Flatworm eXit MAXIMUM safe dose?

[Dr. X]

Has anyone dosed their tanks (with corals and fish in them) with 20-30 times the recommended dose?

I recognize that in a heavily infested tank this would be a disaster. I'm curious as to what would happen to the livestock in very lighlty infested tank.

I've used the product several times in my 12 gallon nano and each time much flatworm death has occurred, but the next day or a few days later a few of the little bastards return. I tried the serial addition of FWE in a quart container and it took 5 drops to silence the little guys. This translates to 20 drops per gallon.

You will think I'm crazy for considering this, especially as I'm not talking about AEFW, just brown acoels (probably of the genus Heterochaerus), which are only an eyesore for me. Just siphon them, you may say. They'll go away on their own (possibly). Get a six-line wrasse (no thanks).

I did try to e-mail Habib of Salifert, but the e-mail bounced back.

So I'll probably try this hairbrained stunt and kill all of my livestock (or not), unless I hear from one of you. BTW, I did get another batch of FWE to test in case the first batch is no good. Will test today.

Wish me luck.

 

[Sugar Magnolia]

Good luck! I dosed about 10x the recommended dose and the only problem I had was my nassarius snails all climbed to the top of the tank and stuck their faces out of the water. FWIW I still have some of the little nasties in my tank. More of an eyesore, but there aren't many of them.

 

[PGUY1]

I just did a 5x dose in my 120 to try and get some zoa eating nudis and the only thing it messed up were my little serpent stars and some of my snails. They just acted drunk for a while. Boy, that kind of dosing gets expensive. And I still saw two flatworms a week later. I'm going to give any eggs a chance to hatch and hit it again.

 

[Dr. X]

Excellent!

Excellent!

That's what I was hoping to hear. Anyone go higher than 10X?

 

[Neogenocide]

How long are you guys letting it in your tank before you start running carbon? The reason I ask is because after my first treatment, I never saw another flatworm. I dosed the tank a second time 2.5 weeks later, and still no worms. I did however let the medicine circulate in the tank for about a 1/2 hour before I started running carbon. I wanted to make sure that I got the once that weren't immediately killed. I saw no fish, invert, or coral die off.

Just my experience.

Scott

 

[cubsFAN]

it's the dead flat worms that release a toxin that kills the fish and corals. i think 20-30x's the dosage won't be any more effective than 2-3 times the dosage. for this stuff to be effective you must do follow up treatments or the flat worms will return. good luck.

 

[mfinn]

I just did a 5x dose in my 120 to try and get some zoa eating nudis and the only thing it messed up were my little serpent stars and some of my snails. They just acted drunk for a while. Boy, that kind of dosing gets expensive. And I still saw two flatworms a week later. I'm going to give any eggs a chance to hatch and hit it again.

I did the exact same thing in my 40. And yeah, the mini stars were seriously messed up for several days.
I did dose my tank twice 2 weeks apart.

 

[PGUY1]

Yeah, I'm doing my second dose this weekend. It sure does mess up a brittle star. They start pouring out of their holes and flopping around on the sand. Then they end up in a drunken pile in the corner of the tank. Reminds me of my apartment at college. And Neogenocide, I've always let it circulate for over an hour when I've used it.

 

[moogoomoogoo]

i used twice the dose weekly for three doses without any of the recommended water changes afterwards and so far, months later, no little boogers

 

[brownjesus15]

The most I've ever done was 6x the dose, my derasa clam closed up, my fish started breathing hard and my torch closed up, but didn't die. Loads of bristleworms, pods, and brittle stars did, though. Threw carbon into an HOB filter after one hour 'cause I didn't want to lose anything. After that, dosed 3x the dose once or twice a year, the FW's never died off completely. But then again, I had the flatworms that stick to coral, not the kind you see all over the glass, rocks and sand. Waminoa, I think they're called...

 

[milkman55]

I have had success with FWE, but it's not the strength of the dose (I used 2x), but continuing the treatments for 3-4 cycles about 7 days apart, even if you don't see adult flat worms.

Once you get them under control, get a wrasse to keep them in check. I got a Melanarus and he eats anything that is not nailed down, always on the prowl.

 

[scottsdale454ss]

I put a 260 gallon dose into my 40 gallon tank, and left it in there for 3 hours. Amphipods and brittle stars started looking dead, but came back to life after the water change/carbon

Ps. i still have flatworms, two different kinds now too. i need to buy some more Exit and do 2 doses a few days apart.

 

[ninjazx777]

Fwe doesn't work mo matter what the dose some always live. It works good to control the population but a wrase is cheaper basically once you have fw you have fw until you tear down and start over

 

[flyyyguy]

I think the proper way to use it is to first follow directions....I.E. siphon out as many as you can and use all other safety precautions like carbon and water changes.........then a few days later when just a few are left whether or not you see any hit the tank with a 10x or more dose to get any that may remain and may be a little immune to to it