Predator for Red Planaria Flat Worms???

[eww]

What should we get? Any ideas? We just found literally hundreds of these worms in our Solana. We don't know where the heck they came from but they are definitely there now. We have a Green Coris Wrasse in the sump of our 180 but it is 6" long and I would be concerned putting it in a little 34g cube. It would also kick up the sand every night going to bed and we have some LPS that would not like that much.

 

[jrgilles]

The macro I started my fuge with had tons of these guys. I treated it right away (as it was localized to the fuge.) I think I did 3 treatments on the fuge and eradicated them. First was recommended dosage, then 2X that, then 3X recommended. 5-7 days apart on treatment. Wiped them out and never saw one again (although I have seen some big clear flatworms, which are pretty cool creatures.) Had a big mushroom in the fuge that survived fine. The 3X dosage did some damage to the pods that were in the fuge though.

So, that works if you want to nuke them with chemicals. Not sure how corals would react, as I just treated in the fuge, then totally flushed it and put in new water. I have a bottle of Flatworm Exit if you want to use it. I can drop it in the mail or something. I know melevsreef.com has a good page about treating with FWE.

Guy I got them from said he had them for many many years and never cared. They are fine as long as they aren't
1) forming mats and covering corals, where they are blocking the light.
2) multiply extensively to where they use up a trace element, then all die off at once.

You could take a passive approach and just try to syphon them out and see what happens. If not, you might get lucky with a 6 line wrasse or something.

Good luck.

Oh, if you use FWE, you will probably want to suck out as many as you can before treating to avoid toxin release. The toxin is only dangerous when they all die at once (which is what will happen when you put in FWE.)

 

[crazyfish253]

Mandarin's have been known to eat them. My mandarin eats the clear flat worms maybe will work for others. Something to look into

 

[akunochi]

Melenarus wrasses loves them

 

[eww]

Are Melenarus Wrasses sand sleepers or cocoon sleepers? They are beautiful fish but we are trying to stay away from the sand sleepers in this little cube.

 

[donrando]

i too vote for the target mandarin, seen it with my own eyes on multiple occasions, with multiple specimens. Also, the 4-line and 6-line wrasses will make an eager meal of them.

 

[akunochi]

Melanarus are sand sleepers but do just fine without it. I keep mine in a bare bottom tank and when he is tired he just goes into one of the many caves.