I have an outbreak of something. I have no idea what it is. There are TINY orange things all over everything in my tank. They look like little snails without shells when they are on the glass. The are so small its not even funny. Any ideas? When I say orange I mean ORANGE lol
Outbreak...please ID
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Are they red flat worms by any chance? If they are a flat worm they will have a bright red dot at one end. I'm at work and can't pull any resourses currently, sorry...
skriz
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the green one will eat them, but wrasses are better.
Like Big D said, start syphoning them out as much as possible and keep the water clean. Add a wrasse (hoeven's is the best and the male is quite pretty). This should keep things under control.
oh yeah, and they won't bother the corals. They eat algae. BUT, if their population gets too large, they can smother stuff and even start to die off (bad, very bad). When they die, they release a toxin which will kill the other worms..and everything else.
Worst case scenario, you can use flatworm exit. But, you'll need plenty of carbon and a huge water change on hand.
Like Big D said, start syphoning them out as much as possible and keep the water clean. Add a wrasse (hoeven's is the best and the male is quite pretty). This should keep things under control.
oh yeah, and they won't bother the corals. They eat algae. BUT, if their population gets too large, they can smother stuff and even start to die off (bad, very bad). When they die, they release a toxin which will kill the other worms..and everything else.
Worst case scenario, you can use flatworm exit. But, you'll need plenty of carbon and a huge water change on hand.
I had them. Follow these instructions and you will be fine.
Greeeaaaat.... I have been holding a few frags of Xenia, 10 small crabs, and a sand sifting star in Zanski's tank till mine was ready....(ready today of course) should I leave them in there and let him deal with the outbreak, then pick up when all is gone or will it be fine to get that stuff out now without having a problem myself??
theres a high probability that you'll get them in your tank from the transfer, you can reduce this by treating the stuff thats going into your tank by quarantining them first, or by placing them in a container and dosing it with some flatworm exit.. or some of that coral cure stuff that was given away at the frag meet... forgot what its called.. i think coral rx??
planeria, the red flatworms you have are killed by flatworm exit...you might have to go up on the dosage but it works.. i was unfortuante to get these when i picked up some sps on a trade 2 years ago.. i did a whole series of tests of how to get rid of these guys, flatworm exit, intercept, metronidazole, ketoconazole, amoxicilllin,and potassium permanganate. Your right what you say about harm, but not a single hermit or snail were killed when i dosed my tank. i did lose a barlet anthia (but i also dosed intercept at the same time, so i dont know which one was to blame), but thats it, no urchins, no starfish , nothing. Nothing but potassium permanganate works better then flatworm exit. Permanganate not only kills the flatworms but also thier eggs.. something that the flatworm exit does not. But you cannot use this on anything but corals.. fish and inverts WILL die.. i have dipped every coral i have got since that episode in a flatworm exit dip for 10 mins, i have not lost a coral, nor have i had planeria come back... just my 2 cents.. im sure others can chime in on thier experiences.. But i do suggest if your gonna dose the tank with chemicals , please talk to someone that has done so before to guide you,,, now if you have acro eating flatworms, thats a different ballgame, and flatworm exit is questionable in its ability to rid your tank of these guys...
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I've had those in every tank I've set up. They go through a cycle of a large population boom and then they die off on there own.
Just let them run their course. I would be wary of adding chemicals to kill them because of all the collateral damage. Also they seem to like areas of lower flow so kick it up a notch. The only place that I can still find a few of them is in my refugium.
Just let them run their course. I would be wary of adding chemicals to kill them because of all the collateral damage. Also they seem to like areas of lower flow so kick it up a notch. The only place that I can still find a few of them is in my refugium.
This is true. Not too worried about the cost of replacement, just the hassle of either running around getting more or cleaning up the possible infestation. Thanks for the offer of Xenia though. My girlfriend was pretty stoked to get the pom pom's.
Excuess me bar tender!? You wouldnt happen to know a Mary Swanson would you?? BTW your pom pom is free of them. They are concentrated to the bottom left. Besides that rock is the size of a silver dollar so I will check it before it leaves with you. I'll pay ya for the crabs and star also. I got most of them sucked out today I am going to suck em' tomorrow too. Hit me up tomorrow lets Chipotle!!
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I've been successful removing these flatworms by target siphoning them out each day and adding a sixline wrasse to the tank.
For target siphoning, I used a piece of hard thin (~1/8) acrylic tubing (that's located in the underground gravel filter items of our sponsors or PetSmart) and attaching it to an airline hose.
The trick is to get the population down by doing <u>daily target siphoning</u> and the six-line will hunt and eat the others. After 2 weeks it was tough to find more than one or two flatworms. After a month, I didn't see any, but to be sure I left the six-line in that tank for 2 months before moving it back to my main display tank.
For target siphoning, I used a piece of hard thin (~1/8) acrylic tubing (that's located in the underground gravel filter items of our sponsors or PetSmart) and attaching it to an airline hose.
The trick is to get the population down by doing <u>daily target siphoning</u> and the six-line will hunt and eat the others. After 2 weeks it was tough to find more than one or two flatworms. After a month, I didn't see any, but to be sure I left the six-line in that tank for 2 months before moving it back to my main display tank.
