Giant Flatworm Hitchhiker in My Reef Tank (Polyclad Flatworm?)

I found a giant flatworm on my torch coral. I am not sure what it is, maybe a polyclad flatworm? Please help me identify this hitchiker and let me know if it is good or bad.

[@djmoulton1558]

It could easily have come in as an egg of the frag. Dips don't work on eggs. That is why it is so important to quarantine all rock and corals for at least 6-8 weeks before adding to your display tank, just as you would with fish.

[@adambamf9365]

is it possible he came in on a fish?

[@dallascowboys8681]

I bought a live rock for my first saltwater and living inside was a baby Mantis Shrimp.

[@ReefSpy]

cool!

[@Iguana5k]

Are they expensive if you buy them?

[@membercup714]

Go Cowboys

[@ericcanton5789]

Stumack only when they punch your tank xD

[@alextchieng7621]

Stumack no, at my lfs they are like 22 and under

[@steveroberts9331]

Thanks for this. My torch was slowly dying - he was quite big - 12 heads - I have been testing everything I could - all coming back fine. Even an ICP test. Dipped it after watching and 20+ came off !! Never had an issue before with them.

[@ReefSpy]

They love torches and hammers for some reason

[@diyreef]

I had one of these before in a system I started from dry rock and the only corals that went in there before finding it came straight out of the bags from ORA. I did not notice it for about 6 months. Mine was blue and looked like a clams mantle. I left him alone. Never bothered anything. Spent most of its time under rockwork.

[@Reefgrrl]

"I poked it and it moved....". EEEEWWWWWWW UUUUGGGGHHHH. I would have freaked right out. And then you tried to touch it with your bare hand. From what I've read, it's a polyclad flatworm and not good to have in the tank. Have you noticed issues with a declining snail population? If so, this apparently is likely the culprit. I have no idea how you would bait and trap any others though. Entertainment value on this video: 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@ReefSpy]

I still had snails, I really don't know if I had lost any since its hard to keep track of them. I'll keep an open for any more of these things. Thanks for watching!

[@tristang9875]

i found the exact same flatworm on my toch the other day, I dip my corals too and have no idea were it came from, I found about 5 little ones like him crawling through my torch. got them off with tweasers

[@wereaboutsunknown]

That's not the ideal way to remove flatworms. They can regenerate better than any other animal we know of. You can cut 1 animal into 200 bits and get 200 full flatworms out of it in about 1 week. If you use tweezers, you risk leaving a bit of tissue on the rock, which will just regenerate into a full animal.

[@Cavemanheartrock]

damn, sounds like the master race, I wish I were born a flat worm.

[@coldwater5814]

@@wereaboutsunknown what the actual fuck 😭

[@josephisaacs78]

It’s just a flatworm like you said. It has the hammerhead shape like all other flatworms.. but I wouldn’t worry as they help clean up. Good bottom feeders..

[@amateurateverything]

Not sure if you ever got a decent reply but i had a bunch of the same kind in my 10 gallon and they from what i concluded were euphyllia eating flatworms which each torch corals and such. My torch died from them and almost lost a hammer from it. Also make sure to start using latex or some kind of gloves to keep yourself safe from pests and hitchhikers.

[@sauntahrae5244]

Hi. Do you have an update video on this? I just looked through your videos and dudnt find one. Perhaps I missed it by chance?

[@carriebolton4135]

Every scientist ever, " 3:05-3:19"

[@_Ault_]

carrie bolton Bahahaha “let’s just ummmm poke it” bahahaha

[@goldendeerlingtheepics2ndc787]

Some larger (wild) Polycladida are rather beautiful. But these guys? Slimy messes

[@bigbowlowrong4694]

You can tell a true hobbyist by the way they handle their stuff. If that was my piece of coral I'd be wrapping that thing in bubble wrap or something to avoid damaging the tentacles in the bucket but you just throw it in there and get the job done.

[@ReefSpy]

lol

[@SweatyReef]

That is awesome, and huge. The last two weekends I have picked up new coral and got flat worms off in the dip. must be flat worm season. :)

[@Cycnoches2012]

Danger Will Robinson!!

[@PaulBlaney]

Cycnoches2012 lmao

[@moosman8840]

I had one in my reef tank. Never seen it for over a year until I found it in my glass one morning at 5 am.

[@ReefSpy]

+Mo Osman yeah, it's amazing to find new creatures like this. makes me wonder what else is hiding out in here.

