Please help identify flatworms

ReefWhatYouSow · 12/27/2015, 02:44 PM

So I'm assuming I got these flatworms from the LFS as I just bought a good bunch of coral from them. These corals were dipped twice before going into the tank. Once at the lfs and once at my house. I really want to make sure they aren't AEFW. And yes, you will see a half eaten green slimer but not sure if they are what are it.

What I am hoping is that they aren't detrimental and I can maybe go a more natural way with this (velvet midi ranch). One problem with eradication is that I have a rock wall so it isn't as easy as dipping some corals.

Please let me know your thoughts on both what it is and how to go about fixing it.

Thank you in advance!

ReefWhatYouSow · 12/27/2015, 05:58 PM

Anybody?

shifty51008 · 12/27/2015, 06:00 PM

Pic? What corals did you just buy?

homer1475 · 12/27/2015, 06:44 PM

Pics help.

ReefWhatYouSow · 12/28/2015, 06:25 AM

Sorry. I thought that I loaded them.

I had bought a good amount of acropora mini colonies and fragged than up. Left for the weekend and noticed that I lost half of them. The only thing I saw on them was amphipods. That was in my frag tank.

Now I'm finding them in my DT. And it looks as if there might be two kinds of pest. Little black bugs that look to be the size of pepper, and then these blackish flatworms that you can easily see in the second pic.

Hopefully these will help.

Dkuhlmann · 12/28/2015, 06:45 AM

They look like regular flat worms to me. Do you have a wrasse? If not it would be a good addition to your tank.

ReefWhatYouSow · 12/28/2015, 07:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dkuhlmann

They look like regular flat worms to me. Do you have a wrasse? If not it would be a good addition to your tank.

I actually have a few; McCoskers, Melanarus, Yellow Tail, and just added a Lubbocks and a Exquisite. The only one of these that I know to
Pick at the rocks is the Melanarus. Not sure if he eats flatworms though : /

shifty51008 · 12/28/2015, 07:28 AM

With those pics they are just your standard red planaria. Aefw's will blend into the coral really well and hard to see

ReefWhatYouSow · 12/28/2015, 08:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shifty51008

With those pics they are just your standard red planaria. Aefw's will blend into the coral really well and hard to see

So how bad do things need to be before I use something like flatworm exit to get rid of them?

And is there a good way for me to see the AEFW if there are any?

shifty51008 · 12/28/2015, 08:41 AM

They will even out their numbers depending on how much food their is for them. The lower the nutrients the lower their population will be. If you do use flatworm exit, follow the instructions to the T. Spend a week before hand and syphon out as many as you can everyday before useing it and have carbon ready. But it does work well. In my last tank i knew i had them but sence i kept the nutrients low i hardly ever saw them and they never caused any damage so i left them as they still clean the tank.

To see aefw's you have to look at the acro's very close but you can usually see the outline of them around the dead area's of the acro

shifty51008 · 12/28/2015, 08:42 AM

http://www.melevsreef.com/node/650

C.Eymann · 12/28/2015, 09:11 AM

I would say use flatworm exit sooner rather than later, also use about x2 the amount of carbon that is recommended.

ReefWhatYouSow · 12/28/2015, 01:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by C.Eymann

I would say use flatworm exit sooner rather than later, also use about x2 the amount of carbon that is recommended.

That's what I thought as well. Stop them before they multiply in the tank.

My only hesitation is that I put in three new fish prior to seeing the flatworms. Will the FW exit cause more stress? Should I maybe let them get better acquainted first?

Also... The amount of flatworms I see are not heavy... Yet. Which is good but who knows how many are on the actual rocks. I've only seen them on the frags. I also haven't seen any on the glass.

MondoBongo · 12/28/2015, 01:57 PM

those look like the flatworms i had in my QT system. i tried multiple treatments with FWE with no real long term success.

they finally went away on their when i got the water quality up in that tank. they thrive in dirty water.

ReefWhatYouSow · 12/28/2015, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MondoBongo

those look like the flatworms i had in my QT system. i tried multiple treatments with FWE with no real long term success.

they finally went away on their when i got the water quality up in that tank. they thrive in dirty water.

