What will kill these polyclad worms???

[Jake_the_reefer]

I have polyclad flatworms absolutely destroying all of my torch corals. I'm dipping and scraping the corals to rid of the ones I see I tried flatworm exit to no avail. What can I add to this tank to kill them? 6 line wrasse? Yellow wrasse? Tactical nuke?

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

Tank is 20 gallons

 

[Infidel]

Tank is 20 gallons

A Four/Six-Line Wrasse (not ideal for 20g, but could be moved as it grows larger), a Pygmy/Possum Wrasse (more suited to a 20g), or a purple dottyback should have an impact on the worms. Note: Don't add a purple dottyback if you go with the smaller wrasse species.

You can also trap them with the bottle method using clam or shrimp as bait.

What other fish do you have in the system?

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

A Four/Six-Line Wrasse (not ideal for 20g, but could be moved as it grows larger), a Pygmy/Possum Wrasse (more suited to a 20g), and/or a purple dottyback should have an impact on the worms.

What other fish do you have in the system?

2 clowns and a scooter dragonette. Will a 6 line eat them? After a ton of googleing people are saying theres no predator for the flatworms.

 

[Infidel]

2 clowns and a scooter dragonette. Will a 6 line eat them? After a ton of googleing people are saying theres no predator for the flatworms.

Certain wrasse species will absolutely eat flatworms. Typically you would add the more aggressive wrasse or pseudochromis species last to a system of your size.

You could also try a blue velvet nudibranch (Chelidonura varians).

Edit: Was thinking mandarin, not scooter blenny.

 

[Highgrade]

Dipping daily and using a baster. When I found polyclad infestations on some torches in my QT tank I used daily dips and treatment of UWC Purge to eradicate them in under two weeks.

 

[vetteguy53081]

They feed on snails and some acro and euphylia.
You can set a trap by stuffing a snail shell with meat from clam and wait to see them , then net the shell and shake it into toilet. A yellow coris or melanurus wrasse should feed on these

 

[Infidel]

They feed on snails and some acro and euphylia.
You can set a trap by stuffing a snail shell with meat from clam and wait to see them , then net the shell and shake it into toilet. A yellow coris or melanurus wrasse should feed on these

+1 for H. chrysus or H. melanurus, but definitely too large for a 20g (long term).

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

Certain wrasse species will absolutely eat flatworms. Typically you would add the more aggressive wrasse or pseudochromis species last to a system of your size.

You could also try a blue velvet nudibranch (Chelidonura varians).

Edit: Was thinking mandarin, not scooter blenny.

My lfs gets blue velvets. I can give them a shot. How many for a 20g would you say

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

+1 for H. chrysus or H. melanurus, but definitely too large for a 20g

It would be temp placement until they are gone I may try a wrasse

 

[andrewkw]

Trap them in the middle of the night or at least after lights go out. A blue velvet probably won't eat them? After all they are about the size of a polyclad.

 

[Highgrade]

I had several wrasses in my QT, Melanurus, 6 line, yellow and a Pylei Wrasse including a Yellow Candy Hogfish. None of them would touch the polyclads. Even if I used a baster to make them float in the water column. Not sure if they had a bad taste/toxin but all of those fish I mentioned would spit them right back out. Then they would just crawl away.

 

[Infidel]

My lfs gets blue velvets. I can give them a shot. How many for a 20g would you say

The problem with BVNs is they pretty much only eat flatworms, so when your problem is solved, they will die. Depending on how bad your infestation is, you could try 2-4 of them and introduce near your torches. I wouldn't use them if you also get a larger wrasse species.

 

[vetteguy53081]

+1 for H. chrysus or H. melanurus, but definitely too large for a 20g (long term).

Wouldn't bother me as long as worms are Gone !!

 

[Jake_the_reefer]

I had several wrasses in my QT, Melanurus, 6 line, yellow and a Pylei Wrasse including a Yellow Candy Hogfish. None of them would touch the polyclads. Even if I used a baster to make them float in the water column. Not sure if they had a bad taste/toxin but all of those fish I mentioned would spit them right back out. Then they would just crawl away.

What is my best course of action? Would scallops work in place of clam to trap them? I have raw scallop but not clam

 

[Infidel]

Wouldn't bother me as long as worms are Gone !!

Haha, true enough!

 

[Infidel]

Trap them in the middle of the night or at least after lights go out. A blue velvet probably won't eat them? After all they are about the size of a polyclad.

Polyclads can get very large, but I'm guessing if this just happened in the system, they are on the very small side.

 

[Highgrade]

What is my best course of action? Would scallops work in place of clam to trap them? I have raw scallop but not clam

Daily dips and use a baster to blow off the poly clads. Check for eggs also. If eggs are present - scrap them/brush them. The eggs would be around the base of the skeleton/tissue.

 

[Infidel]

Daily dips and use a baster to blow off the poly clads. Check for eggs also. If eggs are present - scrap them/brush them. The eggs would be around the base of the skeleton/tissue.

I would mix this with a second method as even though it would be effective, there will still be ones you don't catch. Maybe try two BVNs in addition to see the effect. My guess is the BVNs you acquire, will be much larger than the worms. At the risk of sounding like a bad joke, are your worms tiny?

 

[andrewkw]

Polyclads can get very large, but I'm guessing if this just happened in the system, they are on the very small side.

I always thought they started out larger. The only ones I've ever found were larger then my thumb. I eliminated them by just catching them one by one.