobby, the more protective I'm finding I get when it comes to putting new things in the tank.
 
Flat worms usually get into the tank from something we put in the tank like LR, a new frag that kind of thing.

Flatworm exit is a very good product. I don't like using chemicals either, but it does a very good job. The best suggestion I can make is to siphon as many out during your next PWC. You want to remove as many as you can before you treat your tank. Follow the directions. Make sure to have fresh carbon on hand to run in your system after the treatment. I ended up repeating the process a few days after the first treatment and I haven't seen them since.

When I did my last couple of pwc's I tried to siphon some out but they seem to cling to the corals I'm using a gravel vac siphon though it never goes near the gravel. Would I be better to just use the tube for siphoning off the flat worms? I even took my elephant ear mushrooms and wiped them off in my drained water it helped a little but they seemed to be stuck pretty good.
 
Yes, but...

The thing about flatworms is that they don't stay put. If you see some on a coral in a LFS, then most likely they're on other corals too. There's a LFS near me that has a tank full of beautiful zoanthids, but the tank is FULL of flatworms. They're getting a handle on it, but still... no thanks.

Flatworms are the one thing that has made me think twice about possibly doing a preventative dip (iodine) on incoming corals. But for the most part, the LFSs I frequent keep really really clean/healthy tanks so I haven't done it yet.

Looking over corals reaaaallllly good before buying for any type of hitchiker is really good. I've passed over beautiful looking corals that I've really really wanted because I didn't like the look of some of the macro algae hanging off the rock. Granted, I can pluck the algae off before putting it in the tank, but I've learned you can never get it all off. The more I get into this hobby, the more protective I'm finding I get when it comes to putting new things in the tank.

Cool, Now I know what to do when I go buy my first coral. :D
 
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