I have been feeding a little more than normal since adding fish but they had to be brought in from somewhere. I went ahead and pulled out the pieces that I saw groups on. I'll try some manual removal and getting the water quality up as well.

ReefWhatYouSow · 12/28/2015, 02:24 PM

What does everyone think of some natural removal? Maybe a couple velvet nudibranchs?

C.Eymann · 12/28/2015, 02:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReefWhatYouSow

That's what I thought as well. Stop them before they multiply in the tank.

My only hesitation is that I put in three new fish prior to seeing the flatworms. Will the FW exit cause more stress? Should I maybe let them get better acquainted first?

Also... The amount of flatworms I see are not heavy... Yet. Which is good but who knows how many are on the actual rocks. I've only seen them on the frags. I also haven't seen any on the glass.

FW exit itself is not harmful to anything, it's the flatworms themselves that release toxins when they die off.

I have heard of people 1/2 dosing treatment first, then doing a second full dose. Supposedly trying to kI'll them off by fractions and not all at once that can have bad results if the population is large.

Like I said treat now while the problem is small.

shifty51008 · 12/28/2015, 03:01 PM

For every one you see there are a hundred hideing, trust me, when you use the flatworm exit and they start dying you'll see what i mean, that is why it is impotrant to spend a week first getting out as many as you can first.

shifty51008 · 12/28/2015, 03:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ReefWhatYouSow

What does everyone think of some natural removal? Maybe a couple velvet nudibranchs?

They will just keep them in check i doubt they will ever get them all, better water quality is the best option imo.

C.Eymann · 12/28/2015, 03:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by shifty51008

For every one you see there are a hundred hideing, trust me, when you use the flatworm exit and they start dying you'll see what i mean, that is why it is impotrant to spend a week first getting out as many as you can first.

Forgot to mention that, definitely agree. Also run about 2x the recommended amount of carbon, if you don't have one already, get a media reactor to run it in.

CoralBeauty13 · 12/28/2015, 08:20 PM

If you follow my post I have fought these things for years. I tried everything under the sun and it only work a bit, or it was like putting them on steroids. FWE helped a small bit, but after 4 tries I gave up, two of my fish were sick after the doses.. Siphoning was a pain as I had so many.Two years later I went for it and bought a six line wrasse. I did not want any new fish as I have almost all the other wrasse people were talking about and nothing happened

That little guy Kicked major butt. In a few weeks he took out 100's of them. I have just a few now, but he has it under control. He'll pick it right off if he swims by and sees one. I'm so happy now. I have lost so many coral because of that dang thing. DIP DIP DIP. They will wipe your coral out.

ReefWhatYouSow · 12/29/2015, 08:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CoralBeauty13

If you follow my post I have fought these things for years. I tried everything under the sun and it only work a bit, or it was like putting them on steroids. FWE helped a small bit, but after 4 tries I gave up, two of my fish were sick after the doses.. Siphoning was a pain as I had so many.Two years later I went for it and bought a six line wrasse. I did not want any new fish as I have almost all the other wrasse people were talking about and nothing happened

That little guy Kicked major butt. In a few weeks he took out 100's of them. I have just a few now, but he has it under control. He'll pick it right off if he swims by and sees one. I'm so happy now. I have lost so many coral because of that dang thing. DIP DIP DIP. They will wipe your coral out.

Thank you for letting me know your experiences with these guys and what measures you have taken. Luckily, I don't think it is a total infestation. But I can find them in lighter areas of frag plugs which who knows how many are on the "darker" surfaces where I can't see them.

I'm a big proponent of sipping but I'm going to assume that there were gags on one of these corals. I have a friend with a microscopic camera and he inspects everything he buys. If he sees something on it, to the garbage it goes. A lot of work but so is this

I think I'm going to try to do half dose of FWE today to see how many start floating and I'll do a huge water change. And then definitely run the carbon.

In what way did your fish get sick? Did they survive?

shifty51008 · 12/29/2015, 09:18 AM

Deff take it slow, ive never heard of fish getting sick from the FWE but they can depending on how many flatworms die off at a time as they can poision the tank and the tanks oxygen level drops alot. This is why syphoning is very important, just use a 1/4" airline, nothing to big so your not takeing out alot of water or you can run the line in a filter sock to catch the worms and save the water which is what i did.

