Flatworms

[delu5ions]

oh no..i bought a few LPS frags the other day and just today i noticed that they have a few flatworms on them!! what do i do?? i know ive heard of people's tanks being overrun by flatworms. does anyone the best natural way? ever since my greenex experience and ich, i wanna stay as far away from chemicals as possible. please help me!:confused:

[delu5ions]

Originally posted by delu5ions
...does anyone the best natural way?...

i meant to say does anyone know the best natural way to get rid of flatworms. sorry for any confusion

[greenbean36191]

Some people have luck with 6 line wrasses, but I don't think they really eliminate the problem, just put a dent in it. They also need lots of pods.

There is also a sea slug called a velvet slug that eats them. It's very pretty, but can be hard to find (at least around here), and will probably starve to death once the flatworm density gets lower.

You can also freshwater dip your rocks and corals for a few seconds to kill all the worms on them, but it will also kill some other inverts, such as pods.

The least destructive solution is to just siphon out all the worms you find everyday. This method is obviously very slow and labor intensive, and you will likely never get all of them.

Unfortunately I think the only way to really destroy them is chemically, but of course there are side effects.

[BoomerD]

There was one or more flatworm nudibranch's bieng passed around the club for a while. Contact some of the people in this thread and see what the status is...
Nudibranch update (http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=364794)

[brettzki]

Get a couple arrow crabs, they work pretty good, and if you team one or two with one or two 6-line wrasses, you should be in good shape.

[budgetyourself]

If you give up and need to use chemicals - I have used flat worm exit and it works great - nothing else was harmed - (it is very rewarding to see those little flat worms dead and floating) Pam

[RasBobre]

I too have used FWE and had great success. Be prepared for water changes and have lots of carbon on hand and net out as many of those buggers as they die. -Robert

[JoeMack]

Originally posted by delu5ions
oh no..i bought a few LPS frags the other day and just today i noticed that they have a few flatworms on them!! what do i do?? i know ive heard of people's tanks being overrun by flatworms. does anyone the best natural way? ever since my greenex experience and ich, i wanna stay as far away from chemicals as possible. please help me!:confused:

Gad I showed you what they look like when we were in the shop? :) I have never had the luck of having them but I have a bottle of FWE to treat my frags when I get new ones.

[delu5ions]

i know i know joe..but it slipped my mind since i was too excited about getting my frags. i got what i deserved now im just doing damage control. boo hoo..