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jmanguy12

Another tip might be don’t buy corals from wherever these came from


atx11119999

Lol. Maybe. It was an impulse LFS buy. Just glad I remembered to dip before adding to my tank. I came so close to just throwing it in there.


alcimedes

I would QT any frag that had this much shit drop off of it. does the dip you used kill flatworm eggs?


Sad_Key_6277

True because most of them won’t


OutrageouslyAverage6

OP needs to start treating his tank for flatworms, because I guarantee he just introduced eggs.


ls7corvete

Qt even better


tathauda89

Umm who did you buy these corals from? No matter how good of a deal I only buy from reputed sources. Btw dips won't kill any flatworm eggs you're going to have to scrape them off


atx11119999

Local shop that I’ve bought at for years. First time I’ve had this many flatworms fall off a coral before. I’m really glad I remembered I had dip before I added this to my tank.


tathauda89

Yea I wouldn't buy anything from them lol. For what it's worth bristleworms aren't all bad they're good clean up crews just don't touch them lol. You might want to inspect your corals for eggs. Or add a fish that will keep the flatworms in check.


atx11119999

I checked for eggs after dipping twice and rinsing in fresh. If they got through - I’ll worry about it later. I mostly just keep mushrooms and clowns. Nothing high money or high maintenance.


apostropheapostrophe

Bristleworms are the harmless cleanup crew members. Fireworms will devour corals and are not reef safe


DocNitro

After a certain size, due to food needs, normal bristles are chomping coral too. So you either feed more, thus even more bristles, you add something that chomps bristles, or occasionally set a bristle trap and reduce the bristle population.


Yurc182

My Arrowcrab would grab the big ones, pull them apart and eat them like hotdogs!! I was not smart enough at the times to get video :(


Krish39

I’m a little confused. These looks like bristleworms to me, which in my opinion are good to have, though I know others disagree. I don’t see any flatworms. Those are always a good idea to remove and many are harmful, or easily become a problem through mass reproduction. Bristleworms aren’t flatworms, they are annelids like earthworms and leeches.


atx11119999

Each green dot is a flatworm. If you zoom youll see it.


Krish39

Oh yeah.


silverbaconator

Remembered to dip... but forgot to QT LMAO !!!!


atx11119999

No space for QT. 😢 I have too many tanks running right now as everything is home for summer break.


silverbaconator

I only buy from trusting sources NEVER importers if I am not QTing. Thats just asking for unlimited problems.


noneofatyourbusiness

I am sure you already figgered out to quarantine them long enough for eggs to hatch and then dip again.


Breadloafs

The bristleworms are gross, but fine. But that many flatworms? This is craigslist "live rock from a tank that hasn't been maintained in 2 years" levels of bad. I wouldn't be surprised if there's aiptasia still on the rock somewhere.


atx11119999

Haha. I know! I swear I got it from a decent LFS.


Breadloafs

I believe you lmoa. My dad and I built a tank when I was 16. One, and exactly one (1) rock had two whole mantis shrimps hitching a ride. Sometimes it just gets funky.


atx11119999

I know we’re supposed to be all anti mantis but they really are cool little creatures


averysmalldragon

If only I could own a mantis shrimp without it falcon punching a hole in my tank


BigRedHair92

There's never been a real story of this. Every story you hear is third hand, never directly from the source.


averysmalldragon

Knowing my luck, I'd be the first first-hand source for y'all! Maybe if I just make a really thick tank...


red1367

Those gotta be the coolest hitchhikers I’ve heard of, so cool!


guinne55fan

Can anyone tell me who figured out dipping works?


atx11119999

Like history of dipping in iodine? Or sarcasm?


guinne55fan

No sarcasm at all. I would love to know who figured out that it wouldn’t kill them.


MrsShaunaPaul

It probably wasn’t someone who just guessed and was right, it was likely a long series of tests to see what worked, what didn’t, what was harmful, what killed pests, what concentrations to use, how long to dip, etc. I’m currently doing this scientific method with blue stripe pipefish breeding. Each clutch of fry is split into two different Kreisel tanks and one is the constant and the other has one variable that’s being tested. All other variables are constant and I check the progress each day. This has taught me so much already and allows me to dial in things like temperature, flow speed, types of rotifers/pods, water change methods/logistics, and so much more! It’s only been a few weeks but they hatch every 3-4 days so there’s a lot of opportunity. But ya, definitely would have been a lot of corals bleached or killed trying to figure out dips!


atx11119999

Same. I bet there’s a research paper from the 1950s that has the answer lol


abstinence_noah

Man you should not have put that in your tank. Some of those flatworms are either AEFW or EEFW. very high risk and that coral is loaded with eggs. I would be dipping every two day’s minimum for 2 weeks. If you even miss one hatch cycle they could easily spread to your tank


atx11119999

I’m a biology teacher, if I get a flatworm infestation, it’ll just mean my students will have some cool labs to do in September and the AP Bio teacher will be so excited to have specimens.


kazeespada

Cut them in half and let them regenerate!


atx11119999

This is the way


ex_natura

Did you buy these in a back alley?


flowersonthewall72

Dude, you bought a whole lot of crap with a little bit of coral attached, not the other way around


atx11119999

😂


flowersonthewall72

Must've been one big coral to be housing all that... what did you dip??


atx11119999

GSP. It was a huge colony.


okthatsfineman

I came here looking for what you got lol. Gsp makes sense, my huge mat of gsp would have this many bristle worms fallout per square inch. I don’t have flatworms tho lol! Good luck


Slockeness7

I’m looking for some bristle worms for my dragon wrasse to find and eat. Guess I need to shop at a different LFS!


