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Red things on glass.. Are they bad...
- Thread starter turfgrass
- Start date
BigSmokeShowJOE
Non-member
thay look like flat worms to me . moor of a pain in the but if thay are a six line wrass will eat them or you can use flatworm ex to kill them . but in your pic. it is hard to tell if thay are flat worms! do the move on the glass if so thay are fat worms if not it is alge.
Liam
letting it grow
I agree with the other folks it could well be flatworms.If they are,it is possible to wipe them out in one foul swoop with Flatworm exit but depending on there numbers that can be problematic in respect of water pollution when they die,they produce powerful toxins which when released in a mass die can cause problems.
I favour the natural approach first.Like Joe mentioned many wrasses love to chow on these things and if you system allows you may want to try adding a melanarus wrasse or a yellow coris wrasse.If you only have a few one wrasse may totally erradicate them.If you have many i would use a wrasse intitially to reduce their numbers and then go with the exit to finish the job without the worry of pollution due to killing masses of them in one hit.
I favour the natural approach first.Like Joe mentioned many wrasses love to chow on these things and if you system allows you may want to try adding a melanarus wrasse or a yellow coris wrasse.If you only have a few one wrasse may totally erradicate them.If you have many i would use a wrasse intitially to reduce their numbers and then go with the exit to finish the job without the worry of pollution due to killing masses of them in one hit.
~Flighty~
Now with more baby
There are good flatworms and bad ones. These are probably the bad ones judging by the red pigment and the #s in the pic. sometimes mandarins like to eat them (there are a zillion different types of flatworms though, so your milage may vary) If you try one, make sure you get one that eats frozen too though because it will wipe out the FW population fast if it does eat them. (all assuming you have a system that will support a mandarin.) Don't expect to use it and then get it out og the tank, they are a b**** to catch.
joefitz
Non-member
Definitively the "bad" flatworms. I had them. I eradicated them with Salifert Flatworm Exit...worked like a charm when used as directed. Did not impact anything else in my tank (clams, SPS, LPS, softies, shrimp, fish...). FYI though, I took extreme precautions to ensure my livestock would (hopefully) remained unharmed...but again, worked like a charm.
Some people have reported these things to just go away but as of my research from a few months back, nobody understood why or how that happened and therefore could not replicate it. Most people seemed to experience either a rapid and consistently growing outbreak or, in many cases, a relatively small but somewhat stable population that ebbed and flowed but never reached epidemic proportions.
Personally, I wish I would have used flatworm exit right away. I believe the product to be safe. The general belief is that the flatworms contain toxins that are pretty potent...the chemical kills the flatworms which in turn, releases the toxins into the tank...bad. But if you get rid of them before they reach epidemic proportions and follow the instructions you are probably ok.
If you are super-nervous about it, you could follow the process I used, which was to remove each piece of rock from the tank one-by-one and treat it in a series of tubs...I used 4 tubs...the first was a 3x does of Flatworm Exit, the 2nd was a 2x dose, the 3rd was some freshly mixed saltwater, the 4th was a 1x dose of Flatworm Exit.
I had to remake the first tub a few times during the process because it became so saturated with the flatworms that I was concerned it could become too toxic.
Once the rock was out of the tank, I siphoned out all of the flatworms I could see...lots, and lots, and lots of flatworms. Then I treated the entire system with a 2x dose of Flatworm Exit and just kept siphoning dead flatworms.
I then put all the rock back and treated the entire system again two or three weeks later (not following the whole process again, just doing the whole system). Probably way overkill, but I didn't lose a single thing that I could detect in the entire process (other than the flatworms!) so I consider it a bargain.
Some people have reported these things to just go away but as of my research from a few months back, nobody understood why or how that happened and therefore could not replicate it. Most people seemed to experience either a rapid and consistently growing outbreak or, in many cases, a relatively small but somewhat stable population that ebbed and flowed but never reached epidemic proportions.
Personally, I wish I would have used flatworm exit right away. I believe the product to be safe. The general belief is that the flatworms contain toxins that are pretty potent...the chemical kills the flatworms which in turn, releases the toxins into the tank...bad. But if you get rid of them before they reach epidemic proportions and follow the instructions you are probably ok.
If you are super-nervous about it, you could follow the process I used, which was to remove each piece of rock from the tank one-by-one and treat it in a series of tubs...I used 4 tubs...the first was a 3x does of Flatworm Exit, the 2nd was a 2x dose, the 3rd was some freshly mixed saltwater, the 4th was a 1x dose of Flatworm Exit.
I had to remake the first tub a few times during the process because it became so saturated with the flatworms that I was concerned it could become too toxic.
Once the rock was out of the tank, I siphoned out all of the flatworms I could see...lots, and lots, and lots of flatworms. Then I treated the entire system with a 2x dose of Flatworm Exit and just kept siphoning dead flatworms.
I then put all the rock back and treated the entire system again two or three weeks later (not following the whole process again, just doing the whole system). Probably way overkill, but I didn't lose a single thing that I could detect in the entire process (other than the flatworms!) so I consider it a bargain.
joefitz
Non-member
Also, I would suggest not trying the predation approach. Some people have indeed reported a handful of fish that seem to eat these buggers, but in my opinion there is just no way predation is going to eliminate them or likely even control them successfully. I say the same thing about ich and other pest related issues though, I just don't believe predation is a very effective means of dealing with these things...unfortunately, as it would be ideal.
These are definitely the "bad" flatworms, no question about it...and because I'm not sure anyone specified...the reasons I believe them to be bad are:
1) They often multiple extremely quickly and reach epidemic proportions very, very quickly (literally tens of thousands).
2) They release toxins into your water column when they die -- they have killed more than one tank when a population has had a mass die-off
3) They are ugly
I don't believe, in and of themselves, they do anything bad per-se. But if you have a bunch and something happens that causes them to die, they can and have taken tanks down with them. I know I sleep better at night knowing they have been eradicated from my tank.
These are definitely the "bad" flatworms, no question about it...and because I'm not sure anyone specified...the reasons I believe them to be bad are:
1) They often multiple extremely quickly and reach epidemic proportions very, very quickly (literally tens of thousands).
2) They release toxins into your water column when they die -- they have killed more than one tank when a population has had a mass die-off
3) They are ugly
I don't believe, in and of themselves, they do anything bad per-se. But if you have a bunch and something happens that causes them to die, they can and have taken tanks down with them. I know I sleep better at night knowing they have been eradicated from my tank.
BigSmokeShowJOE
Non-member
I agree I favour the natural approach first in lo # thats the best way i had some over 2 1\2years a go i usd yellow and green coris wrasse and six line wrasse i never seen them agen !!!ltelus said:
OP
OP
turfgrass
Non-member
I think I'm going to start a 10 gallon for my corals. Once I've made the switch I will do the FW exit to the twenty gallon and a treatment to the ten later on. I'm tryinh to figure out the safest way. I just don't know if the population is high enough to wipe out the tank once they die. Should I treat the grunge and rock seperately? Thanks.
joefitz
Non-member
I think the safest thing you could do would be to treat the rock separately in a container just large enough to submerge it...use a powerhead to wash off all the flatworms (dead or alive) as you do so...then with the tank 'empty' siphon out as many as you can and then treat the tank.
I would at minimum take a few pieces of rock out and inspect them and the area they came from for flatworms. If the stuff isn't covered, you probably aren't in too bad shape, although siphoning out as many as you can prior to treatment is still a good idea.
I would at minimum take a few pieces of rock out and inspect them and the area they came from for flatworms. If the stuff isn't covered, you probably aren't in too bad shape, although siphoning out as many as you can prior to treatment is still a good idea.
