mandarin for flatworm control

[gannetnz]

Hi all ive done alot of research and have found out that the green mandarin Synchiropus picturatus MAY eat flatworms,
but i havnt been able to find out if the blue mandarin Pterosynchiropus splendidus will also do the same job at having a good snack on the lil pests.

only reason i ask is i like the look of the blue over the green lol.

i also understand that a 6line wrasse will eat them, but not to keen on a wrase in my tank.

tank is a 2ft cube so 55g with a 50L sump and a deltec mce600.

atm there isnt enough pods in the tank, but i can get the pod population up enough before i get one.

other fish in the tank is a pair of black clowns, and a pair of bangais

thanks in advance.

[sanababit]

first get your pod population going and then get the fish

sana

[gannetnz]

Yup thats the plan, ive been wanting one for a year or so, and wont get one till the pods are up and going, only reason my pods are a tad low atm is the tank broke last week so are now in a new tank

[terryagi]

Here is a related thread I had going just for some more information.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1692521

[gannetnz]

thanks very much for that, i did search but i must of missed that one

[ReefingMadness]

I had a 40 breeder a year and a half ago, that had flatworms. I had great success at keeping them at bay with a Yellow Coris Wrasse ( Halichoeres Chrysus ). It didn't wipe them out, but it kept them from wiping the tank out. After a long battle I ended up shutting the tank down.

[snorvich]

Mandarins most likely will not eat them. But if you like mandarins, be sure you have sufficient copepods.

[entropygain]

1/10 chance the mandarin will eat them.
No luck for me.

Flatworm exit & quarantine is the only thing thats worked for me.

[finsurgeon]

I had a serious flat worm invasion, and none of my 3 mandarins ever even noticed it. 2 targets and one green. A melanurus wrasse ate them all, though. It's my opinion that your new mandarin will not touch your flat worms, so get the kind you want.

[waldomas]

Neither one of two mandarins ate my flatworms. My sixline put a serious hurtin' on them tho. I think I would try a yellow corris instead for sixlines are known jumpers. After mine jumped, I started to see a return of the flatworms. I plan on getting a corri wrasse soon.

[JC2005]

I just got one of these chelidonuras varians also known as Head Shield nudibranch. According to everything I've read, flat worms is all they eat.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/...198&pcatid=2198

[mako199]

All I know is I had the harmless white flatworms on my glass all the time until I added a blue Mandarin now I dont see any.

[mark54321]

I have spotted mandarin and she doesn't eat any flatworms

[CLINTOS]

I have a 90G with 2 chromis's and a blue mandarin my 90G has no flat worms even know I know I've introduced them by taking a few coral's every once in awhile from my infested 20G that has 1 chromis

I noticed the chromis was eating them quite good when I had 2 chromis's in the 20G but when I have 1 in there they stayed somewhat in control as long as you don't feed the chromis but a few times a week and just blowing around the flatworm's

I'll be getting a second chromis as soon as the store gets them in for my 20G I know that 2 will control them easily imo

maybe it has something to do with competition for the chromis's?

[plancton]

Flatworm exit is your best bet. Just use it when there´s few flatworm in the tank. Otherwise be ready to have so much watter changes right away.

They are easy to erradicate with flatworm exit, but since they´re toxic once they die, then you have to be very careful when there´s so many of them.

[jason18]

I picked up 2 spotted mandarins and they don't seem to be eating any..
Anyone try prazipro??

[waldomas]

Really, the only bad thing about having them is that they eat copapods. I tend to see a decline in the pod population when they proliferate. They may rarely irritate a coral but generally don't seem to bother them.

[trexer]

Flatworm exit is the way to go. You should be able to get past this fairly easy. Good luck in resolving your problem.

[abrian]

My green spot mandarin doesnt touch my flatworm population. I added a melanurus wrasse a bit over a week ago and I am noticing fewer worms visible on my glass but havent actually witnessed it eating any. The flatworms dont bother any of my corals, it is purely an asthetics issue of not wanting to see them on my glass for me.