Flatworms

[CoralB]

Make em food first !!!

 

[catiebartholomew]

I saw flatworms on the glass on my aquarium and not sure where they came from ‍ I dip all my corals and I’ve not added anything new in several weeks.
I have a flatworm treatment made by salifert, flatworm exit. It says it’s safe to use all with corals and fish but I’m still leery of using it.
Had anyone used it or have suggestions on treating a reef tank for flatworms

i have a blue velvet nudibranch that needs more planaria. i will lend him to ya if you’d like. he decimated my planaria pop in my 75 gallon in a month. i ran activated carbon and had no issues with toxicity. he is big enough now to tolerate the high end of moderate flow.

 

[Hilltopreef90]

i have a blue velvet nudibranch that needs more planaria. i will lend him to ya if you’d like. he decimated my planaria pop in my 75 gallon in a month. i ran activated carbon and had no issues with toxicity. he is big enough now to tolerate the high end of moderate flow.

Do most lfs sell nudibranch’s and what are the negative affects of using them?
Could flatworms alone be a reason all my corals are dying?

 

[catiebartholomew]

Do most lfs sell nudibranch’s and what are the negative affects of using them?
Could flatworms alone be a reason all my corals are dying?

they are not readily available at an lfs, i had to wait a few months to source one. their availability varies. try to source one from a hobbyist who doesn’t need it / can’t feed it anymore.

yes there exists red flatworms that eat primarily sps coral. higher populations of other types of flatworms existing on coral (but not eating them) also damages the coral body. generally a nuisance. i had a brown flatworm type that decimated my pod populations.

cons of bvns: they secrete trace amounts of toxins casually and in larger volumes when stressed/dying. i ran copious amounts of activated carbon to absorb these toxins and had no issues (i also didn’t observe significant stress). i did a lot of research and couldn’t find much on the toxicity of bvn in reef tanks. just a lot of anecdotal nonchalance. other cons would be you need to find a way to limit your flow, but only for a month (flatworms will all be consumed by then and it will be time to rehome the bvn). adult bvn (2-3 inches) have a significantly improved ability to tolerate moderate flow compared to juveniles (3/4 in). i took out my wave makers, pointed my return pump upwards, and moved rocks around to limit flow on the sand bed.

since we are already dealing with toxins (the flatworms are toxic when they die), i prefer this method over salifert. i would consider it less of risk to stock a bvn as opposed to dosing salifert and trying to race the clock as you attempt to vacuum every single toxic body - and you would miss the eggs.

 

[Hilltopreef90]

I found and ordered a blue velvet nudibranch
Is there any risk to anything else in my reef tank besides the flatworms and how long does it usually take for the bvn to eat a 90 gallon tank worth of flatworms
The worms are out of control and multiply faster then I can remove them

 

[catiebartholomew]

I found and ordered a blue velvet nudibranch
Is there any risk to anything else in my reef tank besides the flatworms and how long does it usually take for the bvn to eat a 90 gallon tank worth of flatworms
The worms are out of control and multiply faster then I can remove them

hello ! toss (a lot ) of activated carbon into your filter socks in order to absorb any trace toxin he secretes casually. i did a lot of research before getting mine and i couldn’t find much on how toxic they were if they were to die in a reef system, only a few anecdotal accounts of reef keepers that didn’t seem stressed. as for my personal experience in keeping bvn, the juveniles require low flow whereas the adults (2-3 inches) can tolerate moderate flow. take out wave makers, point return pump upwards, and move around rocks as to minimize open areas on the sand bed. i kept one bvn in my 75 gal display tank and he cleared my acoel flatworm population in about a month. they grow incredibly quickly and are extremely active hunters if flow is low enough. i kept him for a few more weeks to make sure he got them all. even though he was only ever in my display tank, the flatworm population in my 40 gal sump tank disappeared entirely as well. you’ll see a noticeable dent in the first two weeks; run activated carbon, lower your flow and everyone will be fine :)

i also run an ulns ( i carbon dose/use the triton method ) which might have had an impact on my success - bvn benefit from cleaner water. activated carbon and gfo in the filter socks will help here if you don’t want to approach vodka dosing

 

[Hilltopreef90]

hello ! toss (a lot ) of activated carbon into your filter socks in order to absorb any trace toxin he secretes casually. i did a lot of research before getting mine and i couldn’t find much on how toxic they were if they were to die in a reef system, only a few anecdotal accounts of reef keepers that didn’t seem stressed. as for my personal experience in keeping bvn, the juveniles require low flow whereas the adults (2-3 inches) can tolerate moderate flow. take out wave makers, point return pump upwards, and move around rocks as to minimize open areas on the sand bed. i kept one bvn in my 75 gal display tank and he cleared my acoel flatworm population in about a month. they grow incredibly quickly and are extremely active hunters if flow is low enough. i kept him for a few more weeks to make sure he got them all. even though he was only ever in my display tank, the flatworm population in my 40 gal sump tank disappeared entirely as well. you’ll see a noticeable dent in the first two weeks; run activated carbon, lower your flow and everyone will be fine :)

i also run an ulns ( i carbon dose/use the triton method ) which might have had an impact on my success - bvn benefit from cleaner water. activated carbon and gfo in the filter socks will help here if you don’t want to approach vodka dosing

Thanks