List of fish/invert natural predators to common Pests

[Herefishyfishy]

Hey guys, one and a half years ago, had a big run in with Montipora Eating Flatworms. Many have fought Red bugs, and a few unfortunate souls have had the misfortune of Acropora Eating FlatWorms.


I kicked the MEN with a series of scheduled attacks on them and some dipping in a cocktail of medication but some tanks are too large or too deep to do this. My yellow Tailed Red Corris wrasse, ate them along with any other pod, worm, nudis, etc. but he was pretty aggressive in his re-landscaping the tank and needed sand. Have heard other type wrasses also eat these. How about listing any anecdotal evidence of what type fish eats what type pest. And anyone who has seen any fish eat either MEN Monti Eating Nudibranchs or AEFW Acro Eating FlatWorms

1. Red Corris Wrasse ate some MEN

 

[class clown]

definately tagging along here and I'll add one...

pepperment shrimp vs. aptasia. I recruited a gang of 10 of these guys for an aptasia infested 40g breeder and they wiped out all of them in about a weeks time. I"ve tried copperband butterflys, but they didn't seem to do much good for me. I've also tried peppermints in the past that didn't work too so it appears to be hit or miss.

 

[returnofsid]

Emerald Crabs for the control of Bubble Algae. Some say they don't work, I can attest to the fact that they do!! After getting some live rock, from a fellow reefer, that had a huge amount of bubble algae, I tried eliminating it all before adding it to my tank. I was unsuccessful. After battling it in my tank, with manual removal for awhile, I decided to get 6 Emerald Crabs. I noticed a vast improvement within 2 weeks.

6 Lined Wrasse for the control of Pyramallid Snails and Flatworms.
Tangs, Rabbitfish and Lawnmower Blennys for the control of nuisance Algaes.

 

[class clown]

Emerald Crabs for the control of Bubble Algae. Some say they don't work, I can attest to the fact that they do!! After getting some live rock, from a fellow reefer, that had a huge amount of bubble algae, I tried eliminating it all before adding it to my tank. I was unsuccessful. After battling it in my tank, with manual removal for awhile, I decided to get 6 Emerald Crabs. I noticed a vast improvement within 2 weeks.

6 Lined Wrasse for the control of Pyramallid Snails and Flatworms.
Tangs, Rabbitfish and Lawnmower Blennys for the control of nuisance Algaes.

ahh... great tips sid. I guess I didn't realize there were natural predators for Pyramallid Snails....any other types of wrasses besides the 6 lines that are hungry for these guys? I have it under control now, but picked 3 off of my Deresa yesterday

Also, I've heard some wrasses do Monti Eating Nudis (MEN) too....looking forward to see if anyone has experience with natural preditors for MEN.

 

[returnofsid]

From what I've understood, several Wrasses eat Pyramallid snails. I've never actually had these pesky snails in my tanks so I don't know first hand. Most of those same wrasses are said to also eat Bristleworms, though I don't consider those pests. I have a 6 line in my 75. I also have Bristleworms, but not near the amount I see in my 46, with no Bristleworm predators.

 

[StacyS]

Emerald Crabs for the control of Bubble Algae. Some say they don't work, I can attest to the fact that they do!! After getting some live rock, from a fellow reefer, that had a huge amount of bubble algae, I tried eliminating it all before adding it to my tank. I was unsuccessful. After battling it in my tank, with manual removal for awhile, I decided to get 6 Emerald Crabs. I noticed a vast improvement within 2 weeks.

6 Lined Wrasse for the control of Pyramallid Snails and Flatworms.
Tangs, Rabbitfish and Lawnmower Blennys for the control of nuisance Algaes.

I will second the emerald crab for the bubble algae!

 

[colleen]

Emeralds and AEFW ???

Laugh and scoff if you want, but I swear an emerald crab saved one of my acropora colonies from being eaten by AEFW.

We aquired AEFW in our 155 gallon just as we started work on our 270 gallon build, believe me, aptasia and red bug don't seem like such a big deal anymore!

Anyway, I noticed bubble algae on a couple rocks in our 155, so I added three emerald crabs. One of the emeralds concerned me a bit when it planted itself in the middle towads the bottom of my favorite acro colony. That colony had just begun to show signs of AEFW (maybe 1/4 to 1/2" or so of tissue loss beginning to progress up from the bottom). That emerald sat for many days picking and eating from the lower branches of the colony and around the base. All the other acros tissue loss kept slowly progressing, but this one colony recovered. Coincidence???? Crab with a weird appetite?

