Flatworm exit question

[dbenyo]

I just spotted two flatworms in the refugium of my 180g. My 24g has been overtaken by them recently so a piece of LR I transferred from the small tank awhile back must have had a few on it. I am not worried about the toxins from thousands of flatworms as I can't find any others but I would like to stop this ASAP before I have a huge problem later.

So I just add flatworm exit then do a water change, run carbon and maybe a poly filter? Is there anything else I should look out for or remove anything from the tank?

I have ~200 snails, a clam, a few fish, tons of sps

 

[SaltandLight]

Use a small diameter tube to siphon out the flatworms as they die off. Last time I treated my tank, I only saw a few also, but after adding the flatworm exit, there were many more than I thought. Do not under estimate their numbers. Also, make sure the flatworm exit is not old -there should be a date on it.

 

[dbenyo]

Sounds good! I'm going to order the exit from BRS in the next few days...

 

[DRThompson]

Have an unused box of flatworm exit $15....pm me if interested ( i live in coral springs)

 

[OceanLandlord]

I've done my tank several times and they disappear for one to two months then slowly start to multiply again. I've done one treatment per bottles directions, they've come back. I've done almost a double dose and they came back, two doses a week apart and they came back. Best thing I had was a spotted mandrian that kept the numbers down. It would take 1-2 months for me to find any new ones after each treatment and 5-6 months for them to get in large enough numbers to cover areas of rock and become an eye sore. Good luck with whatever you choose, I could never completely eradicate them but the flatworm exit definitely killed at least 98% of them.

 

[DRThompson]

Bought a melanurus wrasse who eats them and keeps them in check.

 

[JOHN4AVIATION]

get a six line wrasse to keep them under control

 

[hbrochs]

I've got a similar problem with flatworms. I've sucked up over a hundred over the last couple of weeks. They're harder to find now, but I'm sure there are more I can't see. I'm gonna try the flatworm exit. How long after application would you do a water change?

 

[Delsfishes]

Bought a melanurus wrasse who eats them and keeps them in check.

Ive had a few different wrasse and the melanurus wraase works the best in my opinion

 

[DRThompson]

I've got a similar problem with flatworms. I've sucked up over a hundred over the last couple of weeks. They're harder to find now, but I'm sure there are more I can't see. I'm gonna try the flatworm exit. How long after application would you do a water change?

Death is almost immediate. You will need to do water changes within hours of dosing

 

[hbrochs]

So I spent two weeks siphoning up flatworms. Then I treated with flatworm exit at about 1 1/2 times the dose. I sucked up a bunch of flatworms from the water column. Did a water change, about 10% an hour after dosing. Changed out my filter socks. Everything seemed ok. Did not see any more flatworms floating around. Went to sleep, and in the morning my Tomeni Tang was dead. Had him maybe seven months, and he'd grown to over three inches. Weird. Maybe he ate a bunch of dying flatworms??
Pretty bummed out about this.

 

[ReefWreak]

Sorry to hear your tang. It might have been due to low levels of dissolved oxygen during treatment and/or because of flatworm die off? Flatworms are poisonous if they die off in massive numbers, but also I believe dosing Flatwork Exit may cause low levels of dissolved oxygen as well (I believe dosing interceptor for red bugs was a similar case), so it was recommended to keep the skimmer on with the cup off, just to keep lots of air flowing. Here is an old thread I dug up while looking for more info on this, but it rang a bell.

I doubt he ate much of the flatworms, it's more likely their dieoff nutrients/poison and/or low levels of dissolved oxygen.

 

[hbrochs]

Thanks, that makes a little more sense. I didn't see him eating any flatworms.