Planera Flatworms

[Mike S]

Worry about them or no? I have a 50 gallon fuge with cheato and whatever other type of algae will grow in there. Along with a lot of pods and some worms I've noticed that I have a pretty good population of planera worms in there. They seem to be feeding on the algae that is growing on the glass. I don't really have any nuisance algae in my tank so I'm not seeing any flatworms there.

At first I was concerned that they were the type that caused issues with sps but that doesn't appear to be the case. I have read that they can release toxins if there is a big die off. Should I be worried and takes steps to remove them?

 

[dnov99]

Worry about them or no? I have a 50 gallon fuge with cheato and whatever other type of algae will grow in there. Along with a lot of pods and some worms I've noticed that I have a pretty good population of planera worms in there. They seem to be feeding on the algae that is growing on the glass. I don't really have any nuisance algae in my tank so I'm not seeing any flatworms there.

At first I was concerned that they were the type that caused issues with sps but that doesn't appear to be the case. I have read that they can release toxins if there is a big die off. Should I be worried and takes steps to remove them?

They will most likely move into your system eventually. If they do a Melanarus wrasse will take care of them quickly. Oh and they feed on the pods on your glass, not the algae.

 

[Mike S]

Thanks Darren I had been thinking about getting a Melanarus anyway. I think I'll get one a put him to work in the fuge first.

 

[grink]

I have found that Mandarins' also love them as well.

 

[Classklown90]

Flatworm exit. First dose at recommended dose. Then 5 days later at 1 1/2 dosage. No more worms

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[magic]

Flatworm exit. First dose at recommended dose. Then 5 days later at 1 1/2 dosage. No more worms

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If you go this route make sure you follow the direction about water changes as the kill off will release toxins into the water column.

Bob

 

[dnov99]

If you go this route make sure you follow the direction about water changes as the kill off will release toxins into the water column.

Bob

+1. FWE works, but I would avoid it. If there are more worms then you can see hiding in the rocks the toxins they release can wipe out your tank. I have seen it happen...

 

[Classklown90]

If you let the population grow past carrying capacity, it will crash and kill your tank also. I would try siphoning what you can from under the rocks etc. So they dont nuke your tank like darren said. Do this for a week and get as much as possible, then treat.

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[Mike S]

Thanks guys. Right now I'm only seeing them in my fuge. Not to say that there aren't any in my display. I'm going to try find a melanarus wrasse this weekend. In the meantime ill try to siphon some of them out.

 

[magic]

Why don't you take your fuge offline and treat it do the water change and then bring it back online. No toxins in the tank. Anything in the display the wrasse will take care of.

Bob

 

[Mike S]

Thanks Bob, I didn't realize how quickly FWE worked. Since the fuge is sperate from the rest of the system it would be easy to take it off line and treat it. Ill just do a large water change and run carbon on then fuge before I bring it back online. I didn't find a melanarus wrasse this weekend but did come across a richmond wrasse.

 

[Mike S]

I siphoned out as many as I could last night and then took the fuge off line and treated with FWE. It seemed to effect them pretty quickly. I gave it a few hours and then ran carbon overnight before bringing the fuge back online. No negative effects on my display but I'm still seeing a few alive in my fuge. Ill repeat the treatment in a few days.