[@AVspectre]

We are often baffled at the little surprises that pop up even in our carefully curated tanks… just think of all the unknowns we’ve yet to discover in the wider oceans…

[@omniexistus]

ever considered a high powered laser pointer to get rid of that..I've seen aipista killed in hard to reech areas using that method so it alleviates taking out the rockwork

[@ReefSpy]

Mr.SnugglyDick The thought never crossed my mind. I'll keep it in mind the next time I encounter something unusual. Thanks for watching!

[@Joe_Ingles]

Yup these are poly clad worms. I got these and they’ve been killing my euphillya left and right. The best way to rid them is to get haliocheres wrasses and dip your hammers and torches every once in a while and scrape the polyclads and their eggs off manually. Hope this helps!

[@micahwhalen3866]

That thing was huge! Cant be good. Youre brave for putting it back in the tank. Anxious to see how it does. Crazy the mysteries in our tank.

[@ReefSpy]

+Micah Whalen yeah. i wanted to study it more, but it died shortly after posting the video. i guess the dip killed it.

[@krisragu4685]

What eats these? Damsels any good?

[@ChrisLocke1969]

tweezers?

[@PRFishGirl]

That thing is huge! Looked like it left a mark on the spot it was covering..hope u don't have anymore in your system... def think it's polyclad flatworm

[@ReefSpy]

PRFishGirl I took a closer look and it looks like it did clean the skeleton where is was attached of any algae. I wonder if this one is a harmless algae grazer?

[@bradgrey3843]

Hi reef spy I had the same thing and they laid eggs. Killed all my torches. Tried all sorts of dips etc but no results ended up tearing the tank down and starting over if you see one there will be a lot more. Let me know how you got on please :)

[@ReefSpy]

Brad Grey hey. Sorry to hear about that! Sounds like I got lucky and removed this thing before it reproduced. Its been over a year and no signs of any more. The torch he was on eventually died, but all the other ones are still growing strong.

[@RipVanWinkle_Nature_Discovery]

You actually didn't have to dip your coral and rock. They're nocturnal actually and you could have set a trap for it. (Sorry I commented twice :D )

[@SoneRevMy]

Poke with bare hands for unknown things is always the best 🙄

[@julianhess7527]

Who else was like “TAKE THE ROCK OUT THE WATER, THE STAR FISH AGGGAHA” when he pulled off the flat worm and was examining it. Love the vids

[@corey6810]

Yes! I was thinking "Put the rock back in the tank, the starfish! Put it back, put it back, put it back!" The whole rest of the video!

[@ferozkaamil1]

never saw it before but I'm glad you toke it out

[@ReefSpy]

+Feroz Reef yeah, it's dead now. looks like the Revive dip did a number on it.

[@coldsouparchives2149]

Reefspy used bubble beam on Flatworm

[@thatonedog819]

A free living flatworm! Cool!

[@mollyallen2400]

Pretty cool! Sorry the little fella had to die - I love teaching about flatworms in my science classes. However, have no idea what this one is! However, hope your torch has recuperated! :D

[@ReefSpy]

Molly Allen You are probably the first person that was excited to see the flatworm. lol. thanks for watching, the torch coral seems to be doing better now. The smaller heads died off but the large ones have recovered fully. I think this worm may have been feeding on the coral.

[@justinyumang759]

Thats garry lost his shell

[@_Ault_]

Smart to not use the tweezers , if you would have and had damaged the flat worm it would have grown a whole new flatworm. Smart move

[@DJ_LittlePea]

Oh wow they was pretty amazing how you even noticed that let alone got it off ....that thing looks nasty .... I'm sure your Coral will do really well now 🤗 hopefully you don't have any more in there 😱

[@ReefSpy]

PsychedelicBabe it's amazing the sorts of things that turn up in a reef tank.

[@jeremynantz1335]

Its a polyclad flatware it will literally it your coral I killed like 20 when I dipped a purple hairy mushroom then a dipped my torches and found several more the like soft corals you will have to keep redipping once every few weeks till there gone they leave eggs were they eat the coral and can change color

[@jackgyurunyan8095]

This is a species of polyclad flatworm.

