fishes that eat flatforms

[bastos]

Hi everyone, i have a flatworm problem in my 180g mixed coral tank. Now i know about the flatworm exit and i am very hesitant to use it. I dont want to eradicate my pod population. Any suggestions on what type of fish to buy that will eat these pest. Thanks in advance.

Joseph

 

[bubbaOPPD]

I heard green spotted manderins will eat them and psuedocheilnius wrasses(sixline, mystery).

 

[Wolverine]

Re: fishes that eat flatforms

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8123788#post8123788 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by bastos
Hi everyone, i have a flatworm problem in my 180g mixed coral tank. Now i know about the flatworm exit and i am very hesitant to use it. I dont want to eradicate my pod population. Any suggestions on what type of fish to buy that will eat these pest. Thanks in advance.

There's no fish that will completely reliably eat flatworms. Some pseudochromis will sometimes, some wrasses will sometimes, some mandarins will sometimes. I've seen people fill their tanks with all these fish and have not one of them touch a flatworm.

Dave

 

[miwoodar]

My 6 line has never noticed a single flatworm in my tank.

 

[just dave]

I have used the Ocellated Dragonet many times for red flatworms and they always do the job. The interesting thing is I've never seen one actually eat any of the flatworms but after they are introduced the flatworms go away. It may be they eat them after more desirable prey are reduced to the point of being difficult to find or they throw 'em out of the tank.

 

[Earl45]

I read there is a sea slug that eats only flatworms, but I cannot find the resource right now, and even if I could - I doubt they are sold commercially since I've been to quite a few stores and websites in the past few months and haven't seen a single instance of one being for sale.

 

[miwoodar]

I have seen them on-line. Chelidonura? They are super cool looking too but powerheads will munch on them.

 

[Wolverine]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=8136208#post8136208 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Earl45
I read there is a sea slug that eats only flatworms, but I cannot find the resource right now, and even if I could - I doubt they are sold commercially since I've been to quite a few stores and websites in the past few months and haven't seen a single instance of one being for sale.

Chelidonura varians. It's sometimes called the blue-striped nudibranch. They are aquacultured, and they are available, and they almost work.
They will eat flatworms, and you can watch them do it. There are a couple of problems. One is the powerhead problem mentioned above. The other is that they will take the flatworm population down to almost nothing. Then they can't find enough food, and they starve to death. Two problems with this. One is that the flatworms that are left over then start to proliferate like crazy. The second is that the dying nudibranch releases all the flatworm toxins it's been concentrating all this time.

Dave