scubasteve92 Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Are flatworms bad? Or is that a dumb question? I pulled out some of my zoos to do a dip (zoa pox... what do yall recommend?) and i also pulled out one of my rics to cut it to see if it would multiply. As i was doing that i broke off a piece of rock by accident and noticed that there was two flatworms swimming around by the rock. They are relatively small and i have seen no signs of them pestering anything. Should i take action of any kind? Any suggestions about the zoos or the flatworms would be greatly appreciated! Joshua Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sherita Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Some flatworms can be really, really bad. You will need to do a bit of research to figure out what you have, and if they are harmful. Some just irritate the corals by crawling in them, others actually eat the corals. What do yours look like? Can you describe them..........color/size/number? As far as zoapox, go to zoaid.com and look for the article on treating zoapox with Furan-2. As far as I know, that is the only thing that anyone has found that works. You can get Furan-2 at your local fish store or petsmart/petco. It's a pretty common fish med. I've used it to clear up a fungal infection on zoas, it works pretty darn good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted April 22, 2012 Share Posted April 22, 2012 Like Sherita said some species are really bad. Some species are probably good or at least innocuous. If you are seeing them on your inverts or very closely associated it's probably a good idea to dip your animals. If I was finding them randomely in my tank and not closely associated with polyps or corals and not in plague porportions like the red flatworm Convolutriloba retrogemma often does I would not go out of my way to remove them. Something to keep in mind is the corals that brood larval planula the planula resemble flatworms. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubasteve92 Posted April 23, 2012 Author Share Posted April 23, 2012 Yeah i read that article on zoaid.com, will be picking some up tomorrow! As for the flatworms, ill do some research. They were very very small and im not 100% sure they were flat worms. They were brown and pretty flat tho. thanks for the replies! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Timfish Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Sounds kinda like Convolutriloba retrogemma, it can be brown, check out this link : http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fltwmid.htm The first and fourth pictures are C. retrogemma. It's an algae eating flatworm and can be unsightly but is not a preditor of corals/inverts per se. It can reach plague porportions covering everything. I've seen it a few times in my tank and have been able to control them fairly easily just by syphoning them off during weekly water changes. In my tanks they have always followed a boom and bust cycle and don't typically come back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
victoly Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 Kind of a sidenote/hijack here, but I used some flatworm exit in my tank last week to prevent a possible contamination (idiot me didn't dip a frag that other members said might have some FW, don't worry this wasn't at the frag swap). It *decimated* my snail population, even with carbon and a sizable water change. Just something to consider, as I place a reef cleaners ad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Posted April 24, 2012 Share Posted April 24, 2012 I'd just a Hoevan's Wrasse to get rid of flatworms. I put one in my tank when I had flatworms and they were gone in two weeks. I haven't had a single parasite in the tank since adding the Hoevan's. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scubasteve92 Posted April 25, 2012 Author Share Posted April 25, 2012 This is exactly what they look like. I will hold off on the flatworm exit until I see if they will be a problem. Sounds kinda like Convolutriloba retrogemma, it can be brown, check out this link : http://www.wetwebmedia.com/fltwmid.htm The first and fourth pictures are C. retrogemma. Some flatworms can be really, really bad. You will need to do a bit of research to figure out what you have, and if they are harmful. Some just irritate the corals by crawling in them, others actually eat the corals. What do yours look like? Can you describe them..........color/size/number? Got some and after two treatments they are opening up a lot more! As far as zoapox, go to zoaid.com and look for the article on treating zoapox with Furan-2. As far as I know, that is the only thing that anyone has found that works. You can get Furan-2 at your local fish store or petsmart/petco. It's a pretty common fish med. I've used it to clear up a fungal infection on zoas, it works pretty darn good. Thanks for the replies. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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