So apparently I imported some flatworms recently...

psimitry · 10/31/2007, 08:24 PM

So yeah. Apparently when I bought some snails recently, I managed to import some flatworms along with them (kinda came outta nowhere - one day, I'd never seen them before, today they're on the glass).

Looking at Melev's ID page, they appear to be the acropora eating type. If this is the case, I'm not concerned about them, as I have no acropora in my tank. And as far as I can tell, they should starve themselves out in not too long a period, yes?

This is a (bad) artist' representation of what they look like: (the arrow is the direction in which they move)

Can someone confirm what I'm dealing with?

Edit: I tried to get a macro photo of one, but they're just too darned small. Like maybe a millimeter.

seapug · 10/31/2007, 09:36 PM

good flatworm drawing.... I've never had a problem with them (fingers crossed) but I've seen some tanks that were overrun. Last time I went to a local LFS one of their frag tanks was completely infested. There were so many they almost looked like coralline algae. Once I realized what they were I decided maybe buying there that day wasn't such a good idea....LOL

audio101 · 10/31/2007, 11:12 PM

The Same thing is happening with my lfs frag tank, 2 weeks ago I noticed a few on some of their new corals and so I went back the other day and saw hundreds of them covering every part of the tank.

psimitry · 10/31/2007, 11:28 PM

The question is then, what are they feeding on? In theory, they could reproduce all they want and eventually the entire population would starve, but I wouldn't think that they would be capable of reproducing without some sort of food supply going on...

Frick-n-Frags · 11/01/2007, 04:04 PM

they could be those boom-n-bust clearish ones that show up for a while, then starve out and die.

usually host-specific stuff is found near a host, especially several.
If those came out of a new batch of acro heads, then I'd be thinking acro FW too.

10/31/2007, 08:24 PM	#1
psimitry Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Phoenix Posts: 1,560	So apparently I imported some flatworms recently... So yeah. Apparently when I bought some snails recently, I managed to import some flatworms along with them (kinda came outta nowhere - one day, I'd never seen them before, today they're on the glass). Looking at Melev's ID page, they appear to be the acropora eating type. If this is the case, I'm not concerned about them, as I have no acropora in my tank. And as far as I can tell, they should starve themselves out in not too long a period, yes? This is a (bad) artist' representation of what they look like: (the arrow is the direction in which they move) Can someone confirm what I'm dealing with? Edit: I tried to get a macro photo of one, but they're just too darned small. Like maybe a millimeter. Last edited by psimitry; 10/31/2007 at 08:31 PM.

10/31/2007, 09:36 PM	#2
seapug Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: 4980 ft. Posts: 7,954 Blog Entries: 1	good flatworm drawing.... I've never had a problem with them (fingers crossed) but I've seen some tanks that were overrun. Last time I went to a local LFS one of their frag tanks was completely infested. There were so many they almost looked like coralline algae. Once I realized what they were I decided maybe buying there that day wasn't such a good idea....LOL __________________ insert clever saying here. Current Tank Info: 200 gallon custom Marineland DD peninsular tank. LPS dominated mixed reef. Previous 90 gallon mixed reef TOTM April 2009.

11/01/2007, 04:04 PM	#5
Frick-n-Frags Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2000 Location: north central OH Posts: 10,740	they could be those boom-n-bust clearish ones that show up for a while, then starve out and die. usually host-specific stuff is found near a host, especially several. If those came out of a new batch of acro heads, then I'd be thinking acro FW too. __________________ Only Dead fish swim with the current. Current Tank Info: 2 50 gal tanks, sump, still BB

10/31/2007, 11:12 PM	#3
audio101 Moved On Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Napa, CA Posts: 1,091	The Same thing is happening with my lfs frag tank, 2 weeks ago I noticed a few on some of their new corals and so I went back the other day and saw hundreds of them covering every part of the tank.

10/31/2007, 11:28 PM	#4
psimitry Registered Member Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Phoenix Posts: 1,560	The question is then, what are they feeding on? In theory, they could reproduce all they want and eventually the entire population would starve, but I wouldn't think that they would be capable of reproducing without some sort of food supply going on...