Orange critters all over?

[BlackO]

There has been a recent outbreak in the reef. Tiny orange guys crawling on the glass seemingly eating algae. They are all over the substrate too. All I have in the 25 gal. tank is an anemone, two Emerald crabs(that have seem to have disappeared) , a feather duster, and two snails. I inherited the tank and it is well established. Anyone have any ideas?

[inwall75]

First off. Welcome to 3REEf!!!

Secondly, it sounds like red planaria flatworms (Convolutriloba retrogemma) or Waminoa sp flatworms. They are a nasty little critter and reproduce rapidly if there are sufficient nutrients in the tank. You want to siphon them out as if they contain a toxin and if a bunch of them die off all at once, the toxins can be real bad for your tank. Marc Levinson invented a way that you can do a lot of siphoning without emptying all of the water out of your tank. See this link http://www.melevsreef.com/flatworms.html .

If you have very few of them, then just siphon them up. If you are inundated though, you might have to use Salifert Flatworm Exit.

[BlackO]

Thanks for the warm welcome.

Planaria seems to be it. I siphoned off as many as I could, and that worked pretty well. What could start such a growth so quickly? I have been feeding phytoplankton for the feather duster. Could too much be present, or is this even the cause?

Marc Levinson's invention seems to work pretty well,think I will have to make myself one of those and just moniter the growth.


I will keep you posted

[Birdlady]

Originally Posted by inwall75

First off. Welcome to 3REEf!!!

....and reproduce rapidly if there are sufficient nutrients in the tank.....

What is your setup like, filtration, tank size, etc....

What are your water parameters..ammonia, nitrite, nitrate..pH, Ca ,Alk, etc...

[igotworms]

humina humina humina!!!!