Wanting to know all the best fish, etc. that will eat brown flatworms

[basssnake]

I want to know all of the wrasses and other fish and anything else that will eat brown flatworms. The tank with this problem, i have fanworms and a coral banded shrimp that I would rather not loose to whatever i put in the tank to eat the brown flatworms. They are getting all over my corals and i need to safely and hopefully naturally get rid of these pests. The flatworms are a reddish brown color.

Please help!!!! Please everyone that has answers reply!!!

[basssnake]

What about a canary wrasse(also known as a yellow coris wrasse), here is the long name for it, Halichoeres chrysus. I have one coming in, but i read that they will eat ornamental shrimps and fanworms. But i did read they will eat flatworms. The one i have coming should be around 2 inches in length. Give me your thoughts........I also have a checkerboard wrasse coming which is with this long name, Halichoeres hortulanus which will be around 3 to 4 inches. I just need to do something but i don't want to loose all my other invertebrates. I have tried sixline wrasses, but i lost them in my rear sump when they went over the overflow. I have tried to catch them, but i couldn't. They didn't seem to be eating them very fast if they were. I really need something that will eat the brown flatworms in a hurry.

[amike5]

Just use flatworm exit. You will probably need to do it more than once though.

[basssnake]

Well, I thought of using flatworm exit, but i had a post on here awhile back and some people thought it was very hard on the other inhabitants. Plus all the toxins that the flatworms release. Have you used it with no problems??

[basssnake]

Anyone else got any opinions on the fish i listed above or any fish or critters that you recommend to get rid of these pesky brown flatworms without loosing any of my fanworms or coral banded shrimp or corals and snails???

[Ritten]

I've read about the Coris eating flatworms as well, but never heard from someone with experience with that fish. If anyone has tried, I'd also like to know if it ate their shrimp and snails?

[BFG]

Get a small specimen which has the advantage of going into those tight crevice of the live rock. I had both the yellow coris and the green wrasse together in my 120g. My cocoworm was not disturbed at all and the shrimp was not disturbed at first. But as the 2 grew larger, the green wrasse eventually outgrew the yellow coris and chased it out of the tank. It also turn toward my small shrimps and had it for snack.

Like I mention above, get these 2 while they are small in size but be prepared to move them out when they grow and get large enough.

[techigirl78]

There is no fish guaranteed to eat flatworms. Some wrasses and mandarins have ate flatworms, but some have not. My fish (scooter blenny and wrasse) didn't really bother with the flatworms even when I restricted their food. I used flatworm exit based on melev's site and had no issues.

[Boat]

I had good luck with a Scooter Blennie. Although I never saw it eat the flatworms they disappeared with it in the tank. I lost the blennie and the flatworms came back. Got another fish and the flatworms disappeared again. I just figured that somehow the blennie interfered with the reproductive cycle of the flatworms.

[basssnake]

Hey BFG, did your yellow coris wrasse( Halichoeres chrysus) or otherwise known as a canary wrasse, eat flatworms?? I got mine in today and he is at most 2 inches. The tank i need to get rid of the flatworms is a 85 gallon, which is actually only 12 inches wide to the back wall(it is a acrylic with a back overflow) and is a deep tank. Do you think he would outgrow the tank? I don't think i would be able to ever catch him due to all the live rock and corals which i would never want to disturb. I need to know whether i should put him in there asap, if not, then i will have to put him in my wrasse tank. Thanks.....

[lReef_lKeeper]

i have had excellent results with both my sixline wrasse (jumped) and my psycodelic mandarin eating planaria flatworms. i had them BAD until i added the fish to my 125. i added the mandarin AFTER the sixline jumped. i would not recommend keeping both fish in one tank unless it is a HUGE tank.

[Monti]

I've also had luck with a sixline wrasse/spotted mandarin one-two punch. I say luck because like techigirl said, there is no guarantee that any fish will eat these nasty little buggers. I'd say go with flatworm exit. As long as you follow the directions carefully you should have no problem.

[BFG]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=11770706#post11770706 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by basssnake
Hey BFG, did your yellow coris wrasse( Halichoeres chrysus) or otherwise known as a canary wrasse, eat flatworms?? I got mine in today and he is at most 2 inches. The tank i need to get rid of the flatworms is a 85 gallon, which is actually only 12 inches wide to the back wall(it is a acrylic with a back overflow) and is a deep tank. Do you think he would outgrow the tank? I don't think i would be able to ever catch him due to all the live rock and corals which i would never want to disturb. I need to know whether i should put him in there asap, if not, then i will have to put him in my wrasse tank. Thanks.....

He would eat anything he could find and reach into as my personal experience told me. He would also outgrow your tank too. But to remove him, you need to know which patch of the sandbed he dig into. But if you have difficulty with a deep tank, I suggest you don't add it in. He would become the terror of the tank once settled. But he is always on the lookout for stuff to eat in between the life rock crevice as oppose to just swim around all day. I've bought a small specimen too for my 120g and will try to remove the green wrasse soon as he is caught.

Disclaimer here- Your mileage may vary.

[respite]

While im usually against chemical "quick fixes" Flatworm exit may be your best bet. Ive used it on a few tanks with good results. Most of the negative reviews ive seen are from people who overdosed or failed to follow the instructions.

You also may need to raise your flow, as well as lower the nutrient level of the tank to help rid of them.

[GoingPostal]

I've used flatworms exit several times on my nanos, it usually takes a few times to work if you have lots. My aquapod 12 was pretty well covered so I spend two days in a row siphoning as many as possible out than freshwater dipped almost all my corals and rocks, basting off in saltwater the ones I didn't think would appreciate the freshwater bath. Then FWE, did a water change and ran some carbon. Redosed just in case a week later. My other two tanks had very mild infestations so I just dosed and ran carbon. Haven't seen any in about a month so hopefully this time took.

[Psychographic]

See if you can find a Blue Velvet Nudibrach. Most Nudi's are specialized feeders and the BVN eats flatworms.

[chicano]

Arrow Crab's!!!! are the best when it comes to Flatworms.

[basssnake]

So, A arrow crab will eat flatworms?? How well do they do on that?? Would it hurt my coral banded shrimp?

[jgonzz]

yellow coris cleaned up my 26 bow now I can't even find 1 flatworm, before they were crawling up the glass and all over the rock work.