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jacobwilson222 
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 Topic: Flatworms, Mandarin vs Wrasse
Posted: December 11 2009 at 1:08pm |
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I have done some research on this site reguarding flatworms and have seen a solution to this nusance being fish first before chemical. Does anyone know what is better between a mandarin or wrasse? I currently have a six-line wrasse that has not fixed the problem as of yet, what will get along with him best in a smaller tank and take care of the issue? Thank you!
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bfessler
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Posted: December 11 2009 at 1:25pm |
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I believe Scooter Blennies will eat them as well, after all they are actually dragonets not blennies. I had a Scooter with a couple wrasses and they never bothered eachother. Yellow Coris Wrasses will eat them, just be careful when you add additional wrasses that you don't get one that likes to flip your corals over like a Red Coris Wrasse.
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Burt
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I support all hobbyists and organizations involved in Marine Aquarium Keeping.
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jacobwilson222
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Posted: December 11 2009 at 1:28pm |
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AWESOME INFO!!!! thank you! I did not know that about red scooter blennys!
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MadReefer
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Posted: December 11 2009 at 1:29pm |
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Have you tried cutting back on your feeding?
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: December 11 2009 at 1:35pm |
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I agree. Stop the feeding for three days. This will make the Six-line hungry so that it realizes it can eat flatworms.
If this doesn't work, get back to us with a pic of the tank so we can see what to suggest next.
Mandarins and Scooter Blennies die too easily, especially in tanks smaller than 75/90 gallons.
FYI, feeding can be suspended for a week in most tanks with no real problem.
And a day or two of fasting every week or two is actually very helpful for a reef aquarium in many ways.
Edited by Mark Peterson - December 11 2009 at 1:38pm
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Reefkeeping Tips, & quick, easy setup tricks:www.utahreefs.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=9244 Pay it forward - become a paid WMAS member 
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jacobwilson222
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Posted: December 11 2009 at 1:55pm |
wow so much to learn, this is a wonderful site and I appreciate all the info wmas and its members has provided to me! 
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Yodaman
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Posted: December 11 2009 at 2:18pm |
I had a flatworm outbreak 2 months ago. I bought a green mandarin and the problem was solved within a week. Have not seen a single flatworm since then.
Oh, I also took a airline tubing and sucked a bunch of them out. I know it's tedious but worth it.
I also second the cut back on feeding idea.
Edited by Yodaman - December 11 2009 at 2:21pm
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Bryguy514
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Posted: December 11 2009 at 3:43pm |
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I have had a outbreak a while back and I also sucked them out with syphoning tube into my sump and in a filter sock to filter them out worked great and my mandarin did the rest.
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: December 12 2009 at 7:05am |
Just in case you didn't see it, there are two chemical products that we recommend if the natural way does not fix the problem. The link to the thread about how to eradicate flatworms is under the Tips heading here:
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Nick801
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Posted: December 12 2009 at 8:09am |
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Dang jake yeah if you need help just call me
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BobC63
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Posted: February 03 2010 at 9:56pm |
I am thinking of getting a Mandarin to rid my 37g tank of flatworms. I'd rather try that first instead iof the chemical fix.
I have a large (2.5") 6 line in my 225 that would be perfect for the job, but I'll never be able to catch it short of removing all the LR and draining the tank 
Would the spotted (psychedelic) Mandarin or the Green Mandarin be a better choice - or does it not really matter which species?
Anyone seen any good ones at a local LFS lately? I figure I'll pick it up this weekend
I also figure that if the Mandarin does the job and rids the 37 of all the flatworms, then I can move it to the 225 if it looks like it is not getting enough pods, etc to sustain it in the 37.
P.S. - I also do actually plan to do a large water change on the 225, remove the LR temporarily and catch the 6 line (and a couple of other fish) at that time... maybe in a couple of weeks
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- My Current Tank: 65g Starfire (sitting empty for 2+ years) -
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laynframe
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Posted: February 03 2010 at 10:34pm |
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I saw two or three at bird world today!
