flatworm questions

[goldmaniac]

Flatworm questions: what exactly are flatworms?

I'm inclined to think they're bristleworms, but people report that they don't dare trade corals or live sand because they have flatworms.

I have bristleworms, and other than stinging my fingers when I rearrange rock (like last night) they seem to be and are rumored to be harmless.

what gives?

i looked it up and flatworms seem to be a class above bristleworms, as in bristle worms are a species of flatworms.

is this an unofficial name to a common pest? so, if I have bristleworms, is this the kind of 'bad' flatworms i'm seeing references to?

I half-imagine that when people say flatworm, they really mean a specific kind of flatworm? and if so, is or is not a bristleworm?

\ not a newbie, but this is a newbie question.

also, do mandarinfish eat bristleworms? I'm hearing they eat flatworms, same thing? i have a green mandarinfish and very happy that he's not thin and he's doing fine, wondering if this is a food source for him.

thanks

[D to the P]

Not the same as bristle worms. Bristle worms are polycheate worms and more closely releated to what we think of as worms. Flat worms aren't really worms at all. They are Planarians technically, but they kinda look like little brown arrow head stones. Bristle worms, depending on species, are usually good to have in the aquarium because they are detrivores. Flat worms are pests that can cover corals and rock and substrate and become very aesthetically unpleasing. I don't think mandarins eat bristleworms, and I'm not sure about flat worms, but they do eat pods and micro crustaceans in your substrate and live rock. You can google image planarians to see for yourself what they look like, but just know that they aren't related to bristleworms.

[goldmaniac]

so planarians are flatworms

i'll Google planarians
thanks

[goldmaniac]

this is another reason why i am glad i decided to make my own manmade live rock. I have a problem with Vermetid snails, and don't need another plague of pests like this.

thanks again -

[D to the P]

Glad to help. Yeah, man made live rock has a lot of great benefits, but believe me pests always seem to find thier way in haha.

[goldmaniac]

totally agree. chaos seems to follow me.

[greenbean36191]

Flat worms aren't really worms at all. They are Planarians technically, but they kinda look like little brown arrow head stones.
Sure they're worms. "Worm" describes a body plan, not a coherent group of animals. There are over a dozen different phyla of real worms. There are also few if any planarians in the hobby. Convolutriloba which are sometimes called red planarians are in an entirely different phylum from real planarians.

[Percula9]

Six line wrasses will eat them. Much better to control with a natural predator then useing a chemical like worm exit to solve the problem.