In the reef hobby there is no shortage of hitchhikers.

In the reef hobby there is no shortage of hitchhikers. Some mentioned in previous weeks can be beneficial like bristle worms and some are similar to a weed like aiptasia, which can takeover real estate in your tank. This week we’ll focus on flatworms.

There are different types of hitchhiking flat worms, but one of the worst and most common ones is the Red Planaria. They’re about an 1/8 th of an inch in size, red or rust coloured, and may not be easily seen at first, but in a tank with a high nutrient load their numbers can easily get out of control. In large numbers they can kill corals, and when they die they can release toxins. There is help for this problem. First, you can reduce the chance of them entering your tank by using Seachem’s Reef Dip to kill pests on a coral that you’re adding. To keep their numbers down you can use natural predators like Sixline, Melanurus and some Leopard Wrasses. If the flatworms are getting out of control, you can reduce the numbers by using 1/4” airline hose and siphoning out all the ones you can see to minimise the die-off toxin and follow up with Blue Life’s Flatworm Rx.

For further information on using the Flatworm Rx and treating flatworms, talk to an Into The Blue team member!