flatworms

[Doug]

I,m with Rob on this one. Although they do indeed thrive on dirtier tanks, once they get a foothold, its hard to contorl them with nutrient removal alone.

My 225 that I fought them in was very low in organics. It was bare bottom, ran a huge beckett skimmer and a large alage turf scrubber. I have heard of the scooters eating them. Even the common yellow tail damsel. My mandarin & three wrasses did eat them, but could not control the population without help.

I read about all the "natural" ways of reducing them. Trying those in my large tank, allowed them to reproduce at will. A long battle using tons of skimming, sucking them out, & Flaworm Exit use, finally got rid of them.

Its a fight I would not wish to do again. Thats my experience with them. Everything I now add, has "exit" added to their acclimation process.

[Keri]

I've noticed a decline in numbers over the last couple of days, could be the scooter then!

[Puff]

i recently got home to discover a huge outbreak (neighbour broke feeder, so fed herself...FAR too much). ive been siphoning out what i can, and my new sixline seems to be getting some of them, but seems to only stick to the smaller ones.

do you notice that they seem to accumulate in the same spots? i have maybe 2 or 3 spots where they all are. other than that they are nowhere. makes siphoning easy!!

[Delphinus]

On the advice of Seahorse_Fanatic I picked up a yellow canary wrasse (Halichoeres chrysus) when I noticed flatworms in my tank around Christmas time. Within a month there wasn't a flatworm to be found in the tank.

And, it's a very pretty fish.

Also called a yellow coris wrasse but it's not related to the Coris family of wrasses (which get huge).

[Keri]

Did it bother any of your other inverts? (shrimp or dusters?)

[Delphinus]

Nope, and I have a fair number of shrimp (2 cleaners and at least 1 peppermint) and dusters in this particular tank. Although come to think of it, I think they're fan worms, not feather dusters. At any rate, been a model reef citizen. I'm sure he's taking down the 'pod population but really all fish will to some degree. I'm not sure I would want a mandarin sharing the tank unless it was a large tank with a decent pod loading to begin with. Other than that though, what a great fish. I think he sleeps in the sand though.. I'd be a little cautious about a BB tank. Sometime around 9pm, an hour and a half before lights-out, he literally disappears. I've never been able to figure out where he's bunking down for the night.

[Keri]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Nope, and I have a fair number of shrimp (2 cleaners and at least 1 peppermint) and dusters in this particular tank. Although come to think of it, I think they're fan worms, not feather dusters. At any rate, been a model reef citizen. I'm sure he's taking down the 'pod population but really all fish will to some degree. I'm not sure I would want a mandarin sharing the tank unless it was a large tank with a decent pod loading to begin with. Other than that though, what a great fish. I think he sleeps in the sand though.. I'd be a little cautious about a BB tank. Sometime around 9pm, an hour and a half before lights-out, he literally disappears. I've never been able to figure out where he's bunking down for the night.

Hey thanks for the info! Something to consider

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Doug

I,m with Rob on this one. Although they do indeed thrive on dirtier tanks, once they get a foothold, its hard to control them with nutrient removal alone.

I wasn't saying that you could kill them with nutrient control. I just think that tanks in nutrient overload are much more susceptible to flatworm plagues. I do however think that you can manually control the population if you're willing to rip the tank apart completely. Most people want an easy solution though.

[Keri]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

On the advice of Seahorse_Fanatic I picked up a yellow canary wrasse (Halichoeres chrysus) when I noticed flatworms in my tank around Christmas time. Within a month there wasn't a flatworm to be found in the tank.

And, it's a very pretty fish.

Also called a yellow coris wrasse but it's not related to the Coris family of wrasses (which get huge).

Picked one up today He's very different looking, I like the way they move. He decided it was bedtime and went sand diving.


Update March 28 08: I had a bit of a cyano outbreak, gone now, but I think the yellow wrasse has worked his magic - I can't find ANY!