flatworms

[rod113]

Does anyone know if velvet Nudibranch will get rid of the reddish colored flat worms and are these nudibranch safe to put in a reef tank, any info on this would be very helpful.

[Tennyson]

I don't know much about velvet nudibranches, but if its the black one with blue stripes, I think that those eat flatworms and are reef safe. You could do an online search or something.

If you are trying to get rid of flatworms, you could get a power head and point it towards the glass and that blows most off. Cleaning the sides of the tank every 2-3 days also keeps them out of site.

[greenbean36191]

Velvet slugs (they aren't nudibranchs) are reef safe and they eat nothing but flatworms. However, that doesn't make them a good solution. Because the don't eat anything else, once the worm population gets low the slugs have trouble finding enough of them and eventually end up starving. Because they can never eat all the worms, the remainder almost always end up repopulating. Besides that, the slugs are very fragile and are easily sucked into pumps. IMO they're another animal that should never be collected for the hobby.

One of the most reliable ways to get rid of them is to practice strict nutrient control like you would for an algae problem (since in essence that's what you have), siphon out as many as you can as often as you can, and then finish off with a treatment of Flatworm Exit.

[snorvich]

I agree with above ^ Certain mandarins are reputed to eat flatworms in addition to copepods. I have not personally seen them do this and I have two types of mandarins.

[rabidcrab]

ive never heard of mandarins eating flatworms, and if there ARE any.. im sure they arent pretty. but i agree with greenbean aswell. not a great solution

[CadetMKultra]

My mandarin eats flatworms. Mandarins are hard as hell to keep.