Flatworms and fragging...

Fizz71

Fizz71

FragSwapper
I just noticed the other day that I have a few flatworms in my tank. It's far from an infestation since I could count them on 2 hands in 8 foot of tank and I've added no new corals to my tank since the last swap so they've probably been around for months.

My question is...should I sell any frags at this swap knowing I have a handful of flatworms? What's the protocol? Is it normal to maybe have a few hanging around?

Considering the number of aptasia I've received on corals I know many people don't give a crap what they sell, but I'm not like that.

I plan on getting a six-line and a Mandarin so I'm not even going to bother with flatworm eXit at this point, but that will take time and the swap is coming up fast.
 
In my opinion, Kevin, it is up to the purchaser to dip their incoming corals. Not all "pests" bother everyone. I seem to remember a certain reefer wanted those little white starfish. If you ask me asterinas are a hell of a pest but at the time, you wanted them. Flatworms (if it's the red planaria you are talking about) really don't bother anything.

That being said, you can dip any frags that you take out if you'd like or simply tell your buyer up front
 
Yes they're red planaria and sadly I dipped everything in my tank and still got them which is why I'm concerned about giving them out.

And my wife still bugs me about getting asterina again since I killed them all off with the salinity issue I had in my storage sump while the tank was down for repair....so I don't have any right now. :)
 
So thats where mine came from! Just kidding. Flatworm Exit works great. Had no losses and no reoccurance.

Little red one are harmless until they explode in numbers and die off release all kinds on nasty on your tank.

I would dip everything as you bag for the swap and let everyone know you have them. Then its up to them to dip again if they want. Most experienced fraggers do already.
 
Kevin,

I agree with insanefishguy that it is up to the purchaser to dip the corals they purchase. Although if it were me I would at the very least inform anyone buying the frags of the potential risk and to keep an eye on them while dipping/quarantine.
 
Update...it looks like I do have a LOT of these little buggers now. Not sure if I want to go with Flatworm exit or see if I can eradicate it naturally.

...and I don't think I had any at the last swap so I didn't give any out. I'm pretty sure I know where they came from. :)

Oh well...just when the tank starts to look good again to the point I can sell some frags...WHAM.
 
Why not set up a frag tank that's not connected to the main system? Honestly the little red ones never bothered me.
 
can you say quarantine tank i used to throw everything in my display now before each swap i setup my 29 gallon tank for like a month to see whats good and 29 gallons is better have bad luck with then 300 plus gallons alot less headaches
 
I get concerned QTing a coral, I just don't have the lighting for a good QT. I dip and leave it on a rack for a month in my DT to wait out aptaisia or mojano before mounting. I didn't seen any flatworms last time I dipped so I don't really know for sure where I got them.

I'm going to go the wrasse route for now..I didn't know about the melanarus wrasse, that's a shame since I put a sixline in yesterday..we'll see what happens. Since they are more annoying that damaging I'm going to take my time with them.

Thanks everybody.
 
+1 on the melanurus wrasse.

Flatworm exit certainly works but you need to do a massive water change and have lots of carbon on hand afterward. From my experience you need to use a larger dose than prescribed.
 
Kevin, instead of paying an arm and a leg for the FW exit just buy the powdered form of the active ingredient. This way you are getting it more concentrated and with less $$$.

Go to tractor supply (or other ag store) and ask for some sheep/cow de-wormer. It will be called something like levamitol or whatever... important part is active ingredient Levamisole HCL.
Mix 1/2 tsp in 240ml RODI until dissolved. Dose 120ml and do a w/c a half hour later. The chances of any survivors is small, however a follow up dose can be done a day or two later to get any stragglers. W/c half hour after this one also.

The active ingredient does not harm fish or corals. However, the flatworms release toxin while dying so that is why a w/c is required.
Despite dipping everything going into the tank, I still see a few pop up every 6 months or so. I dont know where they come from either but they just get in there even when you try hard not to introduce them. So I dose this every once in a while to make sure they cannot get out of control.
 
Levamisole hard to get

Levamisole hard to get

Trent is right about saving money buy buying Levamisole instead of using Flatworm Exit. If you have a large system you'll get spent blind on Flatworm Exit.

Levamisole HCL is the cheap way to go but a little tricky to get these days. About a year and a half ago retail stores stopped carrying it due to its use as a cutting agent for cocaine. (Makes really nice, large crack rocks.)

The most common trade names are Ergamisol and Prohibit. Some people sell it on eBay and you can get it from one of those shady online overseas prescription places like this:

www.offshorerx.com/drug/buy_generic_Ergamisol.htm

The overseas places are cheap but you might have to wait a little while for shipping AND there is certainly no guarantee that the bottle will actually have the drug you're looking for.

Or you can buy a big *** packet here:

http://bit.ly/T1OanN

Still a fan of melanurus wrasses. Good fish and they keep the flatworm population under control.
 
Here's a post from a guy who had an allergic reaction to Flatworm Exit. Salifert doesn't list the active ingredient so keep the information about it being Levamisole handy just in case!

Here's another thread where they are saying that the amount of Levamisole required to kill flatworms is too high for a full tank treatment.

Since Inteceptor is impossible to get now, people have been experimenting with Cyfluthrin, the active ingredient in the Bayer Advanced line of pesticides, as a dip, not as a full tank treatment. There's a lot of talk, but not much solid information other than Cyfluthrin is the ingredient to look for and the other ingredients don't seem to make a difference or hurt anything. If you want to try it out, Home Depot has it in varying concentrations. There's no set dosage, and people are not posting clear information as to which product/concentration they used.
 
Thanks for the advice everybody. At this point I'm now over run..I don't know what happened but I had a huge explosion of growth. I have Mal looking for a melanurus for me, TFP didn't have any the day of the swap. I also added a sixline who vanished and a 2 dragonnettes...one of which did not survive the night. Not sure what happened there since my other fish are all fat and happy. Haven't seen the dragonette pick at any yet, but he only comes out at night so it's hard to say.

Anyway...I'll hold out for the menlarus for now and go from there. They don't see to be doing anything but reproducing at this point so I'm being patient (or lazy depending how you look at it).

Thanks again.
 
when i fought the rusty red flat worms in my system it started just like yours. just a couple and then they were everywhere. all i did was make sure to target them with the suction tube when i did water changes. after a couple months they died away and i never saw them again. not to say they weren't there but the biblical plague populations were gone.
 
If I tried to suck them out I'd lose most of my sand. :) Plus I don't do water changes that way...I do it all from the basement. I've contemplated vacuuming, but at this point I think it'd be like cutting the lawn with a nail clipper...what I need is a goat. :)
 
Fizz,
I have recently battled these little guys. Spent months sucking them out and ended up using flatworm exit. I still have a bottle if you want to use it. I can even come help. I'm in Temple.

I have a canister filter that I filled with carbon and run for about a week after the treatment. That plus a 50% water change and filter sock on the return. The whole thing took about 2 hours.
 
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