Pest id

[jayq16]

I have these guys in my rocks near monti plates. All acros doing ok but my monti plates are not great so looked more closely, they look like a type of flatworm?

 

[EnterName]

Really hard to see... if you can't get better images, maybe you can describe how they behave/move? Are they fast? Are they slow? Do they move at all? Do they crawl along the container or do they actually swim through the water?

If you fear they are attacking your montipora plates you might want to check if you can see them actually sitting on or under the plates, where they could potentially cause harm. Maybe you will see more once the lights go dim/out. You could wait 1 hour past lights out and then check with a flashlight if there are more and if they start crawling onto your montis.

 

[jayq16]

Really hard to see... if you can't get better images, maybe you can describe how they behave/move? Are they fast? Are they slow? Do they move at all? Do they crawl along the container or do they actually swim through the water?

If you fear they are attacking your montipora plates you might want to check if you can see them actually sitting on or under the plates, where they could potentially cause harm. Maybe you will see more once the lights go dim/out. You could wait 1 hour past lights out and then check with a flashlight if there are more and if they start crawling onto your montis.

Thanks. I’ll catch more and see if I can get a better pic. They are small so difficult. They scoot along the surface like I’d assume a flatworm would. Maybe a type of planaria?

 

[jayq16]

Here’s a video of them. They seem to hang out only on the rocks, i don’t see them on any corals.

 

[EnterName]

I assume Convolutriloba retrogemma (Red Menace / Acoel Flatworm)...? Looks definitely like some bad guys you don't want in your tank, even if my identification isn't fully correct

 

[jayq16]

I assume Convolutriloba retrogemma (Red Menace / Acoel Flatworm)...? Looks definitely like some bad guys you don't want in your tank, even if my identification isn't fully correct

Thanks and similar answer to Google image search, likely them. They aren’t in plague proportions yet so I can keep a way on them as well as siphon out here and there. I do have some mandarins that may be eating them, not sure. I’d do a six line wrasse but I think that will not make the mandarins happy long term :/

 

[EnterName]

I assume Convolutriloba retrogemma (Red Menace / Acoel Flatworm)...? Looks definitely like some bad guys you don't want in your tank, even if my identification isn't fully correct

Thanks and similar answer to Google image search, likely them. They aren’t in plague proportions yet so I can keep a way on them as well as siphon out here and there. I do have some mandarins that may be eating them, not sure. I’d do a six line wrasse but I think that will not make the mandarins happy long term :/

Those things can explode in numbers and hide really well... I would look for actual treatment options and I doubt you will be able to remove all by hand.

Chemical treatments like Salifert's Flatworm eXit apparently work great, but dying flatworms may release toxins so you want to treat them before they reach large numbers and become an issue. Others might have more experience with treatment methods, as I (fortunately) only had harmless ghost flatworms in my tank.

 

[Privateye]

Definitely flatworms, and they look like the ones I've dealt with before. Flatworm Exit works very well - it will knock the population back significantly with one treatment. However, it never seems to get all of them. If that's all you can do, then you will have to treat again in the future.

A spotted mandarin and a sixline wrasse fixed it long-term.

 

[ISpeakForTheSeas]

I assume Convolutriloba retrogemma (Red Menace / Acoel Flatworm)...? Looks definitely like some bad guys you don't want in your tank, even if my identification isn't fully correct

Yeah, definitely in the Convolutriloba genus with that tail-end; I don't know how to tell the four species apart at this point, but not a keeper regardless.

 

[jayq16]

Bummer :/ ya seems like planaria. I’d like to avoid chemicals so may try a wrasse first and see if it reduces them some. I suppose I could hit it with FW exit while population is low but nervous on the impact to other beneficial creatures.

 

[jayq16]

Bummer :/ ya seems like planaria. I’d like to avoid chemicals so may try a wrasse first and see if it reduces them some. I suppose I could hit it with FW exit while population is low but nervous on the impact to other beneficial creatures.

Oh ya I have a lot of these now that I know what I’m looking for. I may have to go FW exit but nervous on it with the toxins.