I have these in my tank, but they seem very different than the photos of typical red planaria. Does anyone know whether these are flatworms or not? And if so, are they harmless? Thanks.
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interesting and may have been very well fed in my tank i've had moments of literal mats of the red planaria, btu weekly water changes, the blue sapphire damsel, and making to to suck up the planaria with the water changes has helped a lotYou missed one key natural solution. The blue velvet nudibranch only eats flatworms.
They are flatworms. They are not red planaria and they are more benign and some would say beneficial to an extent. However, they become a nuisance given the proper environment. The methods to keep them at bay are controlled nutrients, regular maintenance and then predators. You can kill these guys with chemicals. However, they are not red planaria and I would research hard about the side effects of using the chemicals prior to using.I have these in my tank, but they seem very different than the photos of typical red planaria. Does anyone know whether these are flatworms or not? And if so, are they harmless? Thanks.
This is exactly what I have. I've heard them called brown planaria. I've tried every known remedy meant for red flatworms and none have worked. Flatworm Exit just irritates them even at 10x the recommended doseage. The fish that usually go after red flatworms just spit these out. They don't seem to do any harm. At any given time I'll have 40 or 50 on my glass and who knows how many on my Lps and softies. I've given up.I have these in my tank, but they seem very different than the photos of typical red planaria. Does anyone know whether these are flatworms or not? And if so, are they harmless? Thanks.
That Nudi is beautiful.That is one super cool nudi!!
I had a cube full of red flatworms. I bought it from a reefer who gave up because of them.
I dipped the corals and kept them in a qt to see if they do come back. Sure enough, in about 6-8 weeks I saw them again. I believe they came back before that but I couldn't see them.
So now I qt Every coral or rock going into my tank, with weekly dips for 15min and new clean tanks and equipment each time for 6 weeks. Followed up with 2 more weeks of qt with 50% wc to rid any build up of insecticide.
They lay eggs- Lots of them which are real tiny. Im surprised as they generally go after tissue and protective mucus of coral.I have had red planaria in my mixed reef for over a year now, and I am talking a good amount. I cant really see these things killing any coral. They have been no problem at all so I have not nuked them with flatworm exit. I am scared to treat with all the commensal inverts and corals in my tank seeing the planaria has done no damage. The odd thing is the large population has not really waned and its been a long time now.
You do need sand bed to keep melanarus wrasse. If you have bare bottom, this won’t workThere is a very easy solution to this. As some have stated earlier, melanarus wrasse and 4 weeks of time. Other wrasses don’t pick these flatworms from the lps and mushrooms body…melanarus does.
sam
yellow coris wrasseThere is a very easy solution to this. As some have stated earlier, melanarus wrasse and 4 weeks of time. Other wrasses don’t pick these flatworms from the lps and mushrooms body…melanarus does.
sam
yellow coris wrasse
lunare wrasse
6 line wrasse
Springieri damsel
These too will eat them and stay smaller than melanurus
As I mentioned, six line and yellow coris will eat from glass and rock but not from the body of the corals, especially LPS and Mushrooms. Planaria is known to stay on the surface. I am not sure about the other two.
melanurus picks it out diligently.
Sam
Well that’s too bad, definitely can’t do a melanarus in there! I would just live with them until it was too much to bear. I’m just not the type of reefer to poison my tank with some sort of chemical. Definitely a tough situation! Hopefully they find their happy place and just become a healthy part of your ecosystem.I am in a tough situation though. I have a 13.5 gallon mixed reef with commensal inverts. Most wrasse would tear apart all my sexy shrimp and other anemone hosting shrimp. I continued to research and heard pygmy wrasse are very docile. I got a Yellow Banded Pygmy Wrasse about a year ago. Currently is up there with my favorite fish I have ever gotten in my 13+ years in the hobby. But it doesn't eat any of the red planaria! I rarely lose a coral and my tank looks pretty good so clearly they are not doing any damage. It would be nice to get them out one day though.