What are these?

[RobG]

They don't appear to move, but I have several small clusters of these things I've noticed in the last week or so.

Any bright ideas?

Rob

[RobG]

A close up of three...

[RobG]

They are about 1/4" long or so...

[SomeHairyOldGuy]

I'm afraid you might have to give us a more steady/clear photo. A description would help aswell. I doubt anybody is going to be able to help you out with what you have already posted.
SHOG

[cod]

Hard to tell for sure, but the things in the first photo look like flat worms.

[Reinhold]

Could it be a Wafer algae of some type?

[reefhead]

here is a great picture of a Red Flatworm taken by a member of reef central

They do move around so.....

[organicreefer]

you got cooties

[naser]

agree with the flat worm conclusion..

[PerryinCA]

Does it move? It looks to me like it could be the dreaded brown wafer algae. The only thing that was able to get rid of the stuff I had in my now dismantled 90 gallon () was an even worse breakout of green devil (Bryopsis!).

Get back to us with some descriptions if ya can....

-Perry

[NaCl-H2O]

Those are red flat worms. I wish you the best of luck getting rid of them.

[reefhead]

If they don't appear to move -- they are Not Red Palnaria (the dreaded flatworm)


try to increase your current is this area.

[Northman_with_reef]

Can you actually see the thing move???
(or does it move REAL SLOW...)??

[RobG]

Thanks for the insight and sorry for not being able to check this thread for a couple of days

Here is some more info:

1) They are not visible until the halides come on -- I spent some time looking for them under actinics and nowhere to be found. Many are visible with the halides on -- I have to assume they are hiding at night.

2) Even if I just pick one and stare at it for 5 minutes straight, I can't see it move -- are they moving? I think so given that I can't see them at "night"

3) They are pretty flat, all of them have that reddish-orange color to them. However, unlike the great pic reefhead attached, they do not appear to have the rough texture or color variation of those flatworms.

4) The "infestation" is not growing too fast -- right now they aren't a problem. There's a couple of small patches here and there -- maybe 50-100 critters total.


so, what would you do? They aren't there in epidemic proportions (yet?) Any better ideas after this description?


OR, I had cooties before, and I do think these are them :eek3:

I'll see if I can get a better pic, but they are pretty darn small and the digi camera I have right now does not zoom very well (2.5x optical only... digital is worthless)

Rob

[scubadude]

Im pretty sure they are flat worms, you could probably get a better verification through Dr. Rons forum or even Eric Bornemans forum on RC though. As long as they dont get into mass quantities and start smothering corals then I would try to work out some kind of balance w/them to at least keep them to a healthy minimum. Watch your feedings, skimming, and photoperiod and try to give them a certain area free of corals if a certain area is afflicted more so than others. Limited success has been ascertained through certain wrasses like the Coris wrasse, or possibly a mandarin, but this can be a gamble. There is also Oomed which is a chemical additive but some blame it for crashing systems (or could it have been the flatworms?) My point is to NOT try to overtreat for flatworms as that can be just as bad, but make it a point to try and slowly eliminate the source naturally.

[RobG]

OK, so assuming they are flatworms I have no idea how they got there -- this tank has been up over a year now -- must have snuck in on a recent coral addition.

I completely agree that working on the problem naturally is the way to go since it is a long way from smothering any corals. I would consider adding a Mandarin since I do have a good pod population and 4-5" DSB. I am not that familiar with the Coris wrasse, but don't those grow very large?

Scuba,
From your three things to watch, skimming, feeding and photoperiod:

I assume aggressive skimming and minimal feedings are going to help control this, but what about the photoperiod? Are flatworms photosynthetic animals? Should I increase or decrease the period? Right now, I am running 220 W VHO Actinics from noon 'til midnight and 2*250 MH from about 2pm - 10pm.

Thanks for the info Any additional help or info on flatworms appreciated!

Rob

[scubadude]

Im not sure if flatworms are photosynthetic or not, however im sure their food is! I would start w/ the skimming and feedings first and only go to the delayed photoperiod if those 2 dont cut it.

[Northman_with_reef]

I've heard from others with flatworms, if you leave it and dont care, they diappear!

A good way to prevent flatworms is dipping evrything you get for your tank in fresh water.

[RobG]

I have NEVER done a freshwater dip -- they scare me. For corals, I don't even bother quarantining -- just a drip acclimation then right on into the tank. I'm usually pretty careful to check for critters first, though.

Now that you mention skimming, I think I remember when these guys first popped up: About a month ago, the impeller on my POS Berlin Turbo died again -- I went skimmerless with no nutrient export other than Xenia for over a week. I think that's about the time I first remember seeing them.

On a good note, the new design of Berlin Turbo impeller makes the think crank out at least twice the gunk it did before.

I'll cut back on feedings a bit, keep skimming 24/7 and hope for the best.

I've heard from others with flatworms, if you leave it and dont care, they diappear!

I care, but I'll leave it alone and hope that strategy works!

Rob

[bongobrian]

oh great! now I've gone cross-eyed.