Flatworm Exit

[TitansFan]

Hey guys/gals. Life has kept me quite busy as of late. Now it is time to get back to work on my tanks. I have found my 65 gallon reef to be coming down with those rust colored flatworms. Everything I have read says sailifert flatworm exit should do the trick. I just wanted some reassurance from anyone here who may have used it before. They promise it is reef safe. I just always hate the idea of putting a chemical into my tank meant to kill something.
Is there anything special I need to know? I presume some water changes will be in order. The amount I am not sure of. Lastly does anyone know where to get it locally?

 

[crumbletop]

I think Gary (Gflat) has used this stuff. IIRC you need to do things to keep toxins from the dead flatworms from wiping out the tank. I think Gary sucessfully managed the whole process, so you might shoot him a PM.

 

[Pinchey]

I've had to do multiple treatments of the stuff. The sooner you can do it the better. If I saw one in my tank I would go ahead and treat it. Killing dozens at a time really freaked me out. I let it work for 30-45mins did a 15-20% water change and then ran carbon. Although siphoning them out is an easy alternative, when there is one there are eggs and more.
I did not notice any ill effects to flatwom exit. good luck.

 

[Angela Short]

I have used it many times on my nano at double strenghth with no problems. If you let them get way out of controll first is where you get troubles. I siphone them out with a air line tube as they die off also then carbon and a good water change and the tank never misses a beat. I picked you up a box of FW exit today while I was at the critter seein as how I stll owe you some money long over due .

 

[ocd_mariner]

Does anyone have links to what these pests look like?

 

[TitansFan]

Thanks guys/gals. I will be sure to try and siphon out what I can before hand. I wonder if these eat zoas at all? Ever since having them my evil mels seem to be dying off. Before I couldnt kill those zoas if I tried. I was just worried about being reef safe. After more reading it seems the toxin produced by the dying worms is what I have to be agraid of.

Thanks Angela!! Hopefully if you are not busy I can drop by tomorrow evening (Tuesday) on my way home from work (around 6:30). If that is good for you. I will call you tomorrow to find out.

ocd_mariner: here are some pics:
http://frontpage.simnet.is/dna/Red-planaria-8640.jpg
http://www.atlantareefclub.org/forums/showthread.php?t=1636
http://www.melevsreef.com/flatworms.html

 

[Angela Short]

Here is a pic of my nano infestation. Bad pic but you get the idea. It takes mine a few months to get noticable then I zap em.

 

[gflat65]

They are minor nuisances... I've dealt with acro eating flatworms (AEFW's) and monti nudi's, so these little guys are just food for the mandarin to me. It has been used at 10X dosage instructions in the plight to eradicate AEFW's, but not by me and likely in a QT type setting. I've run it at 3-4X dosage recommendations on a 10 gallon frag tank with a bunch of zoas, other softies and a few acros and monti's with no issues. The problem with planaria is that they typically come back. If you can go the six line wrasse or mandarin route (my spotted eats anything she sees crawling), you'd have a live supply and a method of slow eradication. They aren't really harmful until a) they continue populating until they cover everything and starve it for light or b) they die. That said, keep water volume in mind If you have alot of flatworms, you will want to either siphon the majority out before the treatment to reduce toxins from die off, of get a mandarin or six line (there are other wrasses that munch them, too). The toxin is bad for fish and coral. I would think that Angela could go a little longer before worrying too much about issues, to use density as a guide. Siphon what you can and run carbon with water changes if you run it. With a few precautions, there are few issues to worry about.

 

[TitansFan]

Thanks Gary for the info. Angela had mentioned on the phone as well about a manderin eating them. Have you found it to be the target manderin or the other that usually does? Is this a hit or miss? Manderins, as we all know are beautiful. If these could be a natural food source for a manderin it would be an attractive natural control option. A sixline is out of the question though as I know it would cause problems with my carpenters wrasse (who doesn't touch the flatworms by the way). I have a lawnmower blenny in the tank already (one of my favorite fish). Would a manderin and him get along? Only other fish is the wrasse and royal gramma. I plan to add another copperband soon.

The flatworms just seem to coincide with my evil mels zoas dying off so wondered if there was a correlation with that. My other zoas seem to be doing fine but the mels are the lowest in the tank down near where the flatworms are. I have watched other zoa colonies die off when i first started in the hobby but the mel's always seemed bullet proof which makes me wonder why the die off now.

My current state looks alot like the amount in melvin's pics from his site (see above link from me). They are mainly on one side of the tank near a rock of waving hand I got from Angela. Angela gave my tank herpes They are maybe 2 inches up on the live rock there. Which has also lost alot of corraline. Maybe it is being smothered? Corraline is another story though.. All over the glass but to get it to grow on rocks I'm at a loss.

Oh on another side note.. I hope these are not a nuisance as well... But I have now all of a sudden probably 30 or so small, tiny, baby snails in cone shaped shells on my tank's walls. I have no idea where they game from. The only snails I added to the tank are 2 turbos, astreae, and nassarius.

 

[Angela Short]

Yea! free baby snails are a good thing!! Yes, I bet you got the herpes from me. That anthilia rock you got from me at the swap I put my standard disclaimer in the thread that it was comming from my nano which had flat worms. But we were at the swap and you couldn't read my disclaimer when Autum wanted to take it home :lol: Seriously, sorry if they came from me, I try to be honest about any problems I may be having but at least they are easy enouph to get rid of. My nano stays populated because #1 its only 5 gallons and I can't put in a natural preditor and #2 I am too lazy to do the follow up treatment 1 week later to get the ones hiding or hatching fresh.

My mandarin is the regular wavy pattern, not the spotted one. I have moved stuff back and forth from nano to 80 and back again over the last 2 years and never seen the first one in the 80 or 270 now so all I can figure is the mandarin has kept them in check because I can't imagin one not hitching a ride with all the swapping .

As I mentioned above.... I think the best way to save the toxic juice from the flat worms dieing is to use a long section of air line tube. As the FW's die (which is real fast) they start to pull off the sand and rocks so you can siphone them out real easy with out draining the tank from a big water chane size hose. Its plenty enouph force to suck them small buggers out.

 

[gflat65]

Mine is a spotted mandarin, so it sounds like both can work. I have flatworms in the frag tank that is connected to the display, but none in the display, so the frag tank is serving as a breeding ground for them right now. I treat them all before swaps, but within two weeks I usually have more.