Killing flatworms in live rock

[christyf5]

Hey guys,
So as most of you know I got all new live rock and sort of restarted my system (really bad hair algae problem that I just couldn't deal with anymore as well as moving to a new house). Anyway, the old live rock that I had was absolutely covered in hair algae. I put it in a rubbermaid tub with a powerhead and a heater and all of my cleanup crew (I really didn't know what to do with them during the cycle). Anyway, I just sort of left it to do its own thing hoping that the algae would just die. Well it did. Either that or the cleanup crew were so hungry they weren't as picky about what they ate.

Well the rock looks mighty fine and I am severely tempted to put some of it in my tank as it is covered in purple coralline algae of which there is precious little on my new rock.

Anyway, to the point here. As I was taking down my tank for moving to the new house I noticed several colonies of flatworms in all four corners of my tank. None of my corals had flatworms on it and as for the rock well I didn't look too hard as I was kind of ticked at the time.

So, what do I do?? Should I assume that the flatworms are in the rock too? Can I give the rock a quick dip in freshwater? I realize that will kill most of the beneficial bacteria on the rock but I really just want the rock for the coralline algae. Will this kill the flatworms or does nobody know whow to kill them. It was suggested to me to put the rock out to bake in the sun for a week but quite frankly after paying :eek: $11.98/lb I would rather not completely destroy the rock (life-wise) if I don't have to.

Suggestions, comments, concerns????

TIA
Christy smile.gif

[ 03 June 2002, 19:57: Message edited by: christyf5 ]

[Aquattro]

Christy, freshwater will kill the flat worms, given enough exposure, but will probably kill all the coralline as well. And if there is a small pocket of seawater in a little hole and there's one little flat worm in there, well, you get the picture. Not sure what to tell you.

[SuperFudge]

Christy,

A fresh water dip of a couple of minutes will kill all the flatworms.
Shake the rock in the F/W bucket too,or powerhead blast it to get in the little cracks and such.

The corals and corallines will be fine in that time,but pods dont seem to take well to one,so some loss of life will happen.

The only problem,is its hard to dip the sandbed..... :confused: :rolleyes:

Marc.

[christyf5]

Well actually, I did dip the sand bed. More than a dip I guess. I let the sandbed sit in freshwater overnight and then rinsed it out. Killed pretty much everything. I figured since I was having to get new rock I may as well totally start fresh. There was nothing living in there anyway, except for bacteria. It kind of sucked though as I had to put all my corals and fish in a holding tank for the past 3 weeks and managed to kill my xenia which started a made the tank pretty gross and started up another algae bloom. So tonight I am scrubbing rocks again and preparing to put my corals in back into the tank as it has cycled already. I'm sure I missed something and hair algae will flourish once again. I don't know for some reason I seem to have an aquatic green thumb. Its black where land plants are concerned but I'm dang good at growing algae.
Anyway, I'll try dipping my rock in freshwater for a minute or so. Hopefully the only damage will be to the flatworms.

Thanks for your help.

Christy smile.gif

[reefburnaby]

Hi,

There are several nature ways to get rid of those flatworms. However, there is one problem with these helpers...they will decimate your pod collection too. So, you'll need a fairly established tank with a refugium for these suckers.

What are they : several fish from the wrasse (like 6-line) or the dragonet (aka Mandarin) family. Caution: these fish need special requirements to stay alive and well.

Happy hunting.

- Victor.

[George]

Originally posted by reefburnaby:
Hi,

There are several nature ways to get rid of those flatworms. ....
What are they : several fish from the wrasse (like 6-line) or the dragonet (aka Mandarin) family. Caution: these fish need special requirements to stay alive and well.

Happy hunting.

- Victor.<font size="2" face="Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif">Do they eat flatworms regularly or only one in a billion chance that they will eat flatworms?
I just don't want to see some newbies rush out and buy a fish and later find out that the fish they buy doesn't touch flatworms.

George

[Jayson]

Fill up a pail of fresh water get it to about the same temp as your tank water. Take your rock and shake it vigorously in the bucket of fresh water for about 20 seconds. You will see the flat worms fall off instantly. place the rock back in the tank right away. You should have minimal die off. Most of your corals will be fine if you do this quickly. The rock will have no adverse side effects. If you want to try a chemical remedy you can try to find a product called Marine oomed by Tetra. If you go the fish route your chances are hit and miss if the fish will actually eat them. Best of luck.

[bongy]

Jayson,

Do you know where I can find Marine oomed. (Or do you have any left for sale?) I am using my last one to disinfect everything before putting them in my tank. I used to have a flatworm infestation in my old 33 gal that have since been cured. There is no way I want any to get into my current 90.

I am having a hard time looking for a new one. I talked to Tetra and they said they have already discontinued this product.

Bongy

[Jayson]

I do have a couple of bottles left but I am charging huge money for them $20.00 I want to be prepared for them if I every get any more Fiji rock that has some. That is how I got my last infestation 4 years ago. I do not now of anybody that has some left. If you here of any body please let me know as you can never have enough of a good thing. Thanks

[Mak]

Christy, I wouldn't bother dipping your rock, unless you plan on doing your whole tank. All it takes is one Flatworm to repopulate your tank.

Oomed is not a 100% thing from what I have read, sometimes it has killed off whole tanks. And sometimes doesn't kill all Flatworms :( . Do a search there is plenty of info on it.

If your tank has a large population of pod's and such the you might want to try a Wrasse or something. Buy mostly these fish are a hit and miss kind of thing, leaning more towards miss :( .

They will not bother your Coral's. They will help clean your tank from what I have seen. Get some airline tubing or something a little bit larger and syphon them out when they bother YOU, until you find a natural predator ;) .

[christyf5]

Hmm, I never thought about trying that oomed stuff. Quite frankly I tried it before for ich and had no success. I didn't realize it worked for flatworms, nor did I ever think that I would have a flatworm problem though. I thought I had a bottle but I guess I must have thrown it out otherwise I would have sent it to ya Bongy. I think there is a store here in Nanaimo that still has some if you can't find it over there I could get you some. Are you looking for some as well Jayson?
As for getting a fish that would eat them. Well if it isn't a sure thing I would certainly rather not invest in a fish that doesn't suit my tank. I want to keep inverts and I hear that inverts and wrasses don't go well together.

Thanks
Christy smile.gif

[smokinreefer]

good call christy,
as it is very tempting to buy a fish in hopes it will eat flatworms, the odds are against you. and tho you do hear the occassional success story, there are far more fish that do not live up to their owners expectations.

FWIW, i have heard that sometimes if you ride out the flatworm infestation they can dissappear on their own. i guess subtle changes in the tank environment providing a less than ideal home for them, can lead to their demise. tho i have yet to find documentation on what these enviromental parameters would be.

hope some of this info is useful in someway, if not to provide a little light reading for you guys...heheh i'm just ramblin! :D

[bongy]

Hi christy,

If you can find the Oomed, can you help me buy three? When I bought some new rock for my 90 gal, I dipped the rock in Oomed before putting them in the tank. Don't know whether it help for sure but it doesn't seem to harm the rock either.

I haven't used Oomed on ick before so don't know its effectiveness on ick. However, it did cure my flatworm problem last time. Jayson, if I can find Oomed here in Vancouver (really slim chance), I will let you know.

Bongy

[Jayson]

Thanks Bongy! I have searched 5 stores over here and no one has any stock left. My guess would be to find a mom and pop shop that is lower end. Good luck on finding it!