Ginormous Flatworm!

I know, I know, I haven't been on here in forever!

Last night, Jwin found a huge flatworm in the tank. My snails have been going missing like crazy. He tried to pick it up with tongs, but that wasn't happening! Any suggestions? We can't really take out the rock work. Any kind of trap that might work?

 

I hear they taste good with some A1.

 

Polyclad worms are really fast. Mostly they are nocturnal. You could try using a snail in a container as bait.

 

I used a piece of 2 inch PVC I had , drilled some 1/4 inch holes in it,cut it about 5 or 6 inches long.. purchased some rubber end caps....piece of fishing string to fish it out..slowly..or they can fall out.
I used some frozen food(anything will do) wrapped up in a panty hose...(they stick to the panty hose by the bristles) rubber band the food in the nylon....put it and some type of weight..a rock...marble, whatever to hold it where you put it. I do it just before lights out.
depends on how many you have...first couple times I hung around and emptied it every couple hours with 8 or 10 of them inside. having a few is good...but due to many circumstances they can become too much. This works...If you need more photos or questions let me know...easy peezee. : )

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...don't forget the wasabe and wild rice...yummy ! ;D

 

What do flatforms do besides eat snails?

 

They are scavengers...held in check, it is my opinion they are a vital and necessary part of the eco system...but if they get out of hand they will not only eat snails, but burrow into the back side of corals and eat them from the inside out...and other general mayhem. jmo.
Myself, I do not mind seeing the small ones here and there...its just that they come from larger ones and so on...so I run a trap now and again. : )

EDIT..I'm talking about Bristle worms....not flatworms, my bad. : )...don't see too many flatworms...

 

I believe we are talking about a polyclad worm, which is much larger than your typical FW that you see. They are a molted black to brown in coloration and kill snails by completely enveloping the snail shell and all, secreting an enzyme the kills the snail. They are a FW, but not nearly as common. They can eat smaller clams as well. There are some reports of them eating corals.

FW come in many varieties, from ones that are harmless, ones that under go population explosions and smoother corals, ones that eat the flesh off corals like acropora.

A polyclad look like big booger when out of the water and glides swiftly over rocks and through the water, they are actually pretty cool IMO.

 

Two images of different types of Polyclad FW.

 

agreed to that...I was way off topic ! LOL ;D