AEFW Hell Flatworm Solution vs Salifert Flatworm Exit vs Levisimole

[asonitez]

:debi:

So a while back I posted about my corals not doing so well. Everyone gave me tips on nutrients and stuff but 1 poster sent me a pm that simply said..


"Check for Flatworms"


The First coral I blasted with the turkey baster filled the water column with flat worms. My Heart dropped into my chest and I instantly felt sick to my stomach.

I went and got fratboy drunk with a reeferbuddy of mine and then decided to clorox my tank.

Thankfully my wife Is much smarter than I and said lets go to the fish store and buy medicine for your corals.

I pokerfaced it up and asked a few questions and got a few products.

They unfortunately did not have Levisimole... Nor did they have Flatworm Exit by Salifert. They had Flatworm Solution by Precision Solutions (aquavisionaquatics.com) Dude said it did the same thing as Flatworm Exit.

I mixed up 30 gallons of salt water and got down to work. I have roughly 200 gallons of total water volume. (150 Gal Display, 40 gal Sump, 30 Gal Frag) all tied together.

The directions read add 4 drops per 10 gallons so I dropped in 80 and then went back and dropped in another 20 for good measure.

My Immediate observation was that within 30 minutes the flatworms were going CRAZY. A few detached and were promptly eaten. Corals showed no Effect and Fish could care less.I tried helping by blowing off corals with the turkey baster which put more worms in to the column. In my frag tank they were all over the glass.

Now here's the thing... NO where does it say how LONG to leave this crap in your system lol. They just say do a 25% water change after the effects are seen... uhhh..... OK........So I waited about 7 hours and did a 30 gallon change that night. Today I went back and blew off a few more corals and guess what.. Flat worms are still hanging on. I have enough to treat again but I'm thinking I should go and get some FlatWorm Exit instead of this Flatworm Solution stuff...

Heres my tank at its best

<iframe width="1280" height="720" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/R60cP4oFCxM?list=UUQE9htZ1Mo6db3Te2N0QmFg&hl=en_US" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

A Slightly Older Video

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[xcorallusx]

flatworm exit will not work for aefw, a search on here and other boards will tell you that. Your best bet is to quarantine your acros and dip them weekly, turkey baster, and get some haliochores wrasses. Some people have had sucess with dosing levamisole into their DT.

 

[SpinyReef]

NONE of these products will rid you of your AEFW in tank. The only thing that works for me is taking the corals out and dipping them in revive. Some people just live with the flatworm and the slightly reduced growth rate by just blasting the worms in the water column once in a while (so fish eat them) reefbum is the best example.

 

[Ostentum]

I used a full tank treatment of levamisole and it worked great. I had no casualties except for the little round red pieces of doo doo. Most people have issues with the levamisole when they dont calculate their tank volume properly, the stuff is pretty strong and wipes flatworms out really fast. I dont want to post a link to an outside non sponsor site, so if you are interested in going that route send me a pm. The place i get it from now sells it in pharma grade powder that dissolves very quickly. I had more issues than not when using crushed up goat dewormer levamisole and it was a pain.

 

[xxxduke62xxx]

i am using the basting method and flatworm stop from zeo and i have to say it has worked for me. along with wrasses and a dip of any corals that look like they have been bitten. i started in april of this year and my tank has taken a turn for the 100 percent better.

 

[asonitez]

NONE of these products will rid you of your AEFW in tank. The only thing that works for me is taking the corals out and dipping them in revive. Some people just live with the flatworm and the slightly reduced growth rate by just blasting the worms in the water column once in a while (so fish eat them) reefbum is the best example.

I've been blasting off my corals with the turkey baster and the fish have been eating the flatworms which has reduced the number substantially.

I'm now doubting you guys.. but I have now seen like TONS of cases where people are using flatworm exit and having excellent results getting rid of flatworms. Its definitely not snake oil as it does Kill flat worms but I'm missing the part where it wont get rid of them completely and dipping would.. Dipping will help sure but aren't the eggs impervious to the dipping?

 

[Ostentum]

Flatworm exit kills red planaria not aefw. There claims that the new zeovit stuff reduces the numbers. It basically helps strengthen the immune system of the coral helping it heal quicker there product never once claims to kill them or completely rid your tank of them. I blasted my corals for awhile but decided in the end since I had about 50 le and rare sps that my best bet was to treat the whole tank with the only thing out there that does kill aefw. So I treated the whole tank with levamisole. I had no losses in my sps at all. That is just my experience though.

