red flatworms

[Brandon2122]

how do you get them out of your tank??? I have a mixed reef tank and it is 75g:uzi:

[Whisperer]

Melanurus wrasse, had plenty of red flatworms in one of my two tanks, so many that I was afraid to even touch the water. There is not a single flatworm in the display tank now. I have to place a ball of chaetomorpha from the sump to feed them some flatworms.

[hollister]

If its on a confined rock then a 30 sec fresh water dip worked for me.

[Brandon2122]

i have them in the sand bed.. I have a six-line wrasse so I can add another one.. you can see them between the glass and the sand bed

[hollister]

In a 75 gallon tank then 7 fish would be your limit and with so many fish to choose from 2 would get boring unless you dont get attatched to them and then trading one after problem solved then go for it.

BUT its not 100% they will eat them. I would remove any i see before it gets much worse.They love coral and SPS most if not mistaken.

[clydog]

a christmas wrasse has taken care of mine....it took a month or 2 though

[capt85]

Yellow "coris" wrasse but it took about 3 months.

[Whisperer]

I would not add another wrass if you have 6 line. My 6-line ended up carpet surfing because he was so aggressive, constatly chasing the melanurus. He probably miscalculated and went airbound on one of the chases.

[gweston]

I once introduced a new coral (that I used a coral cleaner on) to my tank. I got red planaria (flatworms). A combo of my 6-line wrasse, daily siphoning, and manual removal/cleaning of the coral did the trick.

I got lucky though. The planaria remained mostly isolated to the coral itself. A few wandered off to the nearby liverock, but I siphoned them up. It took a few weeks, but eventually they were all gone.

If your tank becomes absolutely infested and you have exhausted other options. I'd suggest a combination of siphoning, followed by Flatworm Exit. That med is pricy, but it works. Before going that route though, read up on it's use. It kills flatworms. Dead flatworms release toxins, so it should always be paired with a big water change and running carbon.

With flatworms. If you see one, there are probably another 100+ you can't see.

[Brandon2122]

Will the flatworm exit hurt my corals???

[James77]

Will the flatworm exit hurt my corals???

Not directly no, but if their are too many worms, the toxins they release can wipe out a tank. There have to be alot for that to happen. Have alot of carbon and a large water change on hand. If there are a ton, swish them off rocks in a bucket, or siphon them using a tube going to your sump with a net tied to it.

I would not use it again IME. Yes, it wiped out the flat worms, as well as any pods I have seen, or the asterina starfish that I liked seeing (in the hundreds) all over the glass. As a last resort, maybe, but look into wrasses or other natural control. If it fails, sell the fish and try another if you cant keep it.