[@_a_5945]

That is a flatworm and I would immediately burn it or it will multiply

[@CJSAQUARIUMS]

Did u use any live rock in your system? How do you think it got introduced? Pretty nasty indeed

[@ReefSpy]

+CJ'S AQUARIUMS Last live rock I got was a couple tonga branches about 6 months ago. No idea how long it was hiding out in my tank, first time I saw it! Looks like the revive dip must have did it in, it died soon after i posted the video. At least I know it works for giant flatworms now. lol

[@markbrown7968]

I'm no expert and I know this is an old post but, for the benefit of others, I imagine they are so well camouflaged that they can come in unnoticed on torches and hammers n such. We had one at the lfs I worked at. They feed on the tissue of euphyllia, mostly. I'd remove them asap if you find one.

[@ehehehehe2815]

set up a little nano for it its a pretty rare little one

[@cubanreefer1582]

I heard that peroxide 35% is great to kill any pests on the Reef tanks did you know anything about it

[@ReefSpy]

CUBAN REEFER sorry, I've never tried that so I don't know.

[@MrJaman0083]

Bleach water works great, cycles faster too!

[@themidwestfishkeeper8117]

Maybe you discovered a new species of flatworm!

[@ReefSpy]

+Hooked On Fish lol, maybe

[@thesilentone4024]

How long tell the coral died from exstrem amount of time out of water. Ps just 2 seconds out of water for 95% of corals will stress the ever living hell put of em.

[@kaylapolly9088]

Is it bad?? I just found a HUGE ONE IN MY TANK I mean at least 6 inches long 2 inches thick!!! I FREAKED made my husband JUMP out of bed but it quickly ran down and into a rock!

[@PaulBlaney]

Great vid. I think I may have some on mine

[@ReefSpy]

For what it's worth, it seemed to die shortly after I posted this vid. I dipped it in Polyp Lab Reef Primer so I guess it did the trick.

[@PaulBlaney]

ReefSpy thanks I'll have to do the same if it is in fact same thing. Very glad u shared your experience with us

[@jayala9828]

So what is it?

[@EODJMC]

Not sharpshooting just asking a question. Why didn't you use tweezers or pliers to remove it instead of struggling with the baster?

[@ReefSpy]

I dunno, I usually just blast it and things drop right off. this one didn't want to let go.

[@EODJMC]

I normally do too but I also have a set of tweezers that are "tank use only" LOL

[@sparkyjones560]

Because they tear easily and then you have 2 or 5 or 10 of them instead of the 1. He did the right thing.

[@nyloaf]

It couldve broken off and left a few pieces and then it would multiply. These things are masters of duplication

[@aaronsanders5825]

because it would break off. He wanted to see what it was in whole.

[@autoxstream]

Please move it to a quarantine location, since it can lay eggs and spawn more of them.

[@ReefSpy]

Dinesh Kumar its dead. It died soon after I posted this video.

[@ReefSpy]

Dinesh Kumar its dead. It died soon after I posted this video.

[@alexgieder9107]

Just found the same one on my tourches

[@cheatahBeachwood]

I think it is Notoplanidae

[@RogueAquariums]

that's a big boy. Good thing you got it out of there. now you can burn it. lol.

[@ReefSpy]

+NW Marine62 haha, for sure

[@maximinoa]

How is the torch doing?

[@ReefSpy]

maximinoa about the same. Heads on top are nice and healthy, the one on bottom will probably die off, it doesn't have much skin on the outer skeleton, and that usually means its on the way out.

[@Mr.Glitch]

Hah, I'll be uploading a video later of the one I found like your guy. i think mine's been eating steroids in the sump, as there sure as heck weren't any snails!!

[@tombocchino6889]

did you ever figure out what it is?

[@ReefSpy]

as far as I could tell, it's a polyclad flatworm.

[@KevinENHVlogs]

Thats interesting ... you seem to find some of the "coolest" things in the reef.

[@ReefSpy]

+Kevin Vlog It's amazing how there is always something new going on. The reef is an amazing place.

[@mikeb5063]

At least it was not a bobbit worm

[@markbrown7968]

I have experienced one of these polyclads when I worked at an lfs. I thought the skeleton was damaged at first then it moved a bit. We lost the torch even after removing the wyrm.

[@barrymcockener4336]

Jokes on you your torch stepped on gum

[@DavidDavis311]

You’re a brave man putting that in your frag tank. So did you ever find out what it was?

[@ReefSpy]

I never saw it again, I guess it died. I think a few people identified it in the comments, I'm not exactly sure what it was.

