NO MORE FLATWORMS
 

well i got rid of them for now.

Will see what happens in a few weeks :evil:

How did you get rid of em?

flatworm exit used the double dose method .

From personal experience, plan to do another treatment in a week or two... The two tanks I treated with it, appeared clean for a week or so, then the scourge started to re-appear, not sure how they survived the first treatment, but after the second dosing, I haven't seen them re-appear.

Andy

oh ya I know that there Andy
thanks for the heads up

This may seem like a stupid question but what are flat worms, what do they look like and why are they so bad? I have these worms in my tank that are about 1.5" long flat underside, and if poked or stressed they curl up into a ball that looks like they have a shell around them... are these flat worms?

http://www.melevsreef.com/pics/0404/clear_flatworm2.jpg

Ranging up to about 1/4 inch.

There considered a pest because depending on the speices they may eat coral. Also because they mass produce and your tank can end up teaming with them.

The clear/white aren't so bad... The reds are the nasty ones, they will coat things to the point, where they WILL smother corals.

Andy

... and, if they crash, contain enough toxins to kill everything in your tank, so I'm told. Run carbon if you're killing them off.

well that's a relief.. never noticed those guys before. Any ideas what the worms that I do have are? Are they good/bad? Just curious.

I've treated twice now and they're back... (Treated to a great amount of stress the first time I might add as a 25% water change on 260 gallons is no easy task). Now I've just resigned myself to siphoning them out every week or two as another form of nutrient export. (Apparently they consume phosphates). There's a great article about them in one of the past issues of Coral. Opinions vary, but the general consensus seems to think they are not harmful to your system unless they reach plague proportions. Thus far mine have not touched the corals, they like to bask in the light on the rocks and sand making them very easy to siphon out. Given a choice between removing these or algae, I would go for the worms myself.