Reef nutrition

Possible Flatworm

MolaMola

Supporting Member
Have had three new corals in quarantine for a couple of weeks and yesterday saw four of what I am guessing are brown flatworms on the underside of one Coral . If that’s what they are, I searched and saw that people suggest things like dipping them weekly. Does this mean in Bayer? Others mentioned using Flatworm Exit. Anyone dealt with them recently and have a suggestion?
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I’ve had flatworms in my tank for years. Flatworm exit does a good job of killing adults, but there are always more. If you have a coral qt, you may be able to run it at a higher level, and run multiple rounds. Never tried it though.
At this point, I have a couple of wrasses that keep them in check, so they don’t really cause my tank any problems.
 
Seems like red planaria; they are an eyesore that can get out of proportions.
Flatworm exit had worked for me in the past.
If they get to be an infestation, it’s a bit of work to remove them. You may siphon them out into a filter sock, as many as you can and then use Flatworm Exit.
You’ll need to run carbon once treatment is done. Some corals might not like the treatment.
 
Once upon a time, when I pulled my 6 line wrasse out of my tank, my tank got overrun by both zoa and monti eating nudies.

Multiple aggressive treatments of flatworm exit solved the problem. You need to kill adults, then let any eggs hatch and do it again.

It also killed a bunch of other things in the tank - brittle stars, amphipods..

Taught me two lessons. One.. be more diligent inspecting frags. Two.. predatory wrasses are awesome. One of the main reasons I have a yellow coris wrasse now lol.
 
Yes...red planarian
Beware killing them, they release toxins when dying
Be prepared for a large water change (at least 50%) if necessary

If they are hard to find I wouldn’t worry too much
 
Thanks for sharing this. New lessons and territory for me. I hear of “flatworms” and “Vermetid snails” often but I don't understand their impact or what they even look like. Post like this help a lot!
 
Yes...red planarian
Beware killing them, they release toxins when dying
Be prepared for a large water change (at least 50%) if necessary

If they are hard to find I wouldn’t worry too much
Personally if they're in quarantine, hit them with flatworm exit right now and be done with them, then follow up in 2(?) weeks in case anything hatched that didn't get zapped.
 
Definitely flatworms. Ive had them in the past, ive had luck with using a large tube needle on a syringe and sucking them off of rocks and coral but it takes time and dosen't completely solve your problem.
Flatworm exit works wonders, but so do wrasses if you are keeping fish. Hope this helps.
 
did you dip them before they went in the qt tank? i would dip with coralrx first to see what other pieces you have thats infected. dip once a week for a few weeks if you dont have a lot of corals in there.
 
Only 3 corals. Dipped and basted in Bayer (aggressively with the two not shown), toothbrushed and scraped hard surfaces. Need to search if safe to fully dip the third.
 
I agree with everyone here.
I've had my tank over run by red planaria and it killed the whole tank.
You need to start flatworm exit ASAP! Kill the bastards before they get out of control.
When there are too many, flatworm exit will kill them but the amout of toxins released will be greater and it can kill fish and corals. So use carbon at the same time.
 
I agree with everyone here.
I've had my tank over run by red planaria and it killed the whole tank.
You need to start flatworm exit ASAP! Kill the bastards before they get out of control.
When there are too many, flatworm exit will kill them but the amout of toxins released will be greater and it can kill fish and corals. So use carbon at the same time.
You do water change and run carbon immediately after, not at the same time.
 
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