What fish eats aceol flatworms?

Just noticed these on my glass and have read their fairly harmless.
aceol flatworms - Google Search

I started to panic a little though. My tri color is looking a little pale so I was starting to wonder lol.
I've heard the sixline is hit or miss.. I've been wanting a melanurus. Got the materials in my garage for a jumper screen.
Anyway it got me thinking I really need to get a wrasse just in case the dreaded AEFW shows up. ;D

 

Red Planara are usually the issue, what type do you have specifically?

LionfishLair.com - Hitchhiker Guide to your Aquarium

Even Damsels will eat flatworms if you encourage them to by not feeding the fish routinely, and blowing the fw off surfaces.

If they are AEFW you can see the bite marks on the acropora.

 

They're exactly like the ones in that pic above.
From googling it ... it looks like they are harmless from the threads I've read.
They are the tan type with forked tail.
They're only on the glass as far as I can tell.
Some of those threads say they come and go in some peoples systems.

This is from one of my favorite handy linke:

FLATWORMS
Flatworms come in many shapes and sizes but there are two types that are very common in aquaria. The first is a small clear flatworm. Imagine a blob of clear jello with a forked tail. These type are usually harmless.
Xtalreef - Reef Saltwater Aquarium
That's what I've got.

 

Then I would not worry too much about it. I have panicked before upon seeing the type you describe the populations never got out of control.

 

I usually would not debate with Corailline, usually not a good idea to pick a battle with the mod that has helped me in the past so many times and successfully kept reefs for many years, but I was jjust reading and placed a post with a link to an article on coral feeding on advancedaquarist that touched on this subject.

Not to go off subject but the article was mostly about coral feeding strategies and what impacts growth. Way down in the article is a section on flatworms that I will quote-

"
The last factor which I would like to address here is the presence of epizoic acoelomorph flatworms. These flatworms are commonly referred to in the aquarium hobby as planaria, although these are actually worms from the genera Waminoa and Convolutriloba. It has been suggested that these worms can negatively affect corals by reducing the amount of available light available to the coral, and by removing the coral mucus layer (Barneah et al. 2007; Naumann et al. 2010). In addition, Waminoa compete with their host coral Galaxea fascicularis for plankton, significantly limit this coral's feeding capacity, and steal prey from their host coral (Wijgerde et al. 2011b, 2012c).
When providing G. fascicularis with prey, a positive effect of prey concentration on feeding rate is found only for worm-free polyps. When flatworms are present in high densities (~3-4 flatworms per polyp), feeding rates of G. fascicularis are limited to about 2.5 prey cm-2 h-1. Based on these findings, epizoic flatworms may be better classified as parasites rather than commensals, as their presence could negatively affect the growth and health of corals. Indeed, field evidence suggests that flatworms cause severe tissue necrosis in corals (Hoeksema and Farenzena 2012)."

I at one time shared the same opinion as Coralline, but after reading that from a reputable source with scientific data to back the claims I am forced to change my mind.
Also from first hand experience I had seem these flatoworms crawling over corals in a lfs. I was looking at an elegance he had and noticed the little spots. He had it in his tank for 6+ months with little growth before I pointed this out to him and he used flatworm exit. After a couple months with no signs of flatworms I purchased it for my reef where it has grown at a much quicker rate. Obivously to many variables to call this a scientific fact, but it does help support advancedaquarist claim.

To get back to the OP, I purchased a melanarus wrasse as an insurance policy agaisnt any hitchhiking flatworms. Made more sense than a sixline which becomes very aggressive with time. Since I have bought the wrasse I have seen 0 flatworms even though I did see one in my aquarium a year or so ago. I have also seen a drastic reduction in spaghetti worms and bristleworms.

 

PghSteeler,

You can state your opposing opinion without concern for repercussions from mods on 3reef.

It has never been my intent to espouse some great all knowing unquestionable knowledge regarding the science of reef keeping.
What I have done is at least research a topic before I address it if I have some doubt or limited experience. Generally post to topics that I do have personal experience with, preferably on more than 1 occasion.

I appreciate your well researched piece and the inclusion of actual scientific material to back up your personal experience. In my perfect world I would like to see more members go that extra mile when responding to a topic. I would rather a thread go unanswered than see some members throw unfounded speculation or hobby minutia/myths up in a response post. If you (as in other members) do not know the subject matter, research it rather than leaving meaningless contributions to the topic.

These are solely my opinions and not those of any other member or mod on 3reef.

:

 

I do not fear repercussions for posting APPROPRIATE content and opinions on the forums. The first part of my last post was not meant to offend you in any way and I do not mean to come across as sarcastic or rude in leading you believe that I am refering to you as all knowing or a mod not to pick a battle with. If that is how it was interpreted I apologize and want to clear the air and say I was just poking fun hence the smiley face;D.

You have helped me many times in the past and even though I have been in the SW side of this hobby for close to 2 years I still consider myself a novice. I know you have kept many reef tanks for a lot longer than myself and respect your opinions on reef keeping in general. I said that I usually wouldnt pick a battle with you because either I usually agree with you, or do not now as much about a topic as you may to provide a valid opposing opinion to help provide advice to our reefer friends. You are a mod for a reason after all you know, I remember you helping me well before you were promoted!;D

Sorry to go off topic from the OP. Just wanted to clear the air since I think you may have read my earlier post in a way other than I meant for it to be interpreted.

 

My experience with flatworms was to treat with Flatworm Exit early and often to get rid of them before the population becomes a problem and the use of Flatworm Exit nukes your tank.

 

Consider my post more of general information to perhaps other members and not directed at you.

Sincerely, I meant that I really appreciate you going the extra mile and including some solid information in your response rather than meaningless fluff.

I am not offended. My response to your post was an opportunity to address an issue that has been bothering me with regard to some fluff posting, and some taking me too seriously.

I usually do not high jack a thread, but when I do, I do so completely. Sorry OP.

 

I agree nuke those little worms if you have an invasive and problematic type. It would seem that not fully/completely treating is contributing to a resistance to Flatworm Exist by some FW types.
My heart always does a little skip when I have seen FW in my tanks. Only once has it become an issue that required intervention. I have seen some nightmare tanks though, and I have also seen every single tank in a LFS become heavily infested. The amazing thing was that people still purchased there.