flatworms, bristleworms, and abalones?

[Sharkie]

Just brought myself home a new piece of rock and have it in a seperate tank just to make sure theres no baddies on it and so far HUNDREDS of flatworms have appeared swimming along the top and bottom of the glass in the lil tank!! eww! I'm not sure if they are good or bad but i dont want to put them if they are going oto multiply into something not good.


I also have seen 6 or 7 bristleworms and have manage to get one more off completly from out of my new frag of star polyps. are bristleworms good or bad? I have heard and read both and after seeing them eat my swimmy i'm not much of a fan but if it was jsut them doing their job then is it safe to put them in my aquarium?


Annnd last but not least there seems to be 3 or 4 minature abalones moving about on the rock. I'm not sure if thats what they are or not but they seem to be quite friendly and if they are abalone whats the best thing to do with them? I know they eat algae (which my tank is bringing alot, plus what i have in my other tank), is there antyhing else to do for them? I will post a picture of one as soon as i get batteries for my camera, they are about the size of my pinky fingernail


thanks

 

[RyanG]

Treat the rock with flatworm exit, you DONT want flatworms.

You do want bristleworms.

The little bivalves are good too they are filter feeders.

 

[JAG107]

those flatworms, KILL THEM ALL before you add any SPS that is for damn sure.
+1 for RyanG

 

[Sharkie]

yea those worms are going.. sadly all our LFS are closed tonight :( they close way too early here...

its strange because i looked it over really well before i purchased it today and saw no signs of the flatworms OR bristles. lots of brittle stars a lil abalones and some feather dusters but nothing that scared me... :( and my coral is really healthy too.. hmm...

 

[yote]

+2 Ryan
Those bristle worms are actually THE best members of your clean up crew.But those flatworms are bad news.They release toxins when they die that can crash and kill your entire tank.
The Abalones,Congratulations on getting them.They are the best algae control snails you could ever hope to get.

 

[Sharkie]

so basically i just need to worry about the flatworms and use the exit on them and leave the bristles alone?

 

[Bifferwine]

Bristleworms are just fine, they are excellent cleaners and a very important part of your cleaner crew. Flatworms, on the other hand, are a pest in this hobby. Like others have said, they have the potential to kill everything else in your tank. You will need to treat the coral with a medication called Flatworm Exit to make sure it kills them all.

And if I were you, I'd never buy anything from that store again. There's no way they should be selling corals infested with flatworms. They'll go out of business real fast with practices like that. I'd give them a call and let them know what happened. Ask them to give you the Flatworm Exit for free.

 

[Sharkie]

ahh okay, well my bristleworms will just have to live it out with the flatworms for now since they are all in quarenteen.

its odd though, this LFS is where i have bought everything and i haven't lost anyone and have had excellent luck with everything... maybe it was just a bad batch? we only have 2 LFS here that sell saltwater critters (besides petco who always has dead, overpriced, not very large selection of fish) and both are really good about keeping their exhibits clean and well maintained... i will talk to them tomorrow and see what they say

 

[Piggy]

Make sure you treat them flatworms at least twice. They do not all die with one treatment. I would even do three. Take it from someone who had them. They are a pain to get rid of once they get in the main tank.

 

[d2mini]

Make sure you treat them flatworms at least twice. They do not all die with one treatment. I would even do three. Take it from someone who had them. They are a pain to get rid of once they get in the main tank.

No kidding!
After I treated my main tank, they have stayed gone so far.
But now they keep showing up in my fuge! I've gone through just about a whole bottle of flatworm eXit.

 

[Sharkie]

i just called the LFS and asked them some questions regarding their care and talked to the management who refuses that they have flatworms and it was during my transition from their bag to my quareteen tank that gave it flatworms... not true! lol. my quarenteen is spotless...


No one in town has eXit at the moment and i was told that getting a Sea Lettuce nudibranch/slug would eat the flatworms that are still living among the bubbles of my coral and eventually be moved to my larger tank? I am taking all of my damsels into the other good LFS tomorrow (all my coral from them are spectacular) for some store credit and am planning on picking up my black clown and possibly a small maroon one.
would a nudi be worth getting or is it something that is not easy to care for in the long run? I have read that they eat algae which I have plenty of and don't mind supplying for him if hes worth getting and keeping long term...

also have read that velvet nudibranchs also eat flatworms like no tomorrow... pros and cons of these guys? lol

 

[hebbah]

Your abolones actually sound like stomachtids (sp?). Mine look like little whitish slug thingies with an abalone shaped shell. I was told on here that they are harmless cleaners. Mine actually had babies and now I have lots of little ones crawling over the LR...

 

[Sharkie]

actually i've looked those up thinking thats what they were but found out they are indeed abalone :) they are really tiny but uber cute!

 

[hebbah]

Ohhh....I want some too! Lucky you!

 

[yote]

Lettuce nudis dont eat flatworms.Matter of fact,ALL they eat is hair algae and bryopsis algae.There may be a nudi that eats flatworms,but I'd be willing to bet its not reef safe.
Some of the smaller wrasses will eat flatworms,but thats hit or miss.
You may be better off to order the flatworm exit from the 2 docs.But what ever you do,keep that rock in QT untill you can treat for the worms.

 

[Bifferwine]

Yeah, lettuce leaf nudis will definitely not eat flatworms.