Found some creature eating my copepod ! (1 Viewer)

[Alex77619]

Hi all my tank is only 3month old and saw some creature that are eating my copepod!

Are they aiptasia youth? How do I get rid of them?


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[FarmerTy]

Flatworm? Planaria?

 

[Alex77619]

Might not be flatworm cuz they are colorless.

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[FarmerTy]

This is a Planaria, also known as a flatworm. Your thing in the picture looks similar to it. Does it look like that to you in person?

 

[FarmerTy]

They feed on copepods so it kind of lines up.

 

[Alex77619]

https://youtu.be/_hgJ1waQCPk
Here’s a video of them. If I don’t have any sps then they are harmless in my tank?


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[FarmerTy]

Yep, planaria. The brown ones like yours don't usually go crazy and infest the tank like the red ones. The red ones can reach plague proportions and smoother corals, plus they are toxic so harder to remove.

The brown ones are usually harmless and some fish find them appetizing.

The ones that attack acros are totally different, they are called acro eating flatworms, move much slower than that guy, and developed a very special diet of acro flesh only so they don't eat copepods.

 

[Alex77619]

Thanks a lot. I got a cleaner wrasse in my DT nipping on them. But tonight when I use a flash light in my refugium so many of them craw up and worries me.


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[FarmerTy]

Just think of them as free food for your wrasses. You may be able to eliminate them with flatworm exit. It works well on the red Planaria but I've heard of mixed results for the brown ones. Obviously use caution in case your flatworm are toxic and follow the instructions on the package.

 

[RR-MAN]

Agree with ATX.

My six line wrasse will devour any flatworm. Great hunter...

 

[Alex77619]

My cleaner wrasse seems to been eating these in DT too. But I found so many of these in my refugium. What worries me is that they are wiping out my copepod population in my refugium


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[FarmerTy]

My cleaner wrasse seems to been eating these in DT too. But I found so many of these in my refugium. What worries me is that they are wiping out my copepod population in my refugium


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They will wipe out the copepods and die off a bit. Then the copepods population will rebound, eventually, it'll find homeostatis.

 

[Cody]

My cleaner wrasse seems to been eating these in DT too. But I found so many of these in my refugium. What worries me is that they are wiping out my copepod population in my refugium


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Move the wrasse down to the sump after he has knocked out the DT, or get a second wrasse for the sump. You can always find a new home for him after he has served his purpose.

 

[Alex77619]

Catching him is so hard ! I tried once but fail ha


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[reeftopia]

buy you a nice colorful wrasse you will want to keep, problem solved.

 

[RR-MAN]

buy you a nice colorful wrasse you will want to keep, problem solved.

Good point! Or a cheap yellow canary wrasses for the sump.