[@lavasyst]

I had one to in my mechanical filtration and he was bigger then yours. Later i catched 3 little flatworms. Im wondering. Did you fix this problem yet reefspy?

[@ReefSpy]

Yes. I removed the worm and it never returned

[@lavasyst]

ReefSpy this worm is a Pseudoceros sp. you lucky you dont have more

[@LeonardoDaVinci923]

it´s a Alien from planet Mars :o

[@insectilluminatigetshrekt5574]

Why did you kill it

[@jamesgames5698]

Its definitely related to abalone

[@CichlidCity]

Awesome video!

[@jjreef3523]

them never seen that before , but whatever it is I don't think it's any good for reef tank

[@ReefSpy]

+JJ reef me neither, no idea

[@samlynch9141]

That poor torch:(

[@ReefSpy]

+Fish School yeah, should be nice and clean now

[@RipVanWinkle_Nature_Discovery]

It's called a polyclad worm. I've actually kept these in a part of my sump. they are great cleanup and will eat anything dead. You definitely don't want that in your DT, though.

[@domonotell9290]

Why didn't you just get tweezers and take it off manually... Would of been quicker and prevent the starfish and torch from getting hurt

[@ReefSpy]

Looking back that would have been easier, huh?

[@lilymcx9203]

i have a baby flatworm and i am keeping it idk why i just wanna keep it lol

[@WILDWOODislandder]

Garbage disposal that's where you should put that thing

[@bradgrey3843]

I had a few on my nano ended up killing most of my corals and it destroyed my torches I had eggs to. Tried dipping with detol coral rx and treated with flatworm exit. But nothing worked ended up tearing the tank down and now starting to rebuild with dead live rock and dipping corals weekly but bought another coral today and had the small red/ brown flatworms on it ( coral rs dip got most off) but didn't kill them so quarantining it so got 2 tanks and 3 30l tubs in my living room! And thinking is there light at the end of the tunnel!

[@ReefSpy]

Brad Grey wow. Sorry to hear. Luckily I think this was the only one in my tank. I lost a couple heads from this torch but the rest have bounced back. Flatworm Exit works pretty good for killing those red flatworms, you could give that a shot

[@bradgrey3843]

ReefSpy I will do thanks gonna leave it a few days to settle into the quarantine tank and dose with flatworm exit hope ur tank is running well?

[@oxiac6006]

I got bristleworms I hate them they are everywhere in my tank

[@OldSalty22]

Bristle worms are good they eat up bad stuff. there part of a cleanup crew, Leave them be

[@RichWeigel]

Watch Creepshow 2 the Raft scene and all your questions will be answered!

[@EhsanShabahang]

Never add a rock to your thank that has not been fully cooked. This is a call for disaster

[@ReefSpy]

+AtReef for sure. I normally use dry rock now. I think this must have slipped in on a frag and survived the dip. Either way its gone now and the torch seems much happier. I haven't seen anything else like it in the tank, but I keep looking.

[@EhsanShabahang]

ReefSpy great video bro i love your sump setup for the 180

[@ReefSpy]

+AtReef Thanks man. I watched your vids plenty of times while I was planning this out and your setup really inspired me to keep it neat and tidy. How is everything going, we need updates! Lol

[@EhsanShabahang]

ReefSpy thank you so much, i am working on an update and it should be out soon. I was very busy with school this past month.

[@bayareareefs8616]

Wow spy I never seen this I'm going to go try and find out

[@bayareareefs8616]

Here it is spy m.liveaquaria.com/PIC/article.cfm?aid=122

[@ReefSpy]

+Bay Area Reefs Thanks man, yeah some sort of giant flatworm. Whatever it was, it's dead now. It died soon after taking it out of the dip.

[@deeznuthi7345]

Lmao it’s the thing from the movie Life

[@magin9228]

Gotta take care of the liverock before you add it to a healthy ecosystem. Who knows what environment the liverock was pulled out of.

[@kenjiro2676]

Get the colorful variety flatworm

[@linhfphung7867]

Just finished watching a video on ribbon worms XDDD

[@ReefSpy]

i am really surprised so many people were interested in this type of thing. lol

[@ScottM]

That was nasty looking...

[@ScottM]

Could it be a Polyclad Flatworm

[@ReefSpy]

Scott M That's what I'm guessing but hard to be 100% sure.

