Pink/reddish little things all over the coral and glass

[napoleon41]

If someone doesn't know offhand what I'm talking about, I will try to post a picture. My wife has a the camera on a trip.

I'm having an issue with what I always thought were some sort of larvae from the corals, but I'm seriously beginning to wonder.

Every couple of weeks, I get a wave of pink/reddish, small "things" stuck all over the hard corals, rocks, sand and glass. On the glass, they look almost as if someone flattened a very small tulip blossom.

After a few days, they die and turn black/brown, and I suck them up the the next water change.

The problem is that I think they might be connected to my issues with the nitrogen levels, and they seem to kill off parts of the hard corals if I don't clean them off (squirting with water works). The ones that I knock off the glass seem to have the ability to wriggle a bit.

Anyone know what I'm dealing with? If it is coral spawn, I wouldn't mind thinning out the offending corals a bit. It's a bit of a mess to clean up every week.

[Steve McKay]

If someone doesn't know offhand what I'm talking about, I will try to post a picture. My wife has a the camera on a trip.

I'm having an issue with what I always thought were some sort of larvae from the corals, but I'm seriously beginning to wonder.

Every couple of weeks, I get a wave of pink/reddish, small "things" stuck all over the hard corals, rocks, sand and glass. On the glass, they look almost as if someone flattened a very small tulip blossom.

After a few days, they die and turn black/brown, and I suck them up the the next water change.

The problem is that I think they might be connected to my issues with the nitrogen levels, and they seem to kill off parts of the hard corals if I don't clean them off (squirting with water works). The ones that I knock off the glass seem to have the ability to wriggle a bit.

Anyone know what I'm dealing with? If it is coral spawn, I wouldn't mind thinning out the offending corals a bit. It's a bit of a mess to clean up every week.

If they are on mostly Acropora's, then they could be Red Bugs. If there everywhere, which sounds like the case they are probably Flat Worms. Research these two items and see if one applies to you. There are cures for both, post your results and we'll take it from there.

Wife's on a trip by herself, lucky man.

[Ninong]

Do a Google search using the words "red planaria" as your search terms. Planaria are flatworms. Enlarged photo of a red flatworm.

If that's what you have, then do a search on the board using either "flatworms" or "planaria." You will probably get more hits using "flatworms." We have discussed this pest and how to deal with it many, many times.

[napoleon41]

Ah. I was about to say "no way" when google images returned a picture of 3 ladies holding up a giant flatworm like 6 feet long. lol.

Then I bumped into this link and bingo. That's exactly what mine look like. Acoel Flatworms it is.
Acoel Flatworms - RTAW Reefpedia

And the wife took the kids but left me to put paths in the french garden and replace a section of fence

Thanks for identifying! Much appreciated.

[Ninong]

That's exactly what I figured you had. That picture on Reefing the Australian Way is even better than the one I used because the one I used is too enlarged. Both are of exactly the same species of planaria.

It was your description that pinpointed it for me.

By the way, don't be misled by that term "non-predatory" used by RTAW. As they correctly point out, this pest has the ability to literally smother your aquarium, blocking light from reaching corals and other light-dependent organisms.

They mention Salifert's Flatworm eXit. Yes, that's the product most people use to eliminate these little beasties but be VERY careful when using this product and follow the directions exactly. This is very important. When the flatworms die, they will rupture and release the red fluid that fills their bodies. This fluid is highly toxic to fish and other marine animals and must be removed immediately. That's why you should manually siphon out as many of the flatworms as possible before even beginning to use Flatworm eXit.

If you turn off the aquarium lights and then mount a flashlight over one end of the aquarium, the flatworms will congregate in that area. It makes it easier to find them and manually remove many of them before beginning the chemical treatment.

They are capable of very rapid multiplication and it's not likely that you will ever get rid of them manually. Just about everyone who has them, resorts to using Flatworm eXit eventually but there are quite a few horror stories online posted by people who were not careful in following the instructions exactly. Some people have had their entire tank crash because they were careless in using this product. Remember, it's not the product itself that causes the crash, it's the toxic red fluid released by the dying flatworms.

[napoleon41]

They must have a pretty short lifespan because they seems to die and become detritus on the sand and rocks. Then the next batch is on everything. Seems like they are making my cleanings a lot harder, but like I said before, I wonder if all of their little bodies are what is causing my nitrate levels to never drop away (25-50).

I'm also wondering if they release toxins when they die of "natural causes." lol. That could be what killed off all of my feather dusters and some of the hard corals. Used to have a ton of featherdusters everywhere.

Do you think if I get rid of the worms, the featherdusters will come back?

Too bad they haven't slowed down my fat bristle worm. I think if he gets any bigger, he's going to start moving the rock around. lol. He's a nice guy though. Just eats dead stuff. Too bad worms don't eat worms.

[Ninong]

Your acoels are Convolutriloba sp., probably C. retrogemma. Besides sexual reproduction, they are also capable of asexual reproduction by fission. It's asexual reproduction that accounts for their rapid population increases in our aquariums.

Their population will vary depending on the availability of copepod prey and availability of light, since they are photosynthetic. There are very few, if any, effective biological controls that would be suitable for reef aquariums. The few fish that do eat them won't eliminate them completely and those fish are all very rare in the hobby. There are some anecdotal reports that Synchiropus picturatus may eat them.

The most effective method of getting rid of them is probably Salifert's Flatworm eXit. Again, follow the instructions very carefully so that you don't cause serious harm to your tank's livestock and so that you don't end up having to repeat the treatment a second time.

[Ninong]

I wonder if all of their little bodies are what is causing my nitrate levels to never drop away (25-50).

Probably not.

I'm also wondering if they release toxins when they die of "natural causes." lol.

I don't think so.

That could be what killed off all of my feather dusters and some of the hard corals.

I don't think so.

Do you think if I get rid of the worms, the featherdusters will come back?

Yes.

Too bad they haven't slowed down my fat bristle worm. I think if he gets any bigger, he's going to start moving the rock around. lol. He's a nice guy though. Just eats dead stuff. Too bad worms don't eat worms.

Very few animals will eat these flatworms because they probably taste terrible.

[napoleon41]

Thought I would post what worked since it has been a few months.

I haven't done the worm exit business yet, maybe because the worms aren't much of a problem anymore.

What did work:

1.) Scooter blenny. He was awesome and ate a ton the first day he was in the tank. Unfortunately, he died after a few months, possibly from stress due to temp and salinity flux

2.) Turned the heat down! I was too hot. Found out that my thermometer was about 2 degrees off. I turned the heat down to 78 instead of where it was at 82. Wow! Makes a huge difference to the metabolism of the tank. Worms slowed down a TON after that.

3.) Started sucking them out with an extremely basic tool I made out of a long thin dowel, some tape (clear non-toxic) and air-line hose from my fresh water tank. Normally, I would have said that that line is too small for cleaning, but it works perfectly siphoning flatworms into a 5 gal bucket and gave me plenty of time for detailed cleaning. Found a bunch hiding between corals that I could clearly see in the morning when the light just flipped on, but that were hidden by the coral after everything woke up. Once I got their numbers down, they are just part of the cleaning process every week.

4.) Got my salinity in balance and nitrates (now at a 5) under control; the nitrate solution was due to larger regular water changes while siphoning flatworms . Funny how the problem present the solution to my nitrate issues. hahah.

My tank is now out of control, but going well.

Thanks everyone for your help!