I never saw any additional tissue loss anywhere on this colony from the crab picking at it, just that little bit that had started around the base and stopped progressing once the crab settled in. The crab eventually moved out and that colony got removed and underwent a series of dips and microscope inspections (with no AEFW evident). That was the only acro colony to survived intact, all the other acros had to be fragged and moved to a separate 40 gallon frag system for weekly treatment with melafix followed by 100% water change.

I read somewhere that people that get acro colonies with the 'hitchhiker' acro crabs living in them have less pest problems with those colonies because the acro crabs eat the pests and keep them clean.

This tale is very weird, I know, but I'm just reporting my observations.

 

[colleen]

Red Planaria Flat worms

Wanted to mention I had the red-orange planaria flat worms back in 2000 when I had my 75 gallon (mostly softies) tank. I bought a 6-line wrasse and he gobbled them all up in no time!

 

[ajnweb]

I believe Dragon faced pipefish will eat Red Bugs!

 

[Stressed Eric]

Any ideas what eats hydromedusae or Staurocladia oahuensis, them horrible hydroid thingies that stick to the tank's glass ? ..... Buggers .... ! If only the good noo-noo's bred as quickly as them.

 

[kevinpo]

Hello,
In closed systems the free swimming ones usually disappear on their own due to lack of proper foods to sustain them. After a tank is six months or so old they are usually gone. High nutrient tanks or ones that are frequently fed with small particulate types of food may sustain a population longer than six months.

Colonial types can be harder to eradicate.
Some colonial types are eaten by the large angels of the Pomacanthus sp. I have also used calcium hydroxide (kalkwasser) in a thick paste to cover them. A syringe with a piece of tubing attached can be used to reach them in hard to get places.

Regards,
Kevin

 

[steven11]

For any type of flat worm or pyramallid snails, my chose will always be a leopard wrasse. They do the job and I have never seen one get agressive towards other fish like a six line will.

 

[JasonD]

1 small sailfin tang cleared 100% of hair algae from my 120 gallon tank.

It did the job that 6 emerald crabs, 100+ hermit crabs/snails, phosban, carbon, toothbrush, SWC200 skimmer, and weekly rodi water changes could not do.

 

[Herefishyfishy]

For any type of flat worm or pyramallid snails, my chose will always be a leopard wrasse. They do the job and I have never seen one get agressive towards other fish like a six line will.

SOLD!!!!!!

 

[CRASHFIREJOE]

Bristleworms to some are not pest but for me they were in my 140gal. I had thousands and some were really big but my Eight line Wrasse once introduced thined them to a more desired population all within a few weeks. And boy was he fat and grew fast during those few weeks.

 

[jmp21677]

I've seen that eight line...He's a monster!

 

[alki]

I believe Dragon faced pipefish will eat Red Bugs!

Hit or miss on the pipefish, I bought one specifically for this and he would stare right at the red bug infestation and move right along.

My emerald crab in my 30 gal has not touched any bubble algae.

My 5 peppermint shrimp cleared up my aptasia to, but some people got some and they didnt do squat.


Cmon fish! Cant you just do what we want you to! Sheesh :lol:

So to sum up these three are all hit or miss.

 

[Gordy]

Red Bugs

I'm looking at a rather smallish ifestation of red bugs. I've picked up Interceptor to treat them with but am hesitant about using it now. A pipefish would never survive in my tank so that's out. I'm wondering if these guys have to be treated or will they eventually die off on their own?

 

[alki]

If you have smooth skin acro they will not die off untill the acro is dead and they have nothing left to eat. I thought I got rid of them before, but they will come back and hard.

If you have sps (smooth skinned acro) and red bugs your sps will eventually die. I would just treat it. I am in the middle of doing it now. I lost all my crabs and my peppermint shrimp, but its a small price to save all my sps. I am going to do the second treatment today. I am using 1/4 of a pill for each week for 3 weeks.

 

[kevinpo]

If you have sps (smooth skinned acro) and red bugs your sps will eventually die.

With proper husbandry Acropora corals will have great color and grow at normal rates with red bugs. Many things will kill Acropora but red bugs alone are not one of them. They are just easy to see and point the finger at when you have coral health issues. Interceptor will also kill and blind some species of fish. I'm sure (although I haven't found a way to test for it) that it shortens the lifespan of some fish also.

A pipefish would never survive in my tank so that's out.

Is it because you think your tank is too small? The Dragonface Pipefish can do well in a 75 gallon tank with high flow, live rock, and a healthy population of copepods. I'm not saying that they will eat red bugs however. I did see a video some years ago that Dustin had of one eating them but I haven't seen mine do the same. Like most natural pest control it is often hit or miss.

Regards,
Kevin