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The time we enjoy wasting isn't wasted time!!!!
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bfessler
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Posted: February 03 2010 at 10:42pm |
Reef Runners had several in their frag tank. I'm not sure if they were for sale but they were beautiful fish.
Bob if you want to use my fish trap to catch your 6 line without dismantling the tank let me know.
I know most people haven't had good luck with scooter blennies in small tanks but if they have a good rubble pile and no other carnivores it can be done. I had my Scooter in a 20 gallon tank for 3 months and now in my 55 gallon frag tank for about 5 months and have never had to feed him. He just lives off the pods and is big fat and happy. He's my favorite fish. This pic was taken right after I moved him from the 20 to the frag tank.
Edited by bfessler - February 03 2010 at 10:45pm
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Burt
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sanddune600
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Posted: February 03 2010 at 11:03pm |
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I had a scooter blenny in a 28g with 2 clowns, jawfish, royal gramma, and I cant remember I finally sold him after over a year and got a red scooter that lasted a day I think scooters can do great in smaller tanks the red one must have just been sick
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Andy Jorgensen
My number is four three 5 7 six four 8 0 three four
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BobC63
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Posted: February 03 2010 at 11:14pm |
Burt -
I remember your Scooter from the last time I visited your home
Really a very pretty fish in its own right...
Maybe I'll try the fish trap. If I catch that 6 Line I am going to sell it because it is too large (IMO) for the 37... it is close to 3" long; really one of the larger 6 Lines I have seen.
Plus, it is not very tolerant of other wrasses or bottom feeders like mandarins or blennies. I tried a Mandarin in the 225 before, but the 6 Line harrased it relentlessly... by the fourth or fifth day I had to give the Mandarin away, I thought the 6 Line would kill it for sure.
In any event, I am still going to do a big WC on the 225 (somewhere between 150 - 200g) because I have been really very, very lax on caring for the big tank over the winter... I want to get it back in tip-top shape for spring. I am going to get a few of the brute cans on wheels like you have to make things easier.
I am also getting a Calcium reactor setup from Corey Price next week, and am going to go with a new (plain old glass) sump. I have to get new 400w MH bulbs, a new UV bulb, change out the prefilters and the DI resin on the RO unit. I am thinking about a new carbon / phosphate reactor, and maybe even a skimmer upgrade.
Once most of that is done I am going to concentrate on ALOT more corals; specifically Acans, Blastos, and similar along with a good amount of SPS... with the Ca reactor I think I can better handle them than before.
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- My Current Tank: 65g Starfire (sitting empty for 2+ years) -
* Marine & Reef tanks since 1977 *
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Mark Peterson
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Posted: February 04 2010 at 8:56am |
 BobC63 wrote:
a big WC on the 225 (somewhere between 150 - 200g) because I have been really very, very lax on caring for the big tank |
I would not advise this. The sudden change of a lot of water can shock the entire tank. Also, the draining of that much water exposes LR to the air, placing it at great risk to death and die-off.
In my experience, small gradual changes are best. I'd do no more than a 20% water change. It is just the right amount of exchange to make an improvement and yet not shock the system. You may actually be surprised at the large positive effect a simple 10-15% water change can have in this situation. Then, as you resume approximate monthly 10% exchanges your tank will respond favorably.
 I'm not really saying this to Bob, because I believe he already knows, but I wanted to be sure everyone reading it understands the negative impact of big water changes.
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Crazy Tarzan
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Posted: February 04 2010 at 9:49am |
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If any of you get a mandarin, make sure it's eating at the fish store before you buy it. You can train them to eat out of a tube or syringe (yes you have to feed it often, but it's way cool when it will come up and take food from you) so that they don't have to subsist on pods alone. It takes some effort but the fish are worth it IMO.
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Was that in there yesterday? Casper--WY windier than ?
Down to a 20, soon to double or nothing
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BobC63
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Posted: February 05 2010 at 2:57pm |
Mark Peterson wrote:
BobC63 wrote:
a big WC on the 225 (somewhere between 150 - 200g) because I have been really very, very lax on caring for the big tank |
I would not advise this. The sudden change of a lot of water can shock the entire tank. Also, the draining of that much water exposes LR to the air, placing it at great risk to death and die-off.
