Red bugs on glass

PaReeferJ · Aug 10, 2016

What are these red things on my glass in my sump? If they move they do it real slow because I can't notice. Pics might be kinda bad..... iPhone

Lionfish Lair · Aug 10, 2016

They are flatworms. A Convolutriloba species.

PaReeferJ · Aug 10, 2016

Lionfish Lair said:
They are flatworms. A Convolutriloba species.

Great

.
How do I go about getting rid of these?

PAReefer · Aug 10, 2016

Flat worm Exit. But it isn't fun.

Lionfish Lair · Aug 10, 2016

When I see that variety I suck it out using rigid tubing, some airline and a big ole syringe.

PAReefer · Aug 10, 2016

Safer way to start. He claims they are confined to his sump. Do you think they are in the display too?

Lionfish Lair · Aug 10, 2016

There could be more. The OP's are at the water line, which is a fairly common stopping place, as well as just above the substrate. They love the conditions of a sump as well. This type in particular should be manually removed before chemical treatments at any rate (if their numbers go up and not down), as they are the variety that release the toxins when they die. IMO, always start with the most benign options and work your way up as is necessary.

saltyfilmfolks · Aug 11, 2016

@PaReeferJ
May I ask what kind of fish do you have in the display?
It would seem to me that if you have them in the sump they are in the display. If you don't see them in the display I wonder if something is snacking on them.

PaReeferJ · Aug 11, 2016

saltyfilmfolks said:
@PaReeferJ
May I ask what kind of fish do you have in the display?
It would seem to me that if you have them in the sump they are in the display. If you don't see them in the display I wonder if something is snacking on them.

I have 2 clowns, 2 pajama Cardinal fish, ruby head wrasse, Royal gramma, tail spot blenny, and watchman goby.

saltyfilmfolks · Aug 11, 2016

PaReeferJ said:
I have 2 clowns, 2 pajama Cardinal fish, ruby head wrasse, Royal gramma, tail spot blenny, and watchman goby.

I would bet the wrasse, maybe gramma, and perhaps the tail spot I don't know and maybe the crabs are keeping the DT nice and clean for you.
Most folks freak out at the sight of these. Generally IMO because they have had none of the small cleaners like these, there is such a large build up of detritus and bacteria, that when introduced to those tanks populations explode. Then there's trouble.
IMO if you haven't had a large explosion they behave like any population and use up the food source and the population slowly dies off. Kinda nice they cleaned up the tank for you before they left.
IME I have had brown flatworm populations do exactly that in my tanks. Over the last few years reading the forums the brown ones in particular seem to appear in posts and help threads particulaty in Aug Sept and Oct every year.

Keep an eye on the population. IME they come on to full strength really fast so it'll be this week or it's done.
Were it me in a large population explosion I would run a canister filter with felt and a bit of carbon and siphon and stir them into it and then flush them away and siphon them too as suggested.
The flatworm exit soloution is pretty harsh. As far as toxicity of the flat worm I'm not 100% on this but I understanbit's when they die off in large numbers you need to be concerned. Most don't realize that a couple of dead turbo snails in a 55g will nuke the tank too.

PaReeferJ · Aug 11, 2016

saltyfilmfolks said:
I would bet the wrasse, maybe gramma, and perhaps the tail spot I don't know and maybe the crabs are keeping the DT nice and clean for you.
Most folks freak out at the sight of these. Generally IMO because they have had none of the small cleaners like these, there is such a large build up of detritus and bacteria, that when introduced to those tanks populations explode. Then there's trouble.
IMO if you haven't had a large explosion they behave like any population and use up the food source and the population slowly dies off. Kinda nice they cleaned up the tank for you before they left.
IME I have had brown flatworm populations do exactly that in my tanks. Over the last few years reading the forums the brown ones in particular seem to appear in posts and help threads particulaty in Aug Sept and Oct every year.

Keep an eye on the population. IME they come on to full strength really fast so it'll be this week or it's done.
Were it me in a large population explosion I would run a canister filter with felt and a bit of carbon and siphon and stir them into it and then flush them away and siphon them too as suggested.
The flatworm exit soloution is pretty harsh. As far as toxicity of the flat worm I'm not 100% on this but I understanbit's when they die off in large numbers you need to be concerned. Most don't realize that a couple of dead turbo snails in a 55g will nuke the tank too.

Thanks! I will keep an eye on the population before going further.

