Snail Eggs on My Mushrooms

[xXTheWendigoXx]

Was scraping the copious number of snail eggs off the glass today when I noticed discoloration on my mushrooms and realized they were even more of the little buggers. Anyone else had anything like this before? Wild...

[Reefd Up]

You sure they aren't flatworms?

[UDJustin]

You sure they aren't flatworms?

thats what i was thinking

[Wall_Tank]

The second photo sure looks like flatworms to me.

[aquavista99]

Looks like Acoel flatworms to me. Flatworm Exit (Salifert) works well for removal. Check out the link below to confirm if you have Acoel flatworms in your tank.

http://www.masa.asn.au/masawiki/index.php/Acoel_Flatworm

[xXTheWendigoXx]

Let me get a better picture up tomorrow for comparison. I've definitely never seen any of them move, even over time.

[xXTheWendigoXx]

If so, anyone got a six-line wrasse I can borrow for a few 

[aquavista99]

Let me get a better picture up tomorrow for comparison. I've definitely never seen any of them move, even over time.

The above pictures on the link are closeup shots of the flatworms, which make them appear much larger. Most flatworms are very tiny unless you let them go unchecked.. They will attach to the glass, sand and corals. Most snails stay away from feeding on corals.

[xXTheWendigoXx]

I've always had one or two clinging to the glass and just never thought about it. My friend in Michigan who got me into the hobby always told me they were snail eggs (I probably got them from the first batch of live rock he gave me to get started). Coincidentally, since I first posted, they seem to have about quadrupled on the glass in extremely creepy fashion. My tank is fish fallow at the moment and as long as they don't overwhelm anything I'm going to leave them be for short term. We'll see if we can work a Wrasse into July's budget. Thanks everyone for the tip-off! It probably would have gotten silly overwhelming otherwise!

[Aquatic Specialists]

xXTheWendingoXx
If you really need a sixline wrasse I have them for about 20.00 normally, but I can give you sale pricing at 15.00. I also have mandarin gobys which are known to eat them as well, for 17.96. If you decide that you are in desparate need of one I can work out something with you on payment. I would not let them keep multiplying as they can reach plague proportions very quickly, as you are finding out. Once they get out of control it is harder for just one or two fish to take care of them!
Justin

[Reefd Up]

I would definitely treat them.  Flatworms have a community-suicide trigger.  Basically, if one feels that committing suicide is best, they'll all trigger themselves to die at the same time (but one or two will survive to plague your tank the next go-around.)  The release of toxins is extremely deadly to an aquarium (depends on species though...would need to see a better pictures...but chances are, you have the bad ones.)

If you're on a tight budget, manually removing them is best.  I think it was Melev that had a handy "flatworm funnel" he made.  Basically, it's airline tubing attached to a filter sock.  You can re-use the water after it filters through the sock.  Just throw away the flatworms after siphoning them out.  Keep doing that whenever you see them.  It's a pain, but oh well if you're on a budget.

[xXTheWendigoXx]

Justin, thanks for the offer, as soon as my wife gets her next paycheck I'll probably be stopping by. It'll be nice to have something fishy in the tank again. In the meantime, I can keep my unemployed butt occupied by scraping through boxes of spare aquarium parts and rigging up a flatworm sucker of my very own. Then I'll have a nice wrasse to clean up the leftovers and keep things in check.
It'll be a nice break from filling out apps and printing out cover letters.