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Blue Velvet Nudibranch vs. Flatworms


evan484

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After a couple months of flatworms taking over my 29, I decided it was time to take care of it. This is not my first tank that has been overrun by flatworms. On my 3 and my 6 I used Flatworm Exit only to find that the 10 percent or so that did not die in the first dose would reproduce rapidly and within the week it would get to the point where I couldnt tell I did anything. My infection in the 29 is worse and I take the risks of using Flatworm exit knowing not all of them will be killed. I tried a six line wrasse only to be disappointed.

 

So after doing my research I found the Blue Velvet Nudibranch, which only eats flatworms. After finally finding a place that had them in stock (saltwaterfish.com got them in) I ordered one up. I already know the deal with them: they only eat flatworms, they have a short life span, powerheads ect.

 

My question is can I really expect this thing to get rid of every single flatworm? If anyone has any experience I would love to hear it. The pessimist in me is also making me as the question, when they die do they release any sort of toxin that would compromise my tanks well being?

Thanks

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post-38994-1264024448_thumb.jpgWell today the nudibranch came and after a minute or two of doubting whether it was alive or not I saw it start to move! It does not seem like that many people have had experience with them so if there is any interest, I can update some pictures and give a report on how its doing.

 

The creature itself is very cool. Its small, about an inch when fully stretched out so I am a little worried about the intakes. It is in a biocube 29 so if anyone has any ideas to cover up the intakes Id love to hear them. What is even better then its appearance is the fact that it wasnt in the tank for 3 seconds before it started eating the flatworms. As of now it has kind of squeezed into a hole and is just chilling there.

 

If anyone has any input, suggestions, or anything else Id love to hear it.

 

-Evan

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I would love to hear updates on the progress of your flatworm problem. My BC8 is getting out of control and I don't want to use FWE.

 

Alight cool.

 

Let me give you a few pieces of advice I have learned already. Take the time to syphon out as many as you can. They reproduce unbelivable fast. I got lazy and let it get to the point were the basically ruled my tank (wait they still do). And just to give you the heads up, the blue velvet nudibranch is pretty hard to come by. It took me about a month to find a place that had them. Good luck and ill let you know how everything is going.

-Evan

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  • 1 month later...
  • 4 weeks later...

I just found some yesterday at the LFS in Glen Burnie, MD. I am going to be posting updates about mine on my tank thread. I'd love to hear an update as to how yours is doing.

 

I hear these guys are poisonous but have no idea how they poison things. Any information on this would be greatly appreciated as I don't want to test fate and get poisoned. One of the owners of the LFS touched the thing so, I am thinking that's not how, alhough he seemed to not know they were poisonous when I told him.

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  • 2 months later...

any updates guys??? got flatworms and considering the nudi's. I bought nudis for my anemones and now for flatworms.... I love parasites. :P

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  • 5 months later...

I had a massive FW outbreak in my 40b, i didnt want to use chemical warfare nor did i want to spend all my time siphoning them. so I ordered a blue velvet nudi from LiveAquaria and it got busy. I still have a couple FW's here and there but nowhere near like it was, before it looked like my rocks were covered in red flake food, but now I actually have to look for them to find them. I highly recomend them if you have a FW problem if you do not want to use FW exit or the like. Hope that helps.

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To those who have kept these, have any of you got powerheads inside the tank, or are you all using an overflow/return or closed-loop system? How big of a threat is an MP10 to one of these little guys, and would it nuke the tank should the unthinkable "nudi soup" be served?

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I Have a small flatworm outbreak in my 29bc, and my LFS has these guys in stock. Is 10 bucks a good price? Do you think I would only need one? The flatworm population is not that bad, my mandarin eats the larval stage, so they can't reproduce THAT quickly

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No power heads/vortechs. They will kill the nudis. And $10 is a fair deal. Maybe you can bring it back to the LFS once done. One would be enough for a 10g.

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  • 2 weeks later...

well i just placed one in bc 14 with lots of flatworms,ill let you know how it goes,as far as a power head goes i placed it in the tank with a tube so the the flow of the water would not blow it around,but as soon as i removed the tube it was air born headed right for the power head but it, missed it. now its moveing around the tank doing its work,but when it lets go of the rock its on, round the tank it goes...an i think that i have a low flow tank bc 14 with a 240 power head

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Well after making sure that slugo could not go into the power head or the return pump i didn't think that i needed to protect it from the mini maxi nem, slugo is no longer... looks like its going to be a Melanrus Wrasse just hope i a little smarter than the Velvet Nudibranch ......

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