In my experience, small gradual changes are best. I'd do no more than a 20% water change. It is just the right amount of exchange to make an improvement and yet not shock the system. You may actually be surprised at the large positive effect a simple 10-15% water change can have in this situation. Then, as you resume approximate monthly 10% exchanges your tank will respond favorably.
I'm not really saying this to Bob, because I believe he already knows, but I wanted to be sure everyone reading it understands the negative impact of big water changes. |
Mark is correct on this... and, under normal circumstances, there is no reason to change out such large volumes of water. A water change of anywhere from 5 - 20% per month (depending on tank size and bioload) is sufficient.
Now, in my case, I am thinking of doing this to help me address multiple issues all at once.
I want to reaquascape, remove several fish, swap out my sump, and do some scratch repair on my 225g acrylic tank simultaneously.
I will have an abundant supply of heated, circulating, previously mixed SW prepared. I will have a large (54g) heated tote that I will partially fill with 'old' water out of the main tank to use as a holding tank for all my LR and corals - thus keeping any air exposure to an absolute minimum; maybe a few seconds at most.
Once the LR has been removed I will drain the tank down to maybe 6" of water left. This should make catching all the fish rather easy. I will have a second heated tote of 'old' water prepared to hold the fish.
I used these techniques when I tore down my old 125g tank and transferred everything to the 225g. I suffered zero losses to livestock doing it this way; even the sponges on my LR were fine.
With the tank now almost empty, I can work on the scratch removal without getting soaked. I will use a underwater / reef-safe kit to ensure no harm to the livestock.
I will them swap out the sumps. I don't need to do any plumbing changes, so this should not take very long to accomplish. Once the hardware is all in place, I will begin refilling the tank with the 'new' water. I guess I could simply reuse all the 'old water', but I am sure it is fairly depleted of trace elements, etc. as I have not done a WC since, uh.... October 
When everything is in order, I will catch the fish out of the tote and place each in a poly bag - just like you get when you buy a fish at the LFS. I will then re-acclimate the fish to the tank to avoid shocking anything. The fish that I am thinking of parting with I will put in the sump, for easy retrieval once new owners are found.
I figure this to be a 5 or 6 hour procedure, total. Since my live sandbed will be totally undisturbed, and I will be returning several hundred pounds of very healthy, super-covered in coralline LR back into the tank, I do not anticipate any kind of nutrient 'spike' or bacterial bloom.
Once completed, I'll give myself a week to get my new Calcium reactor dialed in, and then -
time to start piling on the corals 
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- My Current Tank: 65g Starfire (sitting empty for 2+ years) -
* Marine & Reef tanks since 1977 *
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idahreefer
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Posted: February 09 2010 at 12:24am |
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lots of good suggestions, I found the target mandarin does a fine job, haven't seen the reddish brown planaria in over a year, & the target is getting to be like 3 plus years in the system now.
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martin
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BobC63
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Posted: February 16 2010 at 5:36pm |
Well, I finally found a Mandarin 
(Funny how, when you aren't looking for one, every store in the valley has a half-dozen... until you want one, of course - then you can't find a single specimen )
Anyway, I picked up a Spotted Mandarin from BirdWorld on Saturday. I'd say it is only about 1 1/4" long, so kinda smallish, but it seems to be doing OK in the 37 tank. The Bicolor blenny is not harrassing it, and the Banggai Cardinals totally ignore it altogether.
Good news is that it is almost constantly pecking at the rocks / gravel looking for food.
Bad news is - so far - it does not appear to be equating the (super-plentiful) planaria with food...
Hopefully it will come around and start chowing down on those *&^%!!! flatworms... if it does, then I will end up with one heck of a fat Mandarin - cause I got a ton of flatworms!
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- My Current Tank: 65g Starfire (sitting empty for 2+ years) -
* Marine & Reef tanks since 1977 *
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