Flatworm Eating Nudi's for future trade/sale

[mhurley]

I've got 2 flatworm eating Nudi's (Chelidonura varians) on the way to me from MarineDepotLive. I'm not sure how long these fellas will take to clean up my tank but I do know they will begin to starve when they run out of flatworms to eat. So I would like to pre-plan a new home for them with for anyone else that has a flatworm problem brewing. They cost me $18 each plus some shipping.

We could even start a conga line for these fellas across the Chicagoland area :lol:

Let me know if anyone is interested.

[MARSHALL MANN]

great idea mike

[BlueBadger]

Keep us up to date if these slugs help out...I have a flatworm problem and would be interested if they work.....Or if they at least lower the number so I feel better about using flatworm exit.........
Dan

[clwnphish]

i could use them, but dont have too many FWs+

[mhurley]

Well from what I've heard from other people, they definitely eradicate the the little buggers. But that's the problem, since the flats are their only diet, they die after they do their job.

[mhurley]

Here's the little guys...wow they are beautiful. Small though, less than an inch.

http://home.comcast.net/~michael.hurley/nudismall.jpg

[MARSHALL MANN]

very cool mike !

[jsbzmcdaniel]

Lets us know how they work out. If only I could get my hands on some Aptasia Nudi's I would be a happy camper :D

[makoshark]

Originally posted by jsbzmcdaniel
Lets us know how they work out. If only I could get my hands on some Aptasia Nudi's I would be a happy camper :D

Now there's a conga line I'd jump in.

[liz3]

OK newbie question, does anyone have a pic of the flatworms your talking about??

[mhurley]

Liz,

No close ups cause they're so small...but in this picture in the background in the sand...see those little brown dots? They are reddish/brown in color and have a forked tail.


http://home.comcast.net/~michael.hurley/frags_018small.jpg

[makoshark]

Here's a pic I found in another post.
While it's not a great pic it is an excellent example of what you'll see from your side of the glass.
So just for clarification. THIS IS NOT MY TANK.
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/51439more_worms.jpg

[liz3]

I have something that looks like a round sucker with a forked tail, but it's only in my fuge. Will they spread to the tank?

[mhurley]

They're not generally free swimming so probably not. However, if one gets sucked there for some reason..then they will multiple.
Mine are only in my display, none have made it to my refugiums. They're not bad and don't harm anything...just multiple to the point of being an eyesore.

[liz3]

Welll if I start see them in the display, I'll have to find out who has the nudi:)

[lclau]

It's too bad nudi's have such specific diets. There's so many cool colors of them. I hope they get the job done Mike!

[Steffish]

I live in Elgin and have just had an outbreak. When do you think that you'd be done with them? Are they working?

[mhurley]

Things aren't looking good actually. They both disappeared almost immediately after they were added and I have not seen them since. I may be resorting to FWE to solve this plague.

[MARSHALL MANN]

the only problem with the nudis is that they almost always end up going down the overflows

or if you have closed loops running they end up getting sucked in and slammed back in the tank wich cant be good for them :(

hope they are still ok mike

MM

[arinick]

Mike-

Please be careful with the FWE- I keep reading nightmare stories about it. Chemicals- I don't trust 'em. I've heard Mandarin Gobies eat them... have you considered one?

Ari

[mhurley]

Thanks for the caution...I've used FWE before on smaller oubreaks...The FWE is not the problem, it's the toxins that the FW's release when they die so I'm in the process of getting a 100 gallon water change ready along with a 5 gallon bucket that will be filled with 20 pounds of carbon to have my water filtered through.

I'm considering a goby, but I've added 4 of them recently (various species) and only 1 has made it...The other 3 have completely disappeared.

[criccio]

That was my experience with that nudi. I put it in the tank and never saw it again, and it didn't touch the flatworms.

I also tried a mandarin, it ate about three and spit them back out.

Chris

[makoshark]

My Mandarin made little significance in my flatworm fight. Slowly dosing the Flatworm exit over a week stopped them from reproducing and then a full dose knocked them out. No losses in the tank. I didn't even run carbon. I only did a 10% water change.

[lclau]

Do gobies eat them? or do they just get them moving so they can be filtered out?

[mhurley]

My Rainfordi goby doesn't touch them. I had a yellow watchman for about 3 days and never saw him touch them either.

[arinick]

I read in a thread somewhere that it is only the Psychedelic Mandarin Goby that eats flatworms. Not that it makes it fact, but with all of the scary stories about FWE it is at least something to consider.

[maxpower39]

Originally posted by liz3
I have something that looks like a round sucker with a forked tail, but it's only in my fuge. Will they spread to the tank? i just aquired a clear white lettuce nudibranch with a new coral does it look like a nudibranch?

[maxpower39]

big up on the flatwork tip... i am anxious to try that as a natural predator at work...

[maxpower39]

anybody have any aeolid nudibranchs such as " berghia", for an aiptasia infestation? any suggestions aside from chem marins stop and joes juice? preferribly natural predators?

[criccio]

Originally posted by maxpower39
anybody have any aeolid nudibranchs such as " berghia", for an aiptasia infestation? any suggestions aside from chem marins stop and joes juice? preferribly natural predators?

Peppermint shrimp took care of aiptasia for me. This was when I first started a few years back and thought I was getting some free anemones on my live rock. :p Of course, Scott's nor Living Sea told me otherwise, they problably loved the fact I was taking that crap of their hands. :rolleyes: This was also pre-rc days.

[jsbzmcdaniel]

I tried one pepermint and it did not work. I bought five more and my nasty aptasia problem is completely gone. If you try the peps make sure you buy a few because atleast one or two are bound not to eat them....