Acoel Flatworms on Goniopora

[JustinM]

Got this goniopora a while back, 2 months. I saw a few small brown spots on it, and really thought nothing of it. After some time and research I finally realized they are Acoel Flatworms. Any second thought would be appreciated before I go buy some flatworm exit. Thanks.

[JustinM]

On second thought, keep seeing bad things about flatworm exit being harmful, wiping out pods etc. Any other suggestions for chemical-free eradication?

[JustinM]

So nobody has any ideas? Thanks...Reefers...

[Zo0k365]

I'm not sure if sixline wrasse eat aceol flatworms but you could ask around.

[JustinM]

Yeah I read that a sixline may eat them, but more likely they will find another food source. I also have a McCoskers Flasher Wrasse so I don't know how they would do together. I managed to get 2 siphoned off. Thanks for the reply.

[briansbelle]

I have used flatworm exit with no problems at all. I treated my tank twice with it to make sure I got all of them bc some hide deep in the rocks. I also ran a gallon of carbon on my 20 long after the treatment and did a 5 gallon water change to clean out some of the nasties.

 

It had no impact on my pods at all...there were enough pods to support(along with nutramar ova) to keep my female mandarin fat and happy...

 

Follow the directions carefully,syphon as many as you can see before treatment,I used a rigid airline with a piece of pantyhose attached to the end of it so I could add the water back in the tank.

 

I had billions of flatworms!! My tank had a lot of macros in it...one species(red titan) seemed like a house for the worms(tighter growing like a bush)..once I added the few drops of FWE they were everywhere...

 

It only took about 5 mins before the first treatment was over...I ran the gallon of carbon for 24hrs after the treatment and water change...

 

Hope that helps...ps I would treat now before they get way out of control,like they did with me...

[JustinM]

Thanks for the insight. I know there are probably a whole bunch more, I just am a little nervous about using FE. I have not seen any, just on the Goni so I may just pull the goni out with my next water change(5 gallon, put the Goni in the dirty water and dose in there. 4 drops per 5 gallons.) Let it do its magic and put it back. What do you think?

[briansbelle]

I don't think pulling the goni and treating will help. It will get rid of the ones on there for the time being,but once you put it back in the tank it will get them again...you have to eliminate them from the tank also.

 

 

I was nervous about using FWE too..my 20 long was home to 6 sexy shrimp,2 porcelain crabs,a pom pom crab,a firefish,a yellow clown goby,and a mandarin. My main concern was the inverts. But I knew if I didn't do something fast that my tank could crash if I didn't kill them all or atleast reduce the numbers. It was a risk I was willing to take for the sake of the tank...and I'm glad I did. Nothing showed any signs of stress,corals were open the whole treatment and inverts went about doing their normal thing.

 

One thing I thinked that helped a lot is running a full gallon of carbon on the 20 long right after the worms started floating around the water column. I ran it in a BRS reactor,with a mj1200.

[JustinM]

Ah, this sucks. Thanks for making me feel a little better about the product though. I guess this weekend I will do this, as it's scheduled water change anyways. I don't have a reactor, but I can throw a bag of carbon in my refugium , not a high flow area, but better than nothing. Do you think that will work? Also, when did you do the water change?

[briansbelle]

Do you have a HOB filter you can throw on it to run some carbon in? I changed the 5 gallons on my tank about 5-7 mins after the worms started dying...then after the WC I ran the carbon to pull out what the wc missed.

[JustinM]

No, I have a HOB refugium and my skimmer which has room for a bag. I already keep about 5oz in my refugium. What does the carbon do, neutralize the toxins?

[briansbelle]

Ok if you place the carbon in an area of decent flow you will be ok. The carbon pulls out toxins and also pulls out the meds that are left behind after the water change.

[JustinM]

Again, thanks for the help. I will let you know how things went after I do this, this weekend. I always have about 15-20 gallons of water made up, so all I need to do is go get some FWE.

[MikeTR]

Follow the directions on the package exactly. I ended up using a 2x dose on my 10 gallon and I only think I lost some stomatellas. Corals or fish didn't mind at all. I think it says do a water change after like 6 hours but just do whatever the directions state. Start running the carbon when you see them bending over backwards, peel off, and float away. I did a couple treatments without problem.

 

it's satisfying watching them run for their lives .. little buggers

[aquariumdude]

I'm having to treat my tank tomorrow. It made me sick to my stomach to see my sand floor with I'd say 30 or more and then I saw a few on the rocks. Hopefully I caught them early enough. After treatment is done, I'm getting a sixline wrasse.