Six Line not eating flatworms

[SaltCreep]

I finally got a Six Line to combat my flatworms.

I tried Flatworm Exit....didn't work.

I tried a Nudibrach.......didn't work.

Now this guy, and he doesn't seem to be eating them !!

He cruises around picking at stuff, but not the flatworms.
Anybody have a Sixline that eventually began to eat flatworms?

 

[saltwaterB]

I have seen some take right to them, some take a while, and some never. It is really up to the fish. I have had great luck with both of the methods you mentioned. I am surprised that they did not work for you. How long and how did you do each other method. Both can take some time to be effective, it is not going to happen over night. the Flatworm exit may need to be dosed 2 times a week for 2 or 3 weeks, but I have never had them survive after that treatment. The Varians Nudibranch will for sure eat them, but that will take some time and several nudis, depending on the FW infestation. Also I have had Target Mandarin eat Flatworms as well.

What type of FW are they? Red, brown, green, Acro eating?

 

[SaltCreep]

These are them.....



Here is the Nudi......that disappeared....

Now the worms are really taking off. All mushrooms have at least 5 or 10 worms and some have like 50 !!!!

 

[saltwaterB]

I found this on Melev's Reef

A suggestion by Salifert: If you've been unable to kill them with the recommended dosage after two attempts, try this experiment. Take one gallon of tank water, and add a few flatworms to it. Add one drop of F.E., and stir. Wait and watch to see if it affects the flatworms. If not, add another drop, stir, wait and watch. If necessary, add another drop and stir. Wait 15 minutes each time, until you see the flatworms are obviously distressed. At that point, you'll know exactly how many drops per gallon it will take to kill the flatworms in your system. Keep in mind, higher doses of this product in your reef may cause issues with your livestock. The purpose of this experiment is only to find out just how resistant they are.


I would try this method. They must be some stuborn FW.

 

[jbishop]

I found this on Melev's Reef

A suggestion by Salifert: If you've been unable to kill them with the recommended dosage after two attempts, try this experiment. Take one gallon of tank water, and add a few flatworms to it. Add one drop of F.E., and stir. Wait and watch to see if it affects the flatworms. If not, add another drop, stir, wait and watch. If necessary, add another drop and stir. Wait 15 minutes each time, until you see the flatworms are obviously distressed. At that point, you'll know exactly how many drops per gallon it will take to kill the flatworms in your system. Keep in mind, higher doses of this product in your reef may cause issues with your livestock. The purpose of this experiment is only to find out just how resistant they are.


I would try this method. They must be some stuborn FW.

This is a great idea.

 

[stingythingy45]

I remember Mike Paletta's talk at one of the BRS meetings.
He mentioned how he trained wrasse's to eat flat worms before releasing them in the display tank.He fed them nothing but flat worms till they got the idea.

 

[Snidgetless]

Thought i would chime in on this. I also went the FWE route, and it did not help me much, even when dosing 3x the recommended amount. They eventually died down but a sudden nutrient spike in my system has sent them into over-drive. I have thousands of them in a little 14 nano, to the point where they create giant red sheets going over my glass, rocks and coral. I just picked up last night a small yellow corris in the hopes he will take a liking to the Flat Worms. I have the notorious brown ones with a red dot on the head. So far no luck, the wrasse just buried himself in the sand. So just a heads up as another option, because i hear those work well too.

 

[stingythingy45]

Found this:

"Mike Paletta at fragfest talked about training some wrasses to eat flatworms by putting them in a small hang on plastic tank/breeder and not feeding them for a few days. He used a baster to blast the coral and pick up the flatworms then put them in the plastic tank. They would only eat in the water column so if they landed on the bottom he would blow then up into the water useing the baster. Once they got the idea they started eating off the bottom he started putting in a few rocks and coral and they started picking off the flatworms. He put them in his tank and after a month they run out of food and he ships them to his buddy and the wrasses clean the new tank then they ship the trained wrasses to a third tank then back to Mike Paletta to clean his tank again. About a six month cycle.

 

[JeremyR]

Are the flatworms all over the tank, or just on the mushrooms? The kind that only stay on mushrooms are pretty resistant to flatworm exit or greenex.

Sixline wrasses are too hit/miss on eating flatworms. My go-to fish is the melanurus wrasse. Can sometimes be hard on shrimp, but almost always eats the flatworms.

 

[SaltCreep]

Mine are on mushrooms predominantly.....but there are a few sneaking onto other stuff.

The base of my big leather has 2 or 3 on it.

I may pick up another wrasse ( not another 6line) if I see a good candidate.