Flatworms on Hammer

[Grins]

Well I did QT this seemingly healthy frag from a fellow feefer for 2 weeks. It hs been in the display for the past 3 weeks and has seemed to thrive, more branching and new buds on the stalk. It has been doing fabulously I thought. Apparantly I thought wrong and should have extended it's QT period as I found flatworms on it tonight. You can can see one (more if you look) near the upper right mouth:



The only thing in my tank that is even reported to be a natural predator is the dragon goby (Amblygobious phalaena) and he is so fat and happy from mealtimes I'm not confident he'll do much if anything.

I did a good yet not completely thorough inspection of the rest of the 55g reef and I don't see signs of them anywhere else but I do think it will be wise to assume they are not just on the branching hammer.

Would you recommend Salifert's Flatworm Exit and carbon? Any other suggestions?

[theROYSKIE]

i would recommend any type of hawk fish. ive kept long nose and speckled( blunt snout) hawkfish and they r super predators. one of them should readily devour those worms. my longnose is hunting 24 hrs a day, it eats copapods, bristle worms, and any other parasite or underwater grub it can find. it scarfs guppies as well
but there r cons. hawkfish have also been known to eat small crustacians such as hermit crabs or peppermint and cleaner shrimp. also, after they have established their tank as their own private territory be cautious introducing new fish, no matter what the size, hawkfish will defend their territory fiercly and to the death. good luck let me know what happens

[scapes]

go ahead and suck them out

[fierceseaman]

if that is the clear type of flatworms i wouldn't worry about it too much, melev has a picture of one under his ID section that you can reference. i had several of the clear flatworms that used to crawl on the glass but haven't seen one for some time. i'm pretty sure that the red flatworms or the AEFW are the kind that most people are worried about.

[Grins]

Theroyskie:
Can't do a hawkfish, I have a reef with scarlett skunks, peppermints, and a porcelain crab.

Scapes:
Very difficult on a hammer coral as they retract of course. I have tried taking it out and shaking it upside down in a container of tank water. It got a few, but not enough to feel confident.

Fierce: These are the red planaria. They are a pinkish brown color. Very light but definitely not the clear/white ones.

[fierceseaman]

very well, flatworm exit it is. it works wonders and won't bother your coral.

[ssavader]

Dip in Tropic Marin Pro Coral Cure (TMPCC) for 15-20 minutes, shake gently upside down in the solution, and you should see many of these FWs at the bottom of the dip.