HELP FLATWORMS EVERYWHERE!!

[PeterB113]

Hey guys so I was at my friend's house last night and he's having a problem with flatworms in his tank. He bought flatworm exit but still hasnt used it because he's scared it could nuke the tank. It's a 40g breeder and a 13.5 Evo. Any advice or info would be very helpful. We're not sure what type of flatworms they are but corals look fine as of now. Please let me know what you guys think.

 

[Gtinnel]

They look like red planaria. Before doing flatworm exit I'd spend a few days siphoning out as many as possible.

 

[T-J]

Those look like brown flatworms, which don't eat corals. However, if they get to be too many, they can and will smother your corals to death.

You can siphon them out every day, and eventually they should go away. Or you can use FE. FE won't nuke your tank, it's if you kill too many at once and the toxins they release.

 

[jcdeng]

FWE doesn't nuke the tank itself, but the dead flatworms can and will release toxin when they die so the toxins can kill off livestock, plus, a lot of dead stuff means ammonia spike, and that can also kill off stuff.

Solution is to do large WCs after FWE and run carbon.

 

[Koh23]

Vacum all of them u can, repeat every day, if coral is covered with them, short, very short (2-3 sec) fw dip....

It is pain to vacum them everyday, but for me, worked best.....

 

[shakacuz]

could always get a yellow coris wrasse, and it'll clear that out without doing FWE.

edit: would have to catch it and put it in the 40B for long term as the evo is not big enough for it.

 

[TnFishwater98]

Springer Damsel

 

[Koh23]

Hit and miss, i had yellow coris, and he wount touch anything other than food i throw in tank, but, for some, they are great solution, i guess i had vegan corry

 

[TnFishwater98]

Green Mandarin

 

[Sean_B]

"some"
Mandarin
Blue Velvet Nudi

 

[Jerad81]

I've heard bumblebee snails will eat them and other similar pests.

 

[MaxTremors]

I’ve had these many times over the years. I’ve always gotten them under control with a wrasse. Sixline, melanarus, yellow coris, they’ll all get them in check. I probably have a few in my tank now, but I’d have to really search to find one. IME, they’re only an issue if you let them get out of control. Through a little sixline in the EVO and another wrasse in the 40 (more room means more options). Flatworm exit does work, but it’s not without risk, and there are natural alternatives.

I don’t know that damsels or mandarins will eat them, I’ve never seen either do it. Not saying it’s not possible, but a wrasse will definitely eat them.

 

[TnFishwater98]

I’ve had these many times over the years. I’ve always gotten them under control with a wrasse. Sixline, melanarus, yellow coris, they’ll all get them in check. I probably have a few in my tank now, but I’d have to really search to find one. IME, they’re only an issue if you let them get out of control. Through a little sixline in the EVO and another wrasse in the 40 (more room means more options). Flatworm exit does work, but it’s not without risk, and there are natural alternatives.

I don’t know that damsels or mandarins will eat them, I’ve never seen either do it. Not saying it’s not possible, but a wrasse will definitely eat them.

I heard a springer damsel was a great fish for frag tanks for this reason. Don’t know by witnessing but I got one in my frag tank. Had a few of the clear FW when the tank first got started. Haven’t seen any since.
I did have the rust FW in my main DT. I added a Target Mandarin and haven’t seen any since. I assumed it was the target mandarin since I’ve read they do. It has plenty of pods to eat and is very plump and happy. I chose to try the target mandarin because I didn’t want a bully fish in my DT at that time. I heard the springer damsels are the less aggressive kind of damsels. But he has the whole tank to himself minus a few invertebrates. I do have a 6-line wrasse in another tank I have. It was loaded with flatworms and since I introduced the 6-line I haven’t seen any on the glass. So I think all 3 of these fish are a good option to try.

 

[Hendrix]

Springer Damsel

Spot on: Springer Damsels eliminate these quickly!!!

 

[Subtropic Reefer]

Hey guys so I was at my friend's house last night and he's having a problem with flatworms in his tank. He bought flatworm exit but still hasnt used it because he's scared it could nuke the tank. It's a 40g breeder and a 13.5 Evo. Any advice or info would be very helpful. We're not sure what type of flatworms they are but corals look fine as of now. Please let me know what you guys think.

Not to scare you but I used it on my tank with plenty of preparation and nearly everything and thousands of dollars of coral died.

 

[Hendrix]

Natural predators are the way to go!

Chemicals can have side effects

 

[Subtropic Reefer]

Natural predators are the way to go!

Chemicals can have side effects

I tried all the ones i could that were small enough for a nano

 

[PeterB113]

*update there's already a six line Wrasse and a blue damsel in his 40g. He also said the problem got worse in the 13.5g when he moved the damsel to his 40g. We're very hesitant flatworm exit because we're shook of all the horror stories..

 

[Steve180]

Flatworm exit works great! My previous tank had quite a bit, so I added flatworm exit. As they died off, I put a filter socks in front of my power head which was on full blast to catch all the dead ones. After a few treatments the tank was free n clear of them.