Flatworm removal for fun and enjoyment

[SteveP]

I was performing some much needed maintenance on my tank this weekend, injecting aiptasias with concentrated Turbo Calcium (heard it worked better than kalk paste), when I noticed all of those damn flatworms on my mushrooms and pagoda. We're talking the bigger species, some up to a half inch long, not the small, red, retrogemmas (sp?). Well, after finishing up with aiptasias I found that the syringe I used to inject them makes a surprising good tool for spot-vacuuming the flatworms! I got teh syringe from an ink jet cartidge refill pack (yeah, I'm cheap). I spent the next 45 minutes happily drawing flatworms into the syringe, barely causing the mushrooms any discomfort. You've gotta try this, it's a blast. Eventually you get good enough to do it with just one hand. Clear off a mushroom, move to the next and before you know it more appear and you can wipe them out too. I probably removed 90% of the worms off the corals they frequent.

Steve
8{I

 

[Len]

Thanks for sharing.

I've seen the flatworm population in some people's tanks and I can't imagine this being an efficient way to remove the pesty buggers. Probably more fun though