Dwarf lionfish-proof flatworm predator?

[fermentedhiker]

My 90gallon dwarf lionfish tank is coming along. Getting close to the point of adding the lions themselves. I just want to bet the coral more set before I do. The sides of the tank are covered in tiny what I'm guessing are a flatworm of some type. Since they are on the sides I'm guessing they are either eating algae or biofilm and so not a problem in themselves. It's just visually undesireable. My Caribbean longnose butterflyfish shows no interest in them(maybe too small even for him).

I'm looking for something that will help keep the numbers in check but also isn't on the menu for the lionfish. I know some wrasses are good for this but they might fall within the range of what a lion might attempt to grab. Plus I don't want to add another fish that I don't really want/need just to do some clean up duty.

I was more hoping I could find some sort of invert that could help. Would something small in the whelk type(like a bumble bee snail) consume them without totally devastating the entire microfauna?

 

[keddre]

Blue velvet sea slug. You would have to rehome him eventually as they only eat flat worms

 

[fermentedhiker]

Blue velvet sea slug. You would have to rehome him eventually as they only eat flat worms

I was wondering about them but the starvation factor had me concerned. Not sure how fast they would blow through the population. I don't really need to eliminate them. I just would rather not have hundreds, maybe thousands on the viewing panes all the time :/

 

[keddre]

I was wondering about them but the starvation factor had me concerned. Not sure how fast they would blow through the population. I don't really need to eliminate them. I just would rather not have hundreds, maybe thousands on the viewing panes all the time :/

Gotcha, they would thoroughly clean them out, unless you hide some in a fuge

 

[keddre]

Also, how old is the tank? It could also just be a new tank explosion that'll die off in a month or so

 

[fermentedhiker]

Also, how old is the tank? It could also just be a new tank explosion that'll die off in a month or so

Tank is entering it's 5th Month. So it's possibly just a passing phase. Not sure if they'll fade or not. This is going to be a fairly high nutrient tank once the lions are in and feeding. The fuge has live rock(from gulfliverock) and a couple flame scallops so I've been feeding the scallops daily when I shut off the pumps to feed the fish. I'm sure that's contributing to the outbreak of the little critters. I might even be misidentifying them as they are too small to really see what they are. But they glide along like a snail or flatwork and even baby stomatella look like giants next to them.

 

[fermentedhiker]

the closest pic I could get.

 

[Maggie321]

Yea. Those are def flatworms. Acola, I believe. I had a phase of them. I bought flatworm exit to nuke the tank, but gave it 3 more weeks. They have pretty much disappeared. I haven't seen any in weeks. I never had to nuke the tank either. The population dropped on its own. Give it a couple weeks, they might surprise you.

 

[fermentedhiker]

Yea. Those are def flatworms. Acola, I believe. I had a phase of them. I bought flatworm exit to nuke the tank, but gave it 3 more weeks. They have pretty much disappeared. I haven't seen any in weeks. I never had to nuke the tank either. The population dropped on its own. Give it a couple weeks, they might surprise you.

Good to know. Thanks.

 

[Maggie321]

Sorry I meant acoel. Not acola.