Ryengoth · Aug 11, 2016

saltyfilmfolks said:
I would bet the wrasse, maybe gramma, and perhaps the tail spot I don't know and maybe the crabs are keeping the DT nice and clean for you.
Most folks freak out at the sight of these. Generally IMO because they have had none of the small cleaners like these, there is such a large build up of detritus and bacteria, that when introduced to those tanks populations explode. Then there's trouble.
IMO if you haven't had a large explosion they behave like any population and use up the food source and the population slowly dies off. Kinda nice they cleaned up the tank for you before they left.
IME I have had brown flatworm populations do exactly that in my tanks. Over the last few years reading the forums the brown ones in particular seem to appear in posts and help threads particulaty in Aug Sept and Oct every year.

Keep an eye on the population. IME they come on to full strength really fast so it'll be this week or it's done.
Were it me in a large population explosion I would run a canister filter with felt and a bit of carbon and siphon and stir them into it and then flush them away and siphon them too as suggested.
The flatworm exit soloution is pretty harsh. As far as toxicity of the flat worm I'm not 100% on this but I understanbit's when they die off in large numbers you need to be concerned. Most don't realize that a couple of dead turbo snails in a 55g will nuke the tank too.

Same thing with Asterina stars and stomas. They'll come and go and eventually change in population and appearances as your exporting methods mature or change. I noticed that when I had WAY too much det in my rocks and sand the flatworms (brown) would explode and then once I cleaned the rocks and sand they'd die off and stomatellas would pop up. I have a few asterinas and a bunch of mature stomatellas now competing against my turbos. Found a dead coralline-coated mexican turbo snail the other night.

I'm glad to see the stars and stomas though since they are really good at cleaning the tiny pores in the rockwork.

Pola0502ds · Aug 11, 2016

PAReefer said:
Flat worm Exit. But it isn't fun.

Can anyone comment on why he said this? What is the process for using this and what is the issue?

WetWhistle · Aug 11, 2016

The rust colored ones are normally toxic depending on species so if you dose with Flat worm Exit you can kill your tank as when they die they will release the toxin into your tank. I had a buddy that killed his tank this way.

You are better with manual removal till you get the numbers down at least. I would suck them out using rigid tubing, some airline host before dosing your system. If the numbers are small wrasse are good control.

Check out the link below for more detail and options.

http://www.melevsreef.com/node/651

Christopher B Keyes · Aug 11, 2016

I had them for quite some time in my 75gal. Not in the sump but in the display tank. I read somewhere that 6 line wrasses will eat them. I placed one in the tank and sure enough he had it cleared out in no time. Better than adding unnecessary chemicals to a tank and the look great too. Especially when fat on flatworms!

jeffrey m · Aug 11, 2016

Im not a big fan of chemicals either. I had a large break out of flat worms. I bought a leopard wrasse took care of them. Still had them in the sump so I took the sump outside and clean it. Havent had flat worms since.

Christopher B Keyes · Aug 11, 2016

jeffrey m said:
Im not a big fan of chemicals either. I had a large break out of flat worms. I bought a leopard wrasse took care of them. Still had them in the sump so I took the sump outside and clean it. Havent had flat worms since.

I believe then that a wrasse is the way to go. Add one to the display tank and do a thorough cleaning of the sump. It worked for both of us, no chemicals=happy balanced tank

PaReeferJ · Aug 11, 2016

Christopher B Keyes said:
I believe then that a wrasse is the way to go. Add one to the display tank and do a thorough cleaning of the sump. It worked for both of us, no chemicals=happy balanced tank

I have a ruby head wrasse and have none in the dt. I don't know he has eaten them or if they have not made it up there yet. I will clean out the sump and see if they go away.

Christopher B Keyes · Aug 11, 2016

PaReeferJ said:
I have a ruby head wrasse and have none in the dt. I don't know he has eaten them or if they have not made it up there yet. I will clean out the sump and see if they go away.

That is a very safe bet. Those flatworms will find their way everywhere. It is better to find their predator than blindly dump anything in your tank. My money is on the wrasse! Jeffrey M is right. Do a cleaning of your sump and go from there. Anything not affected I would leave alone. I wish you luck! It would be nice to know the outcome for others..

PaReeferJ · Aug 11, 2016

Christopher B Keyes said:
That is a very safe bet. Those flatworms will find their way everywhere. It is better to find their predator than blindly dump anything in your tank. My money is on the wrasse! Jeffrey M is right. Do a cleaning of your sump and go from there. Anything not affected I would leave alone. I wish you luck! It would be nice to know the outcome for others..

I will let ya know what happens.