Pest Control Questions before upgrade

i Tuna · 05/08/2012, 02:04 PM

I'll be upgrading from a 4g pico to a 80g system. I'm encountering a few issues though.

First with bristleworms, 2 so far that I have seen. My 80g system is pretty much cycled, with 0 readings of nitrite, ammonia, phosphate and <10 nitrate using api tests. I used two pieces of Indonesian LR that I had cycling in a plastic trash bin for about two months with some 24watt LED's. I had no heater and even allowed the salinity to reach high levels considering I sometimes forgot to top up that water. Needless to say, I thought everything, good and bad, should have died by then. Apparently not, considering I also saw some feather dusters popping out of the rocks. I can't remove the LR from the system since they are the base to my aquascaping design and are securely in place.

The second issue is that I've been having a flatworm epidemic in my 4g pico. Within the pico I have 1x birdsnest,2x ricodia florida, 20x ricordia yuma, 2x discosoma sp., 3 different goniopora species,2x gsp,1x xenia and 1x montipora. I also have a yellow watchman goby, a pistol shrimp, a turbo snail and a blue legged hermit. Needless to say, it is packed. I've had the pico running for 4 months now, growth has been slow, but that istonbe expected considering my powerhead that led to the filter had just stopped working on me at month 3. That is the point in which the flatworms really took over. I've been doing water changes twice weekly of about 1.5 liters, and syphoning out a good 30-50 each time, but they just keep multiplying and I've only made a tiny dent to their overall population.

My question is, how am I supposed to get rid of these flatworms before I move my coral and everything into my 80g. I cant have a sixline in the pico obviously, so what other options do I have that are also "reef safe"?

Also, how should I go about getting rid of the bristleworms without tearing the 80g apart?

Thanks in advance, TuNa.

MattyO · 05/08/2012, 03:16 PM

Bristle worms r not a problem most of the time, it's Euclid worms or something close to that spelling that are bad.

Get flat worm exit for the pico. It will be tricky cause the worms give off toxins when they die so you need carbon to take that out. In s small system like yours I am not sure how u could add the carbon.

You can also set up a hospital tank, 10-15 gallons which should give u enough room to move everything from the pico in and then treat.

05/08/2012, 02:04 PM	#1
i Tuna Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Kuwait Posts: 154	Pest Control Questions before upgrade I'll be upgrading from a 4g pico to a 80g system. I'm encountering a few issues though. First with bristleworms, 2 so far that I have seen. My 80g system is pretty much cycled, with 0 readings of nitrite, ammonia, phosphate and <10 nitrate using api tests. I used two pieces of Indonesian LR that I had cycling in a plastic trash bin for about two months with some 24watt LED's. I had no heater and even allowed the salinity to reach high levels considering I sometimes forgot to top up that water. Needless to say, I thought everything, good and bad, should have died by then. Apparently not, considering I also saw some feather dusters popping out of the rocks. I can't remove the LR from the system since they are the base to my aquascaping design and are securely in place. The second issue is that I've been having a flatworm epidemic in my 4g pico. Within the pico I have 1x birdsnest,2x ricodia florida, 20x ricordia yuma, 2x discosoma sp., 3 different goniopora species,2x gsp,1x xenia and 1x montipora. I also have a yellow watchman goby, a pistol shrimp, a turbo snail and a blue legged hermit. Needless to say, it is packed. I've had the pico running for 4 months now, growth has been slow, but that istonbe expected considering my powerhead that led to the filter had just stopped working on me at month 3. That is the point in which the flatworms really took over. I've been doing water changes twice weekly of about 1.5 liters, and syphoning out a good 30-50 each time, but they just keep multiplying and I've only made a tiny dent to their overall population. My question is, how am I supposed to get rid of these flatworms before I move my coral and everything into my 80g. I cant have a sixline in the pico obviously, so what other options do I have that are also "reef safe"? Also, how should I go about getting rid of the bristleworms without tearing the 80g apart? Thanks in advance, TuNa.

05/08/2012, 03:16 PM	#2
MattyO Registered Member Join Date: Jul 2011 Location: Long Island Posts: 800	Bristle worms r not a problem most of the time, it's Euclid worms or something close to that spelling that are bad. Get flat worm exit for the pico. It will be tricky cause the worms give off toxins when they die so you need carbon to take that out. In s small system like yours I am not sure how u could add the carbon. You can also set up a hospital tank, 10-15 gallons which should give u enough room to move everything from the pico in and then treat. __________________ ~300G System, 180+ 90 plumbed to 75G Sump.. in the making