 

[aqua80]

I have these suckers too... 3 wrasses and blasting + dipping corals with bite marks is my plan for now... keep us updated on your fight...
and by the way I love you're rockwork !
good luck

 

[SpinyReef]

I've been blasting off my corals with the turkey baster and the fish have been eating the flatworms which has reduced the number substantially.

I'm now doubting you guys.. but I have now seen like TONS of cases where people are using flatworm exit and having excellent results getting rid of flatworms. Its definitely not snake oil as it does Kill flat worms but I'm missing the part where it wont get rid of them completely and dipping would.. Dipping will help sure but aren't the eggs impervious to the dipping?

As mentionned, the FWE does kill flatworms, just not your kind of flatworms. As for the levramisole, one of the great tanks I knew crashed from an in-tank treatment, I'm unaware of the success stories spoken about for this product, but that doesn't mean they're not true.

Dipping does only get the hatched worms, the eggs will stay there, so you have to dip multiple times to break the life cycle completely. That being said, some eggs might have been laid on the rock or a piece of coral that fell in the back of your tank. I don't think your odds of completely getting rid of them are very high, but with frequent basting and occasional dipping, your corals will still thrive and grow despite the few AEFWs left.

 

[asonitez]

Well I just ordered Prohibit and plan to purchase and qurantine about 3 or 4 wrasses over the course of the next week or so. My Goal is to attack the worms Biologically and Manually. I treated a secon time with Flatworm Solution and noticed a MUCH better experience this time around . I ordered Levisamole and will also try that method of eradication next week. I unfortunately will not push it the way some people did with 3 or 4 or even up to 5 or 6 treatments.. I will treate once every 2 weeks in addition to flatworm exit treatment between levisamole treatments.


My feeling is that a LOT MORE people have this than people think. My question is do Acro eating Fw's ONLY attack acros? or can I find them on chalices and acans and stuff?

 

[karsseboom]

They only attack acros.

 

[asonitez]

Hmm I'm thinking of pulling all my acros. And dosing the Levi

 

[xcorallusx]

I would do more research before your next step, you don't seem very knowledgeable about the situation and might cause your tank to crash.

 

[SpinyReef]

While it is true they only attack acroporas, eggs have been found nearby acroporas on rocks or dead skeletton. Might be worth keeping in mind to prevent reoccurence.

While I personally wouldn't use it, I wish you good luck with your levisimole. You could try to detail the steps you take and concentrations so if you succeed, others may be able to replicate that success.

 

[karsseboom]

While it is true they only attack acroporas, eggs have been found nearby acroporas on rocks or dead skeletton. Might be worth keeping in mind to prevent reoccurence.

While I personally wouldn't use it, I wish you good luck with your levisimole. You could try to detail the steps you take and concentrations so if you succeed, others may be able to replicate that success.

Yes they lay eggs on the rock base of the sps or frag plugs.

 

[Bax]

I had AEFWs. I used Levi. I suffered some losses, some major losses, but I saved a lot of SPS.

If I had to do it again, I would set up an isolated acro tank and move all acros into it.

Dip heavy, then treat the acro system with Levi 4-5 times being very precise with dosing.

Treat the DT with Levi min 3 times being very precise with dosing.

Keep the DT acro free at least twelve weeks.

The reason to treat the DT is that you will not render it acro free there's likely to be some acro in there.

You can save your acros you can rid you system of AEFWs... it will not be easy. Patients is key!

 

[Subw00er]

Good luck to the OP!!

BTW, I dont have AEFW, or the more common red type, but small, thin white ones, about the length of the red ones, slightly smaller in length, and about 1/2-1/3 as wide. They have a round head and their tail is split into two sections. They seem to like the light - they are in my fuge and hang out near the light when its on. They are pretty quick for their size and get ****ed off by FWE and run around faster, but don't really die from it. These FW eat amphipods as their primary food source.

My FW look like this:

Does anyone know how to get rid of this variety?!!! I tried a Velvet Nudibranch and it ate them like mad, but it died before they were all gone.