Flat worm

[Renegade]

It appears that i have a case of flatworms in my refug.

http://www.wetwebmedia.com/flatworms.htm

they are the Amphiscolops sp.

clear type that only have a small white-ISH spot near the head.

I can isolate my refugium if needed but whats your guys opinion ?

Kyle

[fishface]

why do anything at all?? as the article you linked to says:

Amphiscolops sp., a harmless acoel that "shows up" at times in reef tanks. i noticed a while back i had them as well so out i went to get "flatworm exit". then instead of dosing, i decided to watch and see what happens instead...nothing really, still see a few around every now and then but it's not really an issue IMO. they don't really seem that evil...

[christyf5]

Odds are the population will crash on its own. I don't know whether flatworm exit will get the job done but you could always test it out on a batch of flatworms.

In the meantime, you can siphon out any you see. As the article says, they are pretty much harmless yet still not something most people want in their tank.

[adidas]

come take a look in my tank if you think they won't spread much and just die off ;) lol

[DJKoop]

I had a population burst of those as well. Never any harm came to my tank with them in there. Mine seemed to prefere staying on the glass or close to it. Used a strong 36x magnifier to watch them and they ate algae. After a few months the population crashed and now I rarely see one.

[BCOrchidGuy]

Wont a 6 line Wrasse eat them?

Doug

[Borderjumper]

My 6 line wrass wiped them all out in less than a week.:biggrin:

[kwirky]

My 6 line wrass wiped them all out in less than a week.:biggrin:

I have two and they won't touch flatworms :neutral:

[Borderjumper]

I hear its hit and miss with 6 line wrasses. I guess I got a keeper.:mrgreen:

[Delphinus]

I had the clear ones too once. All they ever did was eat algae off the glass. Fearing they would become a nuisance I added a sixline wrasse. The population eventually crashed. These were not the coloured ones that you can easily see, they were very small and translucent. Basically the same ones you're talking about (Joel- unfortunately I think you have a different kind :( )

Anyhow, mine only lasted a few months. Whether it was the sixline or not I can't say. I never saw him eat the flatworms so it's possible it's just coincidence.

Fast forward 4-5 years, I still have the sixline and he's now a bit of a holy terror (they're not as nice when they're adult as they are when they're juvenile). So be careful about sixlines.. don't have docile tankmates that have to share their food source (mandarins, dragonets, other wrasses, etc.).

[adidas]

There was even a flatworm on my rabbit today!!

i'm buying a yellow coris wrasse to pig out on them.

[Bartman]

I had the regular red flatworms and my Royal Gramma slowly ate them.