Last time i used FWE i made sure i was running extra carbon, made sure the skimmer was working good to provide extra o2 and even had a air stone on hand just in case i saw the fish breathing hard.

Take it slow and youll do fine.

ReefWhatYouSow · 12/29/2015, 03:12 PM

Quick update for everyone...

Did about a 50-75% dose on the tank, followed by a 25% water change. I can do another water change this weekend if needed. Let me know if you all think that would be a good thing.

There really weren't as many flatworms floating up as I expected. Some things came up looking like them, and some were just little black dots. I siphoned them all up. You can never be too careful.

Also used twice as much carbon as suggested. Fish are looking good at this time and I will continue to keep my eyes on everything and let you all know my findings.

Thanks again the advice!

12/27/2015, 02:44 PM	#1
ReefWhatYouSow Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Land O Lakes, FL Posts: 1,193	Please help identify flatworms So I'm assuming I got these flatworms from the LFS as I just bought a good bunch of coral from them. These corals were dipped twice before going into the tank. Once at the lfs and once at my house. I really want to make sure they aren't AEFW. And yes, you will see a half eaten green slimer but not sure if they are what are it. What I am hoping is that they aren't detrimental and I can maybe go a more natural way with this (velvet midi ranch). One problem with eradication is that I have a rock wall so it isn't as easy as dipping some corals. Please let me know your thoughts on both what it is and how to go about fixing it. Thank you in advance!

12/27/2015, 06:00 PM	#3
shifty51008 12-5 Chiefs record Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 10,134	Pic? What corals did you just buy? __________________ 75 gal. mixed DT, 100 gal. sump, 50 gal. fuge, Clownfish breeder

12/27/2015, 06:44 PM	#4
homer1475 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: Upstate NY Posts: 5,313	Pics help. __________________ 80G SCA Build: http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2560256 Originally posted by der_wille_zur_macht: "He's just taking his lunch to work"

12/28/2015, 06:45 AM	#6
Dkuhlmann Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 8,823	They look like regular flat worms to me. Do you have a wrasse? If not it would be a good addition to your tank. __________________ Previous tanks: 200 gal fowlr 9" Emperor Angel and many different butterfly fish 4" maroon clown and several other fish, 50 gal sump, 40 gal mixed reef/fish mostly softies and LPS. Current Tank Info: 40b 750 gph 45 lbs lr, 2"-3" sand, 165w full spectrum dimable LED, 20 gal sump/refugium 30 lbs lr, Bak Pak 2 skimmer, 4" sock temp 79-80, sg 1.026, NH3 0, NO2 0, NO3 <10, ph 8.2, calc 400, mag 1300

12/28/2015, 07:28 AM	#8
shifty51008 12-5 Chiefs record Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 10,134	With those pics they are just your standard red planaria. Aefw's will blend into the coral really well and hard to see __________________ 75 gal. mixed DT, 100 gal. sump, 50 gal. fuge, Clownfish breeder

12/27/2015, 05:58 PM	#2
ReefWhatYouSow Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Land O Lakes, FL Posts: 1,193	Anybody?

12/28/2015, 06:25 AM	#5
ReefWhatYouSow Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Land O Lakes, FL Posts: 1,193	Sorry. I thought that I loaded them. I had bought a good amount of acropora mini colonies and fragged than up. Left for the weekend and noticed that I lost half of them. The only thing I saw on them was amphipods. That was in my frag tank. Now I'm finding them in my DT. And it looks as if there might be two kinds of pest. Little black bugs that look to be the size of pepper, and then these blackish flatworms that you can easily see in the second pic. Hopefully these will help.

