Polyclad worms

lakereef · Dec 23, 2015

Can you give any suggestions on eliminating polyclad worms from a sps/lps reef tank? I've tried in vain to use traps to eliminate polyclads from my reef only to find them reappear after some time. Seems impossible to get them all. Wondering if you have any advice as I'd really like to have a healthy clam live more than a month.

Any advice is appreciated.

twilliard · Dec 23, 2015

Wondering if you have a picture.
Seems to be there are many species.

lakereef · Dec 23, 2015

twilliard · Dec 23, 2015

Oh ya!
Lets talk

pugcrush · Dec 23, 2015

I'm pretty sure the polyclads prey on Clams. Possibly on snails also. They shouldn't be a pest to SPS/LPS. Do you have a clam? Add any rock recently?

Lionfish Lair · Dec 23, 2015

I haven't run into too many people who have a plethora of them. Usually it's just one! Wow. The solution is usually to pluck out the single specimen, but..... wow. Do you have a lot of snails currently?

twilliard · Dec 23, 2015

Also what do you do to trap them?

twilliard · Dec 23, 2015

Lionfish Lair said:
I haven't run into too many people who have a plethora of them. Usually it's just one! Wow. The solution is usually to pluck out the single specimen, but..... wow. Do you have a lot of snails currently?

Do you know if they will live on prepared food?
Trying to get my hands on these

Lionfish Lair · Dec 23, 2015

I honestly don't know. When lakereef first described that he had many, I'll admit I thought maybe the polyclad ID was wrong (sorry lakereef). It's usually just a question of a single specimen and often they are already in a container when people are asking for an ID.... like lakereefs pic. Usually the advice is "throw it away" and the problem is solved. This is very interesting.

lakereef · Dec 23, 2015

pugcrush said:
I'm pretty sure the polyclads prey on Clams. Possibly on snails also. They shouldn't be a pest to SPS/LPS. Do you have a clam? Add any rock recently?

True they don't affect sps/lps and I'm currently without a clam. I've tried introducing clams multiple times only to find I didn't fully eliminate all the worms and clam dies again.

After finding the first two in the picture I was in the process of starting a new tank. I started over with fresh rock and dipped all the corals before moving over. Month or so later, the clam died. I didn't think polyclad since it wasn't eaten, like previous polyclad killed clam. I replace with another clam only to have it die a month or so later. I have a couple bigger turbo snails that are still alive. I figured if I did have a worm, it would go after those. After yet another clam death I flipped over the dead (uneaten) clam over I noticed a polyclad on the bottom. I set a trap that night and caught another one about 1" size. I've also found 2 smaller < .5" sized on rocks. And yes I'm sure they were polyclads.

lakereef · Dec 23, 2015

twilliard said:
Also what do you do to trap them?

I've used two types. One was a plastic soda bottle, with the end cut off and flipped around. This caught the biggest two.

I also took a plastic container with a screw on top, then cut 4 slits in the side. We're talking knife thick slits. I caught the 1" sized one in this.

Both were baited with frozen clam halfs.

Oh and one was baited with a 6" blue maxima RIP.

lakereef · Dec 23, 2015

Lionfish Lair said:
I honestly don't know. When lakereef first described that he had many, I'll admit I thought maybe the polyclad ID was wrong (sorry lakereef). It's usually just a question of a single specimen and often they are already in a container when people are asking for an ID.... like lakereefs pic. Usually the advice is "throw it away" and the problem is solved. This is very interesting.

That is why I posted. Everything I've read said just keep setting traps till you catch them all. I went a couple nights without catching anything. Then randomly I found a tiny one <.5" on a frag plug. So the trap didn't draw it. And I'm 100% positive it was a polyclad. I've had AEFW before and know it wasn't that.

lakereef · Dec 23, 2015

twilliard said:
Do you know if they will live on prepared food?
Trying to get my hands on these

I know they can live on snails. I have tons of little stomatella snails I suspect are feeding these creatures. One note, I have two scallops which I've had for 9 months and are still fine. 2 large turbos, also seem fine.

Lionfish Lair · Dec 23, 2015

Oh, the pics are absolutely no doubt a polyclad. Before you posted the pic, I was thinking maybe it wasn't, because the scenario didn't sound like it fit. I'm going to read around and see what I run across.

lakereef · Dec 31, 2015

I wrote Ora and received the following advice.

" I understand you have seen the dreaded polyclad worm in your reef tank? Was it one that looks like this:

http://i2.photobucket.com/albums/y45/garagebrian/Hitchhikers/flatworm.jpg

To my knowledge, there really isn’t a sure fire way to remove them. If you have seen one, then there is a good possibility there are several of them. They seem to be able to go a long time without food. I have heard of people using empty coke bottles, with a piece of shrimp inside placed in the aquarium after lights out. Check on the bottle in an hour or two and see if you have lured the flatworm out of their rocky lair. Sounds like you’ve already tried something like this. If your tank is small enough, you can lift up your live rock and see if you can find one lurking underneath and flush them off. Christmas or Melanarus wrasses have been mentioned as possible controls as well. Keep an eye out for their eggs as well. I’ve lifted up rocks before to find several worms and masses of eggs alongside them.

These guys are nasty and I am sorry you’re experiencing them. I would refer to reefcentral.com or reef2reef.com and see how other aquarists like yourself were able to get rid of them."

twilliard · Dec 31, 2015

Still would love to have one!

trido · Dec 31, 2015

I have two large, five year old clams and have pulled a few polyclad FW's out of my system over the last few years. I run filter socks to catch them in the overflows. You don't want one of these things getting cut up in the return pump or you'll have a whole lot more of them. I would also recommend dipping your LR in FW one at a time over a month and also dipping all of your LPS in a reef dip over the course of a month. If you keep at them in an aggressive manner you will get ahead of them and win. It just takes a month of two of diligence and work which isn't much in the big picture anyhow. Good luck!

saltyfilmfolks · Dec 31, 2015

twilliard said:
Still would love to have one!

Figuring eradication methods?
It would be worth the pay pal flat rate box.

lakereef · Jan 4, 2016

trido said:
I have two large, five year old clams and have pulled a few polyclad FW's out of my system over the last few years. I run filter socks to catch them in the overflows. You don't want one of these things getting cut up in the return pump or you'll have a whole lot more of them. I would also recommend dipping your LR in FW one at a time over a month and also dipping all of your LPS in a reef dip over the course of a month. If you keep at them in an aggressive manner you will get ahead of them and win. It just takes a month of two of diligence and work which isn't much in the big picture anyhow. Good luck!

You simply removed them with a filter sock? Did you also set traps to remove? How did you assure they weren't attacking your clam? Yesterday I flipped over a frag and there was one under it only 1/8" long on the frag plug.

reef life · Jan 4, 2016

Be careful when removing these critters! If you shred or tear a piece off one it will create more #{)(*&^%$##@@! I have been battling these for years. Almost given up and just keep buying 100 snails every other month.