Hey all, thought I'd share a recent adventure with some euphyllia flatworms.
I purchased a green torch a few months ago. It arrived on an unanticipated day at work and my wife graciously placed it in the tank, but I made the foolish mistake of not instructing her to dip.
For the next few weeks, the torch showed half hearted polyp extension and my gut told me something was making it upset - alk, flow or a parasite. One night I could have sworn I saw something on the side, but on closer observations I didn't see anything.
Well, cut to a month later. The torch is still doing alright. I decided to give the coral a check in the darkness to see how they were doing, and what do you know: flatworms along the skeleton and at the tissue base. A 5 minute dip in CoralRx and some pipette blowing and a good 20 flatworms fell off of it. I also brushed the outside to remove any fresh eggs.
I plan on proactively dipping the rest of my euphyllia as well as dipping this one again later in the week until I see no more pest activity, which could be a while.
Just goes to show you that sometimes our gut can be a powerful ally, and it really reinforces the importance of dipping or quarantining all new arrivals.
I included some pics so you can see what I saw in case you suspect the same.
I looked around 2am, so if you suspect parasites but don't see any on initial inspection, check later at night.
You can see them on the middle torch near the flesh.
I purchased a green torch a few months ago. It arrived on an unanticipated day at work and my wife graciously placed it in the tank, but I made the foolish mistake of not instructing her to dip.
For the next few weeks, the torch showed half hearted polyp extension and my gut told me something was making it upset - alk, flow or a parasite. One night I could have sworn I saw something on the side, but on closer observations I didn't see anything.
Well, cut to a month later. The torch is still doing alright. I decided to give the coral a check in the darkness to see how they were doing, and what do you know: flatworms along the skeleton and at the tissue base. A 5 minute dip in CoralRx and some pipette blowing and a good 20 flatworms fell off of it. I also brushed the outside to remove any fresh eggs.
I plan on proactively dipping the rest of my euphyllia as well as dipping this one again later in the week until I see no more pest activity, which could be a while.
Just goes to show you that sometimes our gut can be a powerful ally, and it really reinforces the importance of dipping or quarantining all new arrivals.
I included some pics so you can see what I saw in case you suspect the same.
I looked around 2am, so if you suspect parasites but don't see any on initial inspection, check later at night.
You can see them on the middle torch near the flesh.
