Help ID this stuff.

[JDigital]

So I have noticed these red flakes spreading around the LR rock in my tank. I had thought it might be Red Bugs, but none of my SPS/Acros' have any of these flakes on them, plus I think they are too big to be Red bugs..

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v314/JDigital/redstuff1.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v314/JDigital/redstuff2.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v314/JDigital/redstuff3.jpg

[christyf5]

Well helloooooo flatworms :neutral:

Siphon, siphon, siphon. Then once you've siphoned out most of them you could treat with flatworm exit. Be sure to follow the instructions with a large waterchange and carbon handy.

[JDigital]

Well helloooooo flatworms :neutral:

Siphon, siphon, siphon. Then once you've siphoned out most of them you could treat with flatworm exit. Be sure to follow the instructions with a large waterchange and carbon handy.

Cr*p.... :2gunfire:

Thanks for the bad news... haha!

[christyf5]

Sorry :neutral::wink:

Another approach, which may be more successful long term, is to introduce a wrasse to the tank. I have a haliochoeres wrasse that ate every flatworm in my tank (which was a side benefit as I wasn't adding him for that reason at the time). The little yellow coris wrasses have also been reported to eat them.

[JDigital]

Sorry :neutral::wink:

Another approach, which may be more successful long term, is to introduce a wrasse to the tank. I have a haliochoeres wrasse that ate every flatworm in my tank (which was a side benefit as I wasn't adding him for that reason at the time). The little yellow coris wrasses have also been reported to eat them.

Thanks Christy! Could be a good excuse to pick up the Mystery Wrasse I wanted.. :wink:

Other than being an eye sore in the tank, is there anything else I should be aware of regarding these flatworms.

[Carmen]

Whoa Nasty! Sorry to see that Josh! UGH! Better pick up that Mystery wrasse quick!:wink:

[christyf5]

Thanks Christy! Could be a good excuse to pick up the Mystery Wrasse I wanted.. :wink:

Other than being an eye sore in the tank, is there anything else I should be aware of regarding these flatworms.

LOL, yes flatworms are a great excuse for a mystery wrasse. As long as your SO doesn't see the bill :razz:

So if you do a bit of reading on these suckers, they can release toxins upon death, its a good idea to keep the populations low by siphoning if you don't go for the predator idea. That way when you get sick of them and eventually go for the FWExit you won't have as many to kill or harm the tank when they croak.

[Keri]

+1 on siphoning and natural predation, I had problems with these in the beginning and siphoned out most of them and added a yellow wrasse and scooter blenny and haven't seen one since (knock on wood) I don't know if the scooter helped at all but he was added about the same time as the yellow wrasse and after them they (the FWs) disappeared. I've heard that flatworm exit can work but I've also heard it can crash your tank, I suppose every situation is different.

FABULOUS pics by the way! Do we have a "hitchhiker" sticky here? if so, those pics should DEFINATELY be on there!!

[JDigital]

Yea, I definitely would like to stay away from "prescription" type fixes... I really hate adding that stuff to my tank.. I think a wrasse and siphoning are going to be my first choices, and see how it works out.

Thanks for the quick replies! :biggrin:

[Alberta-newb]

Oh the horror! Your pictures really brought back some bad memories for me. Indeed, jump on this right away and go for a natural approach. I waited far too long on my tank. Since wrasses are a no go for me (I eventually will be getting mandarins) I went with the "chemical warfare" route. Tank is flatworm free for 2 months now (as far as I can see) but I believe it did contribute to the loss of my rabbit fish:sad: The population got really out of control in a matter of a few weeks.

Great photo quality BTW, as Keri said we should create a "bad hitchiker sticky" and include these pics.

Francis

[ColinD]

Yup, add a wrasse, I had a 6 line but it wasn't interested in them, got a Coris held off feeding for a few days to force it to eat the flat worms and its been chowing down on them real good. I also siphon with every water change and I've definitely noticed a huge decrease in the numbers.

Colin

[JDigital]

Yea, I was a dumbass a few days ago and hastily added some Chemi-clean to my system to help with some red slime, not knowing that I needed to shut the skimmer off (DOH!!!) So my tank has been skimmerless for 2 days, I'm prepping for a decent water change today, so hoping to siphon out as much of these flatworms as possible, and going to cut back on feeding (except for nori) in hopes of "forcing" the wrasse I picked up to get to work.

Time for WAR!!! :twised:

Thanks for the comments on the pics.. They are just sorta 2nd nature to me these days.:redface:

[Newtoreef]

I added a mystery wrasse did nothing, no interest at all (very nice to look at though lol). Added peppermint shrimp, they just disappeared. I have added a dragon goby that cleans the sub strait constantly and has cleaned up the sand very nicely. However there are still fw in the tank, its not near as bad as it used to be. I have also dropped my temp to 78 and an keeping my alk high, 11-12. with regular weekly water changes things have come around. good luck and stay away from flat worm exit lost my chevron tang to it, and I followed the instructions to the T. (ie. siphoned all could see, done 25% water change immediately after treating with flatworm exit, and ran carbon!). those buggers are extremely toxic when they die. I can honestly say is was due to poor husbandry practices that I got the problem in the first plc. I was just to busy with work and new baby I had no time. Just have to stay on top your reef keeping schedule.