Flatworms

scuzy

Active member
Anyone use flatworm exit and does it have any side effects on cleaner Shrimps and BTA's ? i have a small amount of flatworms on my glass and would like to clear it out.
 
I'd like to know whether anyone tried Marin Oomed to cure the flat worms. Any side effect with that?

Thanks.


Perry
 
scuzy, make sure you siphon as many out as you can before dosing and you'll be fine.

parrotlet, Oomed will kill flatworms as well as nudis, and just about everything else, I wish we could still get that stuff. I wouldn't use it in a reef though, only as a dip as it is bacteriostatic.
 
tuberider: I don't have a lot of flatworms I just see like 30 or so on my 7 foot long tank glass. so I'm not sure about siphoning it. I just want to make sure they don't multiply.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12489490#post12489490 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by scuzy
tuberider: I don't have a lot of flatworms I just see like 30 or so on my 7 foot long tank glass. so I'm not sure about siphoning it. I just want to make sure they don't multiply.

There may be more in the rocks; you should siphon out all that you can see prior to treatment to minimize the possible aftermath
 
Yeah, what Ant said, if you want to make it easy on yourself siphon into a filter sock placed in your sump.
 
i don't see much of them on the rocks. so should i siphon the sand area prior to dosing flatworm exit ?
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12489797#post12489797 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by scuzy
i don't see much of them on the rocks. so should i siphon the sand area prior to dosing flatworm exit ?

I'd recommend siphoning all that you see and waiting a couple hours or a day to see if anymore make there way out.
I plan to Flatworm eXit my tank when school lets out for me. Twice a week I siphon out all I can see, and so far i works pretty well. I've definitely put a dent in their numbers. Prior to dosing the FE, I intend to siphon out all I see once a day for a week.
 
I once took an entire pagoda colony (something like 12" x 12") and did a 2 minute freshwater dip! Ooooh that the best feeling in the entire world (for me at least). I saw many dead flatworms...and pods but the a little bit of slime from the pagoda and all was well.
 
so i dosed my first flatworms exit although many of them died there is still some on the glass. When cna i redose again? Should i wait a few days?
 
Do NOT use flatworm exit. It will kill your inverts and all beneficial bacteria. They blame the toxic from the flat worms but in fact the medicine kills stuff in your tank.
I used it once and I regreted. Some fish store people told me to do so. All you need is six line wrasse. It will take care of the problem naturally.
Try not to use chemical in your tank. It's bad. Use natural ways
as much as possible, and BE PATIENT.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12514274#post12514274 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefeer
Do NOT use flatworm exit. It will kill your inverts and all beneficial bacteria. They blame the toxic from the flat worms but in fact the medicine kills stuff in your tank.
I used it once and I regreted. Some fish store people told me to do so. All you need is six line wrasse. It will take care of the problem naturally.
Try not to use chemical in your tank. It's bad. Use natural ways
as much as possible, and BE PATIENT.

While I agree that is not ideal to use any chemicals in the tank, FWE will not hurt the tank, nor anything else, unless severly overdosed. It is possible to kill your starfish, as they have exhibited sensitivity to it. I have used it numerous times, at up to 9x recommended dosage with no ill effects. It has also not taken care of all of the planaria. Gets most, but not all.
6 lines will also not make much of a dent in the population unless they show a desire to eat them. I've had several different 6 lines, and they never seemed to touch the planaria.

For reference, I've got over 100 SPS corals, 40 or so zoas, loads of chalices, favias, elegance, open brains, a variety of high end wrasses, tangs, cleaner shrimps, etc. None have ever shown the slightest issue with FWE in the dozens of times I've used it in several different tanks over the years.
 
I've used fwe and it hasn't killed the inverts in my tank or any fishes. I did kill lots of flatworms. But not all of it died. I think I will does one more time in a few days to get rid of the remaining flatworms.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12514274#post12514274 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by reefeer
Do NOT use flatworm exit. It will kill your inverts and all beneficial bacteria. They blame the toxic from the flat worms but in fact the medicine kills stuff in your tank.
I used it once and I regreted. Some fish store people told me to do so. All you need is six line wrasse. It will take care of the problem naturally.
Try not to use chemical in your tank. It's bad. Use natural ways
as much as possible, and BE PATIENT.

Sixlines are not guaranteed to be a fix to the problem. I've never heard of Flatworm eXit being directly harmful to a tank. Unless EXTREMELY overdosed, as mentioned above. But that applies to most everything I'd imagine. Also neglecting to do sufficient water changes, not running enough carbon, and not removing as many as possible can be harmful however.
 
I'm too scared to use Flat Worm Exit. I've spent all this effort to grow pods, who know what the medicine would kill off. Plus the horror stories like the guy at "Talking Reef's and others' that have had a tank crash. So if experienced reefers have very bad results, I just don't want to risk it. In my 29 gallon, I have tried six line wrasse and a scooter blenny. They have both disappeared. I think flat worms are poisonous for fish that eat too many. I just plan on sucking out as many as I can during water changes and blowing them off in the hopes that the skimmer will catch them. My flat worm problem is looking tiny bit better. Maybe the red slim is smothering them out... :) btw, the yellow tail damsel lives on.
 
yeah FWE is a mixed blessing for me. I dosed it once, and had so many I didn't see (that I didn't syphon out) and my water did turn visible red from the toxins they released (and yes I was trying to scoop them out as soon as I saw them) all fish survived that night, but the next day my foxface that ate anything vegetable (most notable algae I didn't like) was floating, a couple days later I didn't see my bicolor angel in the tank anymore, assume he died in the rocks.

Worst of all, I didn't get them all, and they're back with a vengeance, so I try to live with them, I try to siphon them, I was tempted to use FWE again, however I couldn't find the bottle. So $22 bottle of the stuff which cheesed me off is "missing" vs potentially killing more of my fish... mixed blessing.
 
so after dosing flatworm exit i still had some growing on my tank. I added a few cheap fairy wrasse in my tank and a yellow coris wrasse and now i see none in my tank. The wrasses add a nice color and they look great in my tank. if anyone has flatworm i suggest getting a wrasse.
 
was it a rust brown flat worm problem or acropora-eating?

I would have an outbreak of the rust browns every once in a while, but diligent nutrient control and natural cycle of things and I have haven't seen them in a year. acropora-eating is another story, never dealt with them, nor do I ever want to.
 
Back
Top