Billions of flatworms

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Paul, I would love to see a macro photograph of what you are seeing, I can't imagine the diversity and populations you must have!!

 

[Paul B]

I don't think I could take a macro picture of all this stuff but I will se what I can do.

 

[JTL]

i would suggest a halichoeres melanurus ,and if you can get a male they have very stunning looks too.there are many wrasses that will do the job ,any coris wrasse will do a great job IMO but they may also reek havoc due to them flipping anything they can but they are workhorses on flatworms .most leopards which are awesome lookers will pick on them but not as fast as the melanurus will .
i wish you the best Dave

I totally agree with the Melanurus. Have not seen a flat worm since I got the guy. He is good looking and a friendly, active fish. I believe they are sometimes called a Hovan's wrasse.

 

[1DeR9_3Hy]

I am not really proud or not proud of them.
I don't really add much to this tank as it is almost 40 years old and quite full. I don't know where they came from but they are welcome to stay. If they kill other things, so be it. I just enjoy the diversity. I am sure they will disappear as all things do.
I am not in this to have the most beautiful tank. For me it is just discovery and learning.
I love it when I find something I have not had the opportunity to learn much about. I don't remember if I had these things before but I will be checking them out under a scope and disecting a few.
Have a great day.
Paul

This is why i quote PaulB.

Inspiration buddy!

 

[Immanuel]

Will Melanurus harm the shrimp?

 

[Kates]

Now that is cool, a 40 year old tank!!! I agree how fascinating it is to look at the shear diversity of life, and that includes the tiniest little things. Its cool to think you could see evolutionary developments that branch away from the original, in things quickly reproducing things like crustaceans. I fully admit I'm a big science nerd, :reading:but given long enough, I bet there will be new forms of species that aren't even seen in the ocean. Its like a little ocean, undergoing unique evolutionary events. Ok enough of my geeky science nerdiness!

 

[Paul B]

Ok enough of my geeky science nerdiness!

No, it's great, I also a geeky scientist.

 

[dohc97]

I really see your point in all your posts, im a big follower of your tank and have read some of your long threads about the tank. A few months back i turned my display into a qt to treat with copper and prazipro due to my plan of moving into a bigger display soon. I had a couple corals that i really like so i put them into a little 5.5 nano. Ever since then the little tank has entertained me like nothing else, its so amazing that everyone here goes crazy over testing, water changes, etc... but my little "neglected" nano is thriving. The corals are actually growing, i have tons of pods , giant swarms of brine shrimp and all types of little creatures. I spend hours staring into this little bowl of water and all your posts make sense then, it reminds me of going to the sea at low tide and discovering new things under every rock. By the way i do no testing, have not done a water change in 2 months and the tank is unheated.

keep up the great work because i know without people like you i would not be trying this hobby

 

[Paul B]

Dohc, thank you. I didn't think many people read my long kind of boring posts, I get carried away sometimes.

it reminds me of going to the sea at low tide and discovering new things under every rock.

My favorite pastime. People must think I'm nuts looking under rocks, it just facinates me.
Whan I dive I really don't care about the sharks and manta rays, I want to look at the small stuff no one realizes is there. It is much more interesting.

 

[dohc97]

i agree with you 100% its in the little details, the more you look the more you find. As longs as something is not creating problems with the corals i keep i just let all creatures be in my tank. thank you again for being one of the first and showing the rest of us that our tanks dont have to be "sterile" to be successful.

 

[Agu]

Paul, Here's a situation to ponder.

I had flatworms in a 5.5 gallon tank and thought that some day I'd do something about them. One day they just disappeared (along with all the stomatella snails).

Not sure if the emoticon should be or :beer:

Three years later the tank is doing just fine without flatworms or stomatellas.

 

[thebanker]

Paul I love your attitude. You're truly the Dalai Lama of reefkeeping. Cheers.

 

[Paul B]

Thanks, I have been called a lot of things but never him. He does seem like a nice guy with a perpetual smile.

 

[Paul B]

OK I would like to change the name of this thread to billions of brittle stars. :smokin:
The flatworms seem to still be with me but not as many as before. Maybe only millions now
I am more impressed by the multitudes of brittle stars. I knew I had a lot but I had no idea I had this many.
Iwas target feeding my copperband butterfly and some clams went under a ledge of a rock. Immediately the area became a sea of arms. Then from a near by rock, more arms emerged until it looked like they were playing
"It's Raining Men" at a female spider convention.
There were arms all over the place. Or is it legs? Anyway, I was curious so I lifted some more rocks and they are all over the place. They were always in there, just not in those numbers.
Cute little suckers and like the flatworms, amphipods, tubeworms and everything else in there, they are welcome to stay as long as they like. :beachbum:

 

[Jamesurq]

I had a few rocks that looked like they were covered in fur because of the brittle star legs protruding Fun stuff.

I also had my share of flatworm issues. Mine were invasive and took a LOT of effort to remove. I used to have the live and let live attitude and unfortunately flatworms were not keeping themselves in reasonable numbers and forced me to take action.

That said, Celestron Biological microscope was the best investment I ever made in this hobby. My kids are always facinated by what you can find in a little sample of sand and algae from the fuge at 400X magnification.

 

[bdbyace28]

I second the salifert method. the fish vet flatworm exit doesnt work.

 

[tarvis]

6 line wrasse to keep them in check?

 

[snorvich]

6 line wrasse to keep them in check?

And who keeps the six line wrasse in check? :lolspin:

 

[coolname1]

Thanx for clearing this up. I have like trillion of these things in my tank as well. Always thought they were some kind algae

 

[Paul B]

My 1" 6 line wrasse is too fat to swim but he is not going to make a dent in all these flatworms. He would have to be a foot long to do that.
The worms are fine sunbathing where they are.