High Tide Aquatics

Melanurus wrasse for flatworms?

neuro

neuro

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Has anyone had any experience with this wrasse?

I can't be 100% sure, but I think I have flatworms. Can't distinguish them from the pics I've seen vs. red bugs.

If the experience has been positive, does anyone know where I can pick one up this weekend?
 
Brandie has a melanarus wrasse and it seems to keep the worm population down. Not sure where you can pick one up that's readily available. I was recently at Aqua Exotic and I don't recall them having a melanarus but I'm not absolutely sure. I haven't been to the other LFS's recently. Might be worth calling around.
 
denzil said:
Brandie has a melanarus wrasse and it seems to keep the worm population down. Not sure where you can pick one up that's readily available. I was recently at Aqua Exotic and I don't recall them having a melanarus but I'm not absolutely sure. I haven't been to the other LFS's recently. Might be worth calling around.
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thanks denzil. I may ask them to order one for me if they can.

Btw, I posted pictures on the pest. I want to identify these guys 100% before taking appropriate measures.

http://www.bareefers.org/forum/index.php?threads/are-these-flatworms-or-redbugs.14155/
 
I can't tell by the pictures. I do know that the flatworms will be on the glass as well-- that's how I found out that I had them. But I got a melanurus wrasse at the recommendation of Tony Vargas when he was here for his talk, and man, best fish I ever put in the tank! My male even keeps the bristleworm population down, and between him and the female, they keep the rocks picked clean of pests. Also read on RC from a sponsor that they are supposed to be just as effective for red bugs as well. Get a male if you can though; much more handsome than the females (although females are still pretty in their own right too!) but my male was more aggressive when it came to the pests. I couldn't figure why he was growing so fast because I knew I fed a lot, but not as much to explain his explosive growth. Turns out he was pigging out on bristleworms and flatworms.
 
I wish I had the same experience as Brandie, when I had flatworms a while back I tried the wrasse approach including a malanurus one but I never saw him or her eating any, so in my case i didn't see a benefit, but certainly there was no harm in adding one. Hopefully you get one that eats them up.
 
CookieJar said:
I wish I had the same experience as Brandie, when I had flatworms a while back I tried the wrasse approach including a malanurus one but I never saw him or her eating any, so in my case i didn't see a benefit, but certainly there was no harm in adding one. Hopefully you get one that eats them up.
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wooo thanks CJ. You're the first person out of all the searches I've done that has mentioned it didn't work for him/her.
I think I'll be on the look out for a blue velvet. I've seen videos of them eat the flatworms I have.
 
I was going to get a blue velvet, but then was told that it's nearly impossible to keep them alive once the FW population is under control. At least the wrasse can live off of other foods, whereas the nudis tend to starve to death = / that was what changed my mind on that, because everyone knows, I needed another fish in my little 90 like I needed another hole in the head... LoL.
 
goldielocke76 said:
I was going to get a blue velvet, but then was told that it's nearly impossible to keep them alive once the FW population is under control. At least the wrasse can live off of other foods, whereas the nudis tend to starve to death = / that was what changed my mind on that, because everyone knows, I needed another fish in my little 90 like I needed another hole in the head... LoL.
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ahh that's too bad. blue velvets are really cool looking. on another similar note, i can't find any store that has either the melunarus or the blue velvet
 
Ask Aqua Exotic to order one for you... they are really good about fulfilling customer requests, and I know you are close by.

Also, a lot of the stores won't get the blue velvets in, due to their high mortality rate. I talked to Garrif and Robert at Neptunes when I was looking, and that's how I came to find out how and why they are so hard to keep. Then, after talking to Tony, that's why I decided on the Melanurus.
 
Matt Fearenough also said that Pygmy possums were excellent at keeping FWs under control, if you are concerned about the Melanurus size and potential buttheadedness, haha. I have no personal experience with the pygmys and FWs myself, but Matt said that anytime he had an issue of FWs, he threw in the Pygmy possum and the issue would be gone in a few days. Hope that helps a little bit.
 
neuro said:
i've already done just that. Matt took a look and said neither are available at the moment =(
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I guess I should have connected the dots a bit better after you posted... Erp derp, sorry = / he does have pygmy possums though! LoL, well, he did when we were there last week...
 
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