Need a Blue nudibranch

dymaxiun

New member
The ones that will consume planaria flatworms. Anyone seem these locally lately?

The Electric blue, velvet blue.. they seem to have many names.

p_80504.jpg


I need one ASAP.

Thanks,
Eric
 
I know... You would "think" the'd just have them readily available.

When you really need something it seems that you cannot find it....
 
They just don't do well long term. I've tried them several times in the past and though they do eat the FW they also seem to disapear before the pests are all gone.

SteveU
 
Don't know if the drive is worth it, but people on SD Reefs were passing some around a couple of months ago. I think one guy got them to breed.
 
They just dissapear... maybe the current, maybe the overflow maybe they starve?

Or maybe they don't live very long anyway.


From Dr. Ron's forum
Hi,

These worms are survivors. They have chemicals in their tissues which are distasteful or poisonous to most predators, hence, most predators don't eat them. The small slug (it is not a nudibranch), Chelidonura varians, that eats them is, indeed, a good predator upon them. Unfortunately, it cannot eradicate them. Like all predators of this nature, it will attack and eat the worms until the worm population is so low that the slugs can't find enough to stay alive. The slugs then starve and die. However, there are always enough worms left to repopulate the system. The moral is, "Don't waste your time and money purchasing the slugs."

Many folks seem to have had success using the "Flatworm exit." However, if it is used and the worms return, it is quite likely that you have inadvertently selected for those worms that are largely or partially immune to its actions. Repeated use of the poison with some worm survival will result in a population that is likely largely immune to it.

Virtually no fish are likely to eat the worms consistently.

The worms have zooxanthellae in them, similar to corals, and really need very little in the way of food; in addition to their normal food - they actually eat diatoms and microalgae - they can subsist upon dissolved nutrients.

To control them, I suggest the following course of action:

1)Siphon them out, as many as you can - daily.
2)Do regular and large water changes to reduce the amount of dissolved nutrients in the system.
3)Increase filtration - also to reduce the amount of dissolved nutrients.
4)Try to get some macroalgae going in the system. These algae will suck some of the nutrients that the worms' zooxanthellae can use, and will help slow down the growth of the worms. You will need to periodically harvest and discard excess algae.
5)Reduce to the bare minimum, the light intensity and photoperiod.

These actions taken together should help control the worms. You may or many not be able to eradicate them in this manner, but they should be brought down to a more manageable level.

SteveU
 
Thanks Steve.... I guess i should go a different direction, and manually try to remove these things...

Wish me luck!
 
I've used a piece of 1/4" air tubing with a piece of rigid on the end. Pull up a chair... siphon into a bucket. I saw no ill effects from using flatworm exit it just didn't kill them all.
I just use the FWE now as a dip for a few mins at a bunch of drops per gallon.

SteveU
 
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