Flat Worms (I'm Pulling My Hair Out)

[Reef Lover]

I thought that I got rid of all my flat worms, but I have them again and bad. :mad: All my corals looks fine, no worms, but my sand and some rocks is infested with them. Can I freshwater dip my sand without going threw a cycle? I was also thinking about getting a Blue Velvet Nudibranch, and pass him along to someone else so he won't starve after the job is done.
I tried everything to get rid of them, but there is to many. I'm going to fresh water dip all my rock for a few seconds, but what do I do about my sand?

[coral reefer]

You may be feeding to much with excess food settling on the benthic(bottom substrate) areas of your tank!!!!
Just a suggestion but a sleeper or shrimp goby may help you for a while. The only problem with them, from other people's experiences, is taht they get substrate all over corals positioned low in your tank and they may starve since they need a big tank for grazing for food and eventually the food supply become depleted...

[Reef Lover]

I cut down feeds to once a week and it's only flakes nothing else not even phytoplankton. I had a sleeper goby, and it make a big mess with all the sand. All the corals had sand on them even the high one.

[Reef Lover]

I have alot of nassarius snail and a some cerith snail, so the sand is pretty clean.

[m_lacom99]

If im not mistaken a six line wrasse is supposed to eat flat worms, it could be another option. There is also Flatworm exit from salifert. But as with any chemical product use with causion. Now i might be wrong but i think i read somewhere that when flatworms die they expell some kind of toxin. So if you have a ton of flatworms and they all die it may become poison for your livestock. but like i said im really not sure about that last part.

Marc.

[Reef Lover]

I have a six line wrasse, and I don't want to use flatworm exit to big of a risk.

[inwall75]

Originally Posted by m_lacom99

when flatworms die they expell some kind of toxin. So if you have a ton of flatworms and they all die it may become poison for your livestock. but like i said im really not sure about that last part.

Marc.

Yep. Before you use Flatworm Exit, you have to siphon up as many flatworms as possible beforehand. You then wait a while and do a substantial water change.

FWIW....Flatworm Exit is the only chemical I've used on my tank and had no problems with it.

[Reef Lover]

Well, I took all my corals out and moved some rocks around and found a lot of dead spot (no flow), in the back of the tank, with lots of detritus. Need to buy more cleaner crew and add more flow. Hopefully this will control and reduce the flatworm issue. With all the detritus that I found, I'm surprise that my nitrates are at 0.

[amcarrig]

Just wanted to add that if you freshwater dip your sand or rock you will kill the bacteria that lives on them so I would avoid doing that at all costs.

[Tangster]

Like lemmings/rats roaches the worms become problematic when food is abundant and predators are not. Now that being said flatworm exit works just fine you have to run carbon as they will release the toxins But if you get on them before they grow to large in numbers then the better it is as there will be less toxins to worry about I have never seen any thing to actually feed on them. That is a guaranteed to eat them. As for six line's ????? I have seen them go crazy on clams corals and any food in general. not a totally reef safe fish. use with caution (: But if you have just a few at this stage I'd use the exit.

I gave this advice to my Son oce he did not take it, He went the natural prediator route everyone he had ever read of or heard of and after the few we saw got to the point the tank was red all over it was tolate for the exit and he had to tear the tank down a 180 with about 1,000 or more lbs of rock LOL not a easy task. I still have the box of worm exit I got him LOL just incase and would use it in a heartbeat. Good Luck