Flat Worms

[sumpfinfishe]

Nice work Marc-ever thought of running for "moderator"
Hey, I sent you a PM did you get it :?:
cheers, Rich

[Mak]

Jamie, In my pretty full 55g LPS/Softie tank I'm running a 16-20x flow rate, which I already thought was about at the limits ( thought that too much flow would stress them ). I guess I'll pick up another PH or two and start experimenting with some new flow pattern's. I regularily clean the skimmer and have very little to no detritus build up on my rock. So I'll pick up a couple smaller Maxi-jets to take care of the bottom water column. I just full throttled my other pumps to about 20-24x turn over.

When I do syphon them once and let them regroup and syphon again, it takes about 3 weeks to get there numbers up to what there were. Maybe I'm just a little picky but there numbers are not in the thousands, but maybe a few hundred.


Marc, syphoning them everyday like Dale is outta the question (really long work days for me :x ) ...maybe. I do feel i have them in check... but I'd rather eliminate them or get them to where they are almost unoticable like my Sump/Ref. I think this running a much higher flow rate will work, once I find the right flow rate/pattern .

Thank you both for your help. This is the best advice I've read on Flatworms, even better than all the threads I've read on RC.

[Mak]

Oh yeah, One_Divided you lookin to get rid of that evil little 6-line...LOL ops: :twisted: .

[Reef_Ready]

Thanks for all the replies. I was down in Seattle for the weekend, but it looks like a great discussion. They are hanging around where the current is quite slow and I was thinking I could use another power head anyway.

[Diomedes]

Are the flatworms a red-brown colour? It sounds like it...These little guys are Convolutriloba retrogemma, a photosynthetic flatworm that can grow to plague proportions, and they are commonly imported on Indo rock. I have had them in my 20 gal reef and continue to battle them on occasion. They can get ugly, but they never bother my corals. One good way to remove them is to shine a small concentrated beam of light through one corner of the tank before you shut it off at night. C. retrogemma will congregate at that point, so you can siphon or better yet, scrubby them out into a separate bucket - (method courtesy of P. Wilkens, Netherlands) Using chemicals to control them is ill advised, as they contain a nasty chemical, and if the explode or break down in the tank in large quantity it can kill fish (Delbeek and Sprung 1994). Other biological controls cited in Reefs Vol. 1 include Synchiropus picturatus (spotted mandarinfish), Macropharygodon spp. wrasses (leopard wrasses) and a certain blue-black nudibrach that is hard to get. I have used the light method with success. Eric Borneman's latest book had some additional good advice, but I can't remember it...

Diomedes

[SuperFudge]

Originally Posted by sumpfinfishe

Nice work Marc-ever thought of running for "moderator"

Woooooaaa....Now thats where i draw the line!

Thats just downright name calling !

Nah,i dunno if people would want me for one,I got issue`s.

[SuperFudge]

Originally Posted by Diomedes

and a certain blue-black nudibrach that is hard to get.

The Nudibrach is called Chelidonura Varians, they are jet black with blue lightning stripes down them.

I agree, they are next to impossible to get, i ordered some well over a year ago,and still they remain unavailable to me.
Some ive talked to have gotten them, and have said they are notoriously shortlived and difficult to keep, and really only get a moderate handle on the flatties in their usually cut-short life spans, unless you dont have many flatties to begin with.
Probably another "get rid of them method" you should save your self the trouble with trying.

I have tried 250w halogen worklight beam against a white plexi panel, in a Softy system.
(flash light is good for about 2 or 3 flatties.)
Not only did it not work good, I had to do this at night or shut down My tank lights for long enouph for some to crawl on it.
Bad thing about that try was, i kept sucking up 250 watts to find that one didnt work either.

Another few that havent been mentioned that were wasted time for me in the past :
Are to starve your tank of food, this only lasted 2 weeks before i gave up though...my only yellow tang in that system was suffering for it and population didnt change noticeably.
After that one,i got discouraged and dumped in 100 hermits and feed little in hopes that they would start to snack on them .
Nope.
I thought to put in a pair of Blue cheeked gobies to continuously stir the sandbed and maybe kill some flatties or reduce their food source, poor fellas died.
No doubt due to the toxins they were forced to eat.

Sixlines seemed to have worked for some, but im 0 for 2.

Jets of freshwater out of a baster killed them outright if a decent amount of freshwater hits them ,this eventually worked about as good as siphoning.

Heres a good one, i eventually tore that tank down and i drained it 3/4`s empty and left it for a week in the shop.(Not for a flatty test.....I was just too lazy )
Most flatties were still alive in that soup after a week of no light, no current, no feeding, no nothing ! :shock:

Ok, maybe that smell rivaled Saturday morning better.....

All in all, they all may have worked to a small degree...if you are interested in some make work projects.

Sorry im done ranting now, Heh

[reefburnaby]

Jamie,

Yupe. I had flatworms, but I had it was barely noticeable. Actually, they were in the tank when I had the club meeting, but I didn't say anything about them. I acted early and I eventually wipe them out.

The canister method wasn't invented by me...credit should go to Marineland since they sold a gravel cleaner with their magnums.

- Victor.

[Seriak]

Yeah Yeah, I know. Never use medications? However, if in the end you have tried every thing else and you are about to take down your tank and start over, try greenex. You can goto RC and do a search on greenex. It definately works, but your silicone also turns green.