Thread: Flat Worms
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Old 10-12-2002, 04:33 PM
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SuperFudge SuperFudge is offline
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RR,


Flatworms are not a problem,any more than bristle worms were 5 years ago,when everyone was trying to get them out of their tanks.

They are detrivours and will never feed on your corals or bother them.
If they do go on a coral,the coral is dead already,and are only feeding on diatoms on the dead portion.

They may go on the base(even then the very bottom) of some softies,such as a sarcophyton or capennella....but still are only feeding on the areas that diatoms may be present,not on the coral itself.

They thrive in low current and medium/low light,such as lower in your tank on the underside of rocks and on the sandbed.

They are truly not worth trying to rid yourself completly of them by a chemical treatment,this will do more damage to your system and sandbed fuana and still is not a sure fix.

They best thing to do,is make it not a flatworms optimal environment,such as heavier current in the areas that they are in abundance.
A little increase in water changes,or the addition of carbon will also take away from their food source.

Siphoning has also proved to be a waste of time,if you siphon they will re-populate immediatly and continue until they are balanced once again with your present nutrient load.

They can become an eyesore,and that is about the limits of thier trouble...but if a few small things are done to make it miserable for them to live,they wont even be that anymore.

And im positive that if they were a little larger and nicer looking,they would be sold as a welcome addition to your detrivour packs that people now purchase.

HTH,
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