Flat Worms

[SWSaltwater]

I had a grow tank develop a red flatworm issue after I purchased some coral from a local person. I threw in 10 velvet nudibranchs and within minutes I observed flat worms running for dear life and the nudis slurping them down. Second time I have had to use them and man it a cool behavior to observe. Olin you might want to come by and get pics since I know about your nudibranch addiction.

[Pinksteel]

thats really interesting. I don't have a flatworm problem anymore, but just out of curiosity, would you say that a healthy population of these nudi's can clean out a whole tanks worth of flatworms?

[olin]

Very cool Rob! I'll definitely come by- thanks for the offer! Good news about getting those flatworms chomped.

[SWSaltwater]

I was only able to find 10 in LA, not sure how long it might take, but the one I observed last night was eating em pretty quickly. I only saw one in the tank today so I am pretty sure they will come out later. From the looks of it they were eating all night.

[superman1013]

Do you guys know what these spots on the top right mushroom is? Are they also flatworms? Any response is appreciated...


http://img459.imageshack.us/img459/112/unknown3cv.jpg

[fishaholic911]

They look like flatworms to me

[SWSaltwater]

Yes they are, they are really only an eyesore as I have never seen a coral directy affected by them. But if they explode in population it really makes the tank ugly. Most mushrooms I see in LA have flat worms in them. Best policy is to dip all mushrooms when adding to a home tank.

[superman1013]

What do you mean by "dip"? In fresh water? Sry for asking, just a beginner at keeping saltwater tank.

[SWSaltwater]

Usually a reef dip product or just concentrated iodine dip(lugols) for 15 mins or so will do. You can also run a QT tank for extra protection.

[superman1013]

Thanks for the info...

[cerreta]

Lugols dip works well for zoos, but not necessary for flatworms. I bought some loose shrooms today and almost all of them had flatworms. These are the same flatworms that you have pictured.

Mike, that species is considered to be parasitic.

I did some reading today and found a recipe in The Reef Aquarium Vol 1. It recommends doing a FW dip for 15 seconds. The FW will cause the flatworms to immediately detach.

Here is the procedure I followed today.
1. Prepare a small container with a liter of FW. You will need to add pH buffer (baking soda will do) to raise the pH up to 8.2 or so. I used 1 tsp Salifert pH / KH Buffer. You also need to adjust the water temp to match that of the aquarium.

2. Prepare two small containers with aquarium water. One should have a tight fitting lid. If you get these from a store and wish to FW dip before putting them in the tank, just treat the bag of shrooms as container number one.

3. Now, line up the three containers. First is the aquarium water with lid. Next is FW, last is aquarium water with no lid.

4. Remove infected corals (this flatworm is usually found on mushroom anemones) place in container one and shake vigorously for 10 seconds. Many flatworms will dislodge.

Next, move to FW dip and swirl the water for 15 seconds. You can see little red blotches in the water. All the flatworm I had seemed to come off right away.

Now, remove the corals and rinse them in container number three, then move them back to the main tank.



This method works well when you can remove the coral from the tank. The nudibranchs seem to be a better solution for larger pieces of coral or rock that cannot be removed.

Good Luck.

[superman1013]

Thanks Scott, I will definitely be on the look out the next time I add anything to the tank.

Other than the nudibranch, anyone had experience with "Flatworm Exit" treatment?

[SWSaltwater]

FW dips are ok for shrooms IMO, but I don't have the guts to try it on more sensitive corals.

[GreenBabe5]

The above steps 1.2.3 worked great, I found this post last night when my metallic green mushroom i had just bought had redish brown spots on them,, thank god i caught them before i opened the bag. Well i did the three steps and poof, no more flatworms, they all fell off in seconds and the mushrooms are doing perfectly fine.

[cerreta]

cool! Glad that worked for ou too.

Does anyone recall the recipe for a Lugols dip solution used for dipping zooanthids?

[frontosa_man80]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7395288#post7395288 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cerreta
Lugols dip works well for zoos, but not necessary for flatworms......


do you mean Lugols will work when dipping zoo's but not mushrums to get rid of flat worms?

-jesse

[cerreta]

do you mean Lugols will work when dipping zoo's but not mushrums to get rid of flat worms?

No, I am not stating this. Lugols may work fine, but I have not tested it. Furthermore, it is simply uneccessary since a simple FW dip works effectively.

I believe it unecessary to use chemicals when not warranted.

I know that Lugols will cause death to some corals, since it is an Iodine solution. Some corals, like green star polyps can not tolerate this form of iodine, whereas it has no problem with iodate.

Therefore, why risk injury to the mushrooms corals? Besides, the 15second dip in FW did not even cause the mushrooms to produce a mucous string. It was simple, fast and 100% potent at removing a medium/small infestation of these flatworms.

[frontosa_man80]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7462323#post7462323 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by cerreta
No, I am not stating this. Lugols may work fine, but I have not tested it. Furthermore, it is simply uneccessary since a simple FW dip works effectively.

I believe it unecessary to use chemicals when not warranted.

I know that Lugols will cause death to some corals, since it is an Iodine solution. Some corals, like green star polyps can not tolerate this form of iodine, whereas it has no problem with iodate.

Therefore, why risk injury to the mushrooms corals? Besides, the 15second dip in FW did not even cause the mushrooms to produce a mucous string. It was simple, fast and 100% potent at removing a medium/small infestation of these flatworms.

i was just asking because i never dipped anything in lugols so i want some more info.thanks

-jesse

[cerreta]

no problem. Hope the info was useful. I am now convinced to dip all new additions to the tank. It is safe and is a better alternative than spreading disease through a tank.