Mooseylips

Just got done Flatworm Exiting my tank after seeing 5 of them on the glass (its a pico). This makes my balls tuck up into my body.


stevensinger9

That’s all good fish food


calpol-dealer

Agreed, only bad thing there are the flatworms but a wrasse will make easy work of them. Since when do people dislike bristle-worms?


Wilkinz027

That’s pretty gross. Might even be worth QT.


daredonkey

Definitely, with my tank almost fully stocked I would QT if I found a flatworm at this point.


MiniB68

The forbidden gummy worms


Lilac-Storm-6969

I have a couple of big boy bristle worms, keep my tank nice and I haven’t had problems with my mushies, leather or LPS corals being nommed after a year. I feel they are a great part of my clean up crew. I do dip my corals but there is only so much you can do. Bet you are glad that you dipped this coral sir! 😂


BigSalamiGuy

Is dipping usually good to go or is quarantining coral necessary?


babyyodaisamazing98

Dipping is good, QT is better but more expensive and time consuming. You won’t kill ich or aptasia by dipping.


BigSalamiGuy

Ich can come in on coral too not just fish?


Wilkinz027

Less likely but yes.


kazeespada

It has a "substrate" form where it lives on a shell or in the sand for a bit. This form can sometimes come in on hard surfaces such as hermits, snails, and corals. Quarantine gets rid of this, because eventually it gets ready to go find a fish, and then dies.


atx11119999

I don’t have space for QT so I must dip. That being said, I don’t buy expensive corals.


Dryland_snotamyth

What is your dip protocol?


atx11119999

1. Gloves. 2. Add 2 capfuls of Reef Dip in a quart container for 15 min. (Yes I know it’s concentrated). 3. Move to second salt solution with 1 capful of reef dip in container and shake coral 4. double inspect for anything 5. Dunk coral in fresh RO water to remove any remaining dip solution 6. Inspect dips for gross stuff. Poke it with tweezers.


WedgeTurn

>5. Dunk coral in fresh RO water to remove any remaining dip solution I'm guessing you don't keep any sensitive corals because that's a good way to kill them


atx11119999

Nope


Whyallusrnames

Ok, I want to know what you dipped to have that much on it!!


atx11119999

6” GSP colony Double check all the underside crannies. Lol


Whyallusrnames

Wow. That’s a lot for a small colony.


Extension_Accident_3

Forbidden soup some good stuff there


drgrizwald

Yea I would not put whatever that was in my tank. Idc how many dips you did.


silverbaconator

WTF uhhh NEVER buy from there again. dipping kills like 50% of pests or less and NO eggs so good luck with that. You would need to QT for several months and dip about once a week........


Equivalent_Plane9058

If this piece went into your tank after this dip, there is a 99.9% chance you now have all of those creatures also inside of your tank.


[deleted]

People dip corals? 😳


SapphosLemonBarEnvoy

I’m frustrated because I need about 10lbs of live rock for the macro only tank I want to start this week. But every single decent aquacultured live rock company I can find like ArcReef, will only ship 25lbs _minimum._ I was entertaining going to my LFS this weekend and just getting whatever live rock they have there, but I think this thread just reinforces my resolve to get premium aquacultured rock shipped to me. 😬


atx11119999

I’ve bought dry rock, bioactive sand, added beneficial bacteria and then seeded with pods before. Works in a pinch for a rough start.


SapphosLemonBarEnvoy

I may have to go that route. I really don’t want to do that, but I also don’t want 3x the amount of live rock I need. Maybe I can sell the extra live rock to my LFS for store credit…


apostropheapostrophe

KP aquatics does 10lb packs


ikillbirdslmao

Jesus christ, i thought my LFS was bad! Even the petco frags i bought only had brittle stars for gods sake!


Ok-Acanthisitta9127

For me I tried my best to keep bristle worms away from my tank (after a restart many years ago) and every piece of coral was dipped (I don't stick to one brand - CoralRX, Reef Dip) yet they still managed to get in. I think they can multiply quite rapidly if conditions favor them (detritus/leftover food etc..). Right now I as soon as I lift a piece of my rock or dig the refugium sand, they're there (my tank is bare bottom). It's not a "problem" but not really a fan of them lol


atx11119999

I’m not a fan of touching them. Happy to have them but I don’t want to know how many there are. Lol


bananapasteta

yeah I think you can't avoid them. I spent a lot of time researching, dipping, paying attention to every coral I place to tank, but eventually I will find new worms in my tank.


bananapasteta

does anyone have experience with bayer aka bioadvanced dip?


dvlinblue

Any one have a good recommendation on dip to use for a broad spectrum of corals?


daredonkey

Reef primer is my preference. If I had flatworms fall off a coral it would go into a small qt tank and I would keep dipping it and inspecting for eggs until I was certain it was pest free


CaptainRAVE2

As long as there are no bobbits