[@DeeFromBrooklyn]

i would have definitely wore gloves. You may have hundreds of eggs in your tank. ..

[@ReefSpy]

+Dee From Brooklyn Yikes! I hope not. From what I could gather these big worms are kind of rare to find in your tank, so hopefully don't breed easily.

[@DeeFromBrooklyn]

ReefSpy i have to remember to wear gloves, things that go bump in the rocks. . lol

[@ReefSpy]

haha, I hear ya man. It's a habit I need to get into.

[@soulwolfgamerakamidna804]

That creature is endangered do not kill it bring it to an aquarium to see what they say

[@Fit-HubIO]

Yikes

[@ZEZERBING]

Fry it in butter.

[@SimonThorntonVideo]

This is the rare wormignitis flatiitis. It's on the endangered species list... I hope you didn't kill it.

[@ReefSpy]

+Simon Thornton I'll sell it to you!

[@JackIsNotInTheBox]

Simon Thornton. It may be endangered, but no one wants to buy it LOL. just like measles

[@Giantsfanghg]

what a troll.

[@magin9228]

You sound toggled, did you take your vitamins today? I hope you realize this is in fact the internets and its a place for fun commentation, do please enjoy your stay @sam potts

[@yah1chey]

kill it

[@ericolsen9799]

maybe a "phrikoceros" flat worm from the Philippines. Hundreds of diff. flat worms just a guess. I would kill it.

[@ReefSpy]

+eric olsen Thanks, It's dead now.

[@codystromsness2130]

Well if it's a endangered species any kills it it's a huge fine and major jail time but is it a new species or a new Varian or extinct species then it a huge find he should take it to a zoo patholigest or to some one who is a expert in this field it could be a big find or just a common but I don't recognize the species the people in our listing two different options but the size of this one seems to be bigger than previously thought to be relieved those could grow so if it a common one he should measure it bc it could be one of the biggest of its species on record lol

[@BillyPipes]

I was the first to comment on this video and it has 22 likes lol.

[@Dameion666]

Puked in my mouth a bit just suggesting that

[@drakekay6577]

3:26 it looks more like a skin lesion.

[@kevintruong1038]

Planaria

[@jeffdunnomaybealdo7812]

Tape worm

[@wd11800]

why dont just peel it of by hand or with a squezer ? all this bs for 1 worm ? ...

[@ReefSpy]

Because I was scared. 😂

[@Dameion666]

EAT IT MMMM GOOD

[@zgle]

I ran into these a few years ago. Discovered them after trying to figure out what was decimating my snail and clam populations in the tank for months. Got video of one of them and found it hiding in an overflow. kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z6DRfahjfLRgha8

[@ReefSpy]

Yep, that looks like the same thing! Thanks for sharing.

[@Mothobius]

I wish I could get one of these. Such cool worms.

[@Layheeee]

trust me these guys arent cool! there a rest pain in the ass

[@Mothobius]

@@Layheeee they are cool if they aren't bothering your tank though. I'm talking about just by themselves in a tank.

[@Layheeee]

@@Mothobius I guess I kinda get what your saying I think the free swimming flat worms of the natural reefs are pretty cool too

[@Mothobius]

@@Layheeee Yeah. Not ones that destroy coral or snails or whatever

[@joseCalderon1976]

Yuck! Yeah dips are not 100% effective, specially against eggs. Thanks for the video. Check out my nano reefs in my channel. Subscribed.

[@ReefSpy]

Thanks man, will do!

[@CoreyGrogan]

Plycpad flat worm they will destroy your torches

[@ReefSpy]

this is true

[@cdnerin]

I stumbled onto this video, but if you don't know what it was yet, there were some suggested videos on the sidebar, this one I'm linking to might help a bit? Hope so! And I hope your coral recovered (that worm was probably huge because it ate so much! Ack!) kzbin.info/www/bejne/ZnmbgmR4isaafq8

[@ReefSpy]

I dunno. The thing is gone now, and I haven't seen anything like it since!

[@tristanbeligan6242]

Btw. I think you ripped the flesh of the torch head when you pulled it out of the tank

[@BRANDON-FJB]

we have VERY different definitions of the word GIANT

[@collincooper7760]

Definitely polyclad flatworm kill it

[@michaelpattan2999]

dispose of it not good!!!!!!

[@ReefSpy]

+Michael Pattan yeah, its gone now. it died shortly after posting the video. I guess that dip works.