Flatworm plague

[REDNECK_REEFER]

Anybody know if mandarin fish are the best for getting rid of these little guys or if I should use a flatworm pesticide in my tank Suggestions?

[Drock169]

4-line or 6-line wrasse, you'll just starve a mandarin.

[bassman]

4-line or 6-line wrasse, you'll just starve a mandarin.

Do Mandarins not eat these too? Just curious as I am sitting on the fence right now deciding between a 6-line and a Mandarin.

[Zoaelite]

I have yet to experience a manderine eat flat worms, could be wrong but I would suggest a 6-Line Wrasse.
Levi

[Snappy]

Mandarins main diet is pod "larvae" which is why you need an established reef. I have heard of them eating other things but it's hit & miss so if you bought a mandarin to eat flat worms you would likely be disappointed.

[Chowder]

I would second the six line wrasse. I've heard that it is the phsychedelic mandrin or spotted mandrin that sometimes eats them. It would though be advised to have a well established tank full of pods to keep one.
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=15+1635+554&pcatid=554

[Delphinus]

I picked up a yellow canary wrasse (Halichoeres chrysus) when I saw flatworms appear and he cleaned the tank of them within a couple weeks.

[Reefer Rob]

Six Line Wrasse didn't work for me. I ended up using Flatworm Exit. If I had it to do over again I'd keep trying the different recommended species fish until I found one that would eat the flat worms.

[fkshiu]

I picked up both a yellow coris and six-line wrasses for my flatworm issue. Neither did all that much. I finally used Flatworm Control by Blue Vet from OA since Flatworm Exit is rather hard to come by nowadays. Worked fine, but had to overdose a bit.

[REDNECK_REEFER]

Thanks guys
I boght the six line wrasse and he's getting fatter by the minute.
thanks for all the input:biggrin:

[REDNECK_REEFER]

still have flatworms. If i use flatworm exit will my six line starve? he doesn't seem interested in my foods.

[Delphinus]

Doubtful. My 6line is only vaguely interested in the foods I offer as well (he might chase down the occasional mysis). I think he's around 7 years old now, he's my oldest fish. I'd say he's finding something to eat. I would imagine yours will be fine too. :)

[Ya Dude]

I used 2 scooter blennies to fix my flat worm problem.It only took 3 weeks . couldnt even find 1.that was in a 240gal.and put in a yellow coris wrass at the same time.Every tank should have 1 of those

[BC Mosaic]

........Every tank should have 1 of those

Which? The scooter blennies or the yellow coris?

[Keri]

I picked up a yellow canary wrasse (Halichoeres chrysus) when I saw flatworms appear and he cleaned the tank of them within a couple weeks.


ditto

Plus I really LIKE my yellow wrasse, he's interesting to watch.

[Red Coral Aquariums]

Agree with the yellow coris wrasse eliminating flat worms.
Kevin

[REDNECK_REEFER]

:razz::mrgreen::mrgreen:OK so i used flatworm exit and all my flatworms are dead. also i lost every pod in my tank, as well as all of my small brittle stars and stomatellos. my hermits and snails seem fine but all of my corals closed right up. no tissue loss but i havent seen my corals closed up like this since I first started. should i be worried? I did a 40g water change after treatment and i have a large bag of carbon in my filter bag. Also it kind of stinks around my tank now is that from the death of the flatworms or what?
Thanks again for the input!!

[Canuckgod420]

bump

[Skimmerking]

IME I have used the 6 line they are hit and miss. along with leopard wrasses too. my yellow was a go getter from the start wipping them out all the time. scooter blennies are a hit and a miss. but flat worm exit will wipe out hte flat worms. However, remember that once the flat worms are dead they will have the toxicans in their bodies that can kill other fish, I beleive that is what killed the chromis in doug tank they were eating what was floating around so BEWARE.

[REDNECK_REEFER]

some of my SPS polyps are out today but not all of them. all my neon colors are gone my reef looks grey!! how long will it take for color and health to come back to my corals?

[The-new-guy]

some of my SPS polyps are out today but not all of them. all my neon colors are gone my reef looks grey!! how long will it take for color and health to come back to my corals?

That is really odd, I dosed my tank twice in the last two months, my polyps didnt care at all? My GSP sucked back in for about 15 min but it was back out right away? Nothing else in the tank seemed to mind.

How much did you dose?

[REDNECK_REEFER]

I dosed 1 drop per gallon of total water volume. so that would be 125 drops with my refugiums,sump and reactors included. My buddy dosed his 33g tank with 33 drops and some of his worms lived but his corals were unaffected, in my tank, the corals were affected but the flatworms are gone completely. also today more polyps are out but still no long extension from my milleporas.:neutral:

[REDNECK_REEFER]

I've got much more extension today, still my milleporas aren't looking so good. My water doesn't stink anymore. Now i guess i just have to wait for colors to come back to my sps.
Do you think that my zeolites may have been affected from the treatment? I have continued with the dosing schedule hoping to bring back the color my corals used to have. :mrgreen:

[REDNECK_REEFER]

Everything is back to normal. Color and extension are coming right back now. My corals are still a little brown, but the zeovit system is doing its job.
Thanks for all the input!!:mrgreen:

[EmilyB]

I had flatworms for the second time in 10 years. I was really very lazy this time. The first time I just kept sucking and blowing....they disappeared relatively quickly. :lol:

Low and behold, I finally got down to doing that again....

Flatworms gone. Amen.

[Marlin65]

Thats what I did when I saw a few all gone now.
I sure would not want to kill all my pods.
I heard that they will come and go. You just need to control them before they really get out of hand.