PARASITES? unidentified reef objects

[smez69]

First post.. yay

Unfortunately it's not necessarily a positive one. I have some algae growing on the front viewing panel and I was watching my new astrea snail eating away then i realized there were weird tiny little bugs moving around. They seem to float and glide effortlessly on the glass and I'm not sure if they are parasites or something I need to worry about.

They are very small making a photo nearly impossible to get but I drew some diagrams of the three phases of this organisms life cycle.



I have had the tank about a month now and there is only live rock, some hermit crabs, two astrea snails and some random hitchhikers. Hope these guys didn't come with my LR.

Any suggestions as to what they might be? Help is greatly appreciated!

[Starry]

Looks like flatworms to me. (I have them too) Siphon them out with a small air hose or better yet an eye dropper. When numbers are way down, hit them with flatworm exit.

[Zoaelite]

Yup, just your regular old flatworms. I find your best bet (if you dont want to spend the time to suck them all out) is to increase flow in your display tank.
Levi

[marie]

The smallest one looks to me like it could be a copepod, you can leave that one alone it's good to have

[christyf5]

Originally Posted by marie

The smallest one looks to me like it could be a copepod, you can leave that one alone it's good to have

And it would be cuter with a happy face

I concur with the flatworms. What color are they?

[smez69]

Thanks for all the replies!

They are all white with kind of a slight deviation in the middle which is brownish or almost slightly red.

I feel kind of bad having to destroy the little ones they are kind of cute and skitter across the glass.

But alas, they must go!

[Starry]

The little ones that "skitter" across the glass sound like Copepods and are a good thing to have in your tank. Leave them there. Just the flat worms are the pest.

[Zoaelite]

Originally Posted by Starry

The little ones that "skitter" across the glass sound like Copepods and are a good thing to have in your tank. Leave them there. Just the flat worms are the pest.

Just a question, what makes Flatworms pests? I understand that if they get to plauge populations and start smothering everything but to have a low amount in the tank is that really detrimental to the health of your system?
Levi

[Keri]

that's why they are bad. I had flatworms in the beginning, I increased flow and added a yellow wrasse, haven't seen one in months.




These guys are 'pods and are good for your tank, don't get rid of them!