12/28/2015, 08:41 AM	#10
shifty51008 12-5 Chiefs record Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 10,134	They will even out their numbers depending on how much food their is for them. The lower the nutrients the lower their population will be. If you do use flatworm exit, follow the instructions to the T. Spend a week before hand and syphon out as many as you can everyday before useing it and have carbon ready. But it does work well. In my last tank i knew i had them but sence i kept the nutrients low i hardly ever saw them and they never caused any damage so i left them as they still clean the tank. To see aefw's you have to look at the acro's very close but you can usually see the outline of them around the dead area's of the acro __________________ 75 gal. mixed DT, 100 gal. sump, 50 gal. fuge, Clownfish breeder

12/28/2015, 08:42 AM	#11
shifty51008 12-5 Chiefs record Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 10,134	http://www.melevsreef.com/node/650 __________________ 75 gal. mixed DT, 100 gal. sump, 50 gal. fuge, Clownfish breeder

12/28/2015, 09:11 AM	#12
C.Eymann Cnidaria lover Join Date: Nov 2015 Location: Winterpark FL Posts: 1,483	I would say use flatworm exit sooner rather than later, also use about x2 the amount of carbon that is recommended. __________________ "I glue animals to rocks" Current Tank Info: 80gal build in the works

12/28/2015, 01:57 PM	#14
MondoBongo Obligate Feeder Obsessed Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Pittsburgh, PA Posts: 4,061	those look like the flatworms i had in my QT system. i tried multiple treatments with FWE with no real long term success. they finally went away on their when i got the water quality up in that tank. they thrive in dirty water. __________________ [Citation Needed] "You don't use science to show that you're right, you use science to become right" - xkcd Current Tank Info: A rectangular shaped money pit.

12/28/2015, 02:24 PM	#16
ReefWhatYouSow Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Land O Lakes, FL Posts: 1,193	What does everyone think of some natural removal? Maybe a couple velvet nudibranchs?

12/28/2015, 03:01 PM	#18
shifty51008 12-5 Chiefs record Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 10,134	For every one you see there are a hundred hideing, trust me, when you use the flatworm exit and they start dying you'll see what i mean, that is why it is impotrant to spend a week first getting out as many as you can first. __________________ 75 gal. mixed DT, 100 gal. sump, 50 gal. fuge, Clownfish breeder

12/28/2015, 08:20 PM	#21
CoralBeauty13 Registered Member Join Date: Oct 2013 Posts: 597	If you follow my post I have fought these things for years. I tried everything under the sun and it only work a bit, or it was like putting them on steroids. FWE helped a small bit, but after 4 tries I gave up, two of my fish were sick after the doses.. Siphoning was a pain as I had so many.Two years later I went for it and bought a six line wrasse. I did not want any new fish as I have almost all the other wrasse people were talking about and nothing happened That little guy Kicked major butt. In a few weeks he took out 100's of them. I have just a few now, but he has it under control. He'll pick it right off if he swims by and sees one. I'm so happy now. I have lost so many coral because of that dang thing. DIP DIP DIP. They will wipe your coral out. Last edited by CoralBeauty13; 12/28/2015 at 08:28 PM.

12/29/2015, 09:18 AM	#23
shifty51008 12-5 Chiefs record Join Date: Mar 2010 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 10,134	Deff take it slow, ive never heard of fish getting sick from the FWE but they can depending on how many flatworms die off at a time as they can poision the tank and the tanks oxygen level drops alot. This is why syphoning is very important, just use a 1/4" airline, nothing to big so your not takeing out alot of water or you can run the line in a filter sock to catch the worms and save the water which is what i did. Last time i used FWE i made sure i was running extra carbon, made sure the skimmer was working good to provide extra o2 and even had a air stone on hand just in case i saw the fish breathing hard. Take it slow and youll do fine. __________________ 75 gal. mixed DT, 100 gal. sump, 50 gal. fuge, Clownfish breeder

12/29/2015, 03:12 PM	#24
ReefWhatYouSow Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2014 Location: Land O Lakes, FL Posts: 1,193	Quick update for everyone... Did about a 50-75% dose on the tank, followed by a 25% water change. I can do another water change this weekend if needed. Let me know if you all think that would be a good thing. There really weren't as many flatworms floating up as I expected. Some things came up looking like them, and some were just little black dots. I siphoned them all up. You can never be too careful. Also used twice as much carbon as suggested. Fish are looking good at this time and I will continue to keep my eyes on everything and let you all know my findings. Thanks again the advice!