How reefsafe is Flatworm Exit?
- Thread starter fio1022
- Start date
ChrisB
New member
I must join those that say it is NOT SAFE.
My tank was just setup about 8 weeks ago( basically 130 gallons of fuge). I just added the first "fuge kits" from various sellers about three weeks ago. These included pods, minibrits, ministars, worms, shrimp, various dwarf hermits and snails. There was Ulva, and chaeto for macros and I also added a few mollies. I already had some base rock and base rubble from the beginning but with no life.
Well....
I saw a flatworm a week ago and then saw two a few days ago. I decided to use FE before I had a problem with them. I read a few posts including this one and unfortunately didn't heed the right advice. amike5 hit the nail on the head.
I ended up only seeing about 6 or 7 flatworms(within about 30 minutes of dosing the FE) which I removed. I also noticed every single snail and shrimp and minibrit I had was out in the open which is very unusual. About two hours later I decided the few flatworms I had were dead and gone. I started carbon and changing water at about 5% every 30 minutes until I had changed about 30%(40 gallons).
The following day I changed another 40 gallons after noticing my pods seemed to be NON EXISTENT and my shrimp were acting "stoned" as amike5 said. Also my ceriths hadn't moved since dosing.
IT HAS NOW BEEN 3 DAYS:
Final death total isn't in, but so far 2 skunk cleaners are dead and the last one is still twitching just a little. Three of four peppermints are dead and the last is also on its last leg. It is totally out in the open kicking around.
I believe every single cerith(at least 15) is dead. They came out in the open within 30 minutes of dosing the FE, turned upside down, and haven't moved since. The sand looks like a warzone of dead bodies.
The jury is still out on the pods, worms and minibrits. I haven't seen a single one in the last 48 hours. The fugeglass that was literally COVERED in pods is now like a graveyard. There is no evidence of any worms or minibrits at all. This is a drastic contrast to the time just before dosing. Also, the hermit crabs seem to be drugged or dead.
What's alive?
The ministars. Or either they died stuck to the glass and haven't rotted yet. But they never appeared to be under stress.
The mollies. Apparently no effect on them.
The nassirus vibex. They haven't missed a beat, in fact I think they have enjoyed all the carnage. They are swarming everwhere.
The astreas. Dont appear to have been affected.
CONCLUSION:
FE killed them. There is no way I can be convinced that I underestimated the flatworm population. NO WAY. This oversized fuge is my only tank and I have spent countless hours observing it. The pod population had just boomed when I saw the flatworm the first time.
Besides I followed the instructions and even went the extra mile in water changes, AND changed the carbon out after about 12 hours and then 24 hours. These animals were all but dead in the first 15 minutes of dosing. They died a slow death over the next 24 hours or so.
I will never use it again. I will try the nudi or whatever.
And to think, when I first read this post, I had hoped I would be coming back on here telling everyone how great it all worked out.
No such luck.
My tank was just setup about 8 weeks ago( basically 130 gallons of fuge). I just added the first "fuge kits" from various sellers about three weeks ago. These included pods, minibrits, ministars, worms, shrimp, various dwarf hermits and snails. There was Ulva, and chaeto for macros and I also added a few mollies. I already had some base rock and base rubble from the beginning but with no life.
Well....
I saw a flatworm a week ago and then saw two a few days ago. I decided to use FE before I had a problem with them. I read a few posts including this one and unfortunately didn't heed the right advice. amike5 hit the nail on the head.
I ended up only seeing about 6 or 7 flatworms(within about 30 minutes of dosing the FE) which I removed. I also noticed every single snail and shrimp and minibrit I had was out in the open which is very unusual. About two hours later I decided the few flatworms I had were dead and gone. I started carbon and changing water at about 5% every 30 minutes until I had changed about 30%(40 gallons).
The following day I changed another 40 gallons after noticing my pods seemed to be NON EXISTENT and my shrimp were acting "stoned" as amike5 said. Also my ceriths hadn't moved since dosing.
IT HAS NOW BEEN 3 DAYS:
Final death total isn't in, but so far 2 skunk cleaners are dead and the last one is still twitching just a little. Three of four peppermints are dead and the last is also on its last leg. It is totally out in the open kicking around.
I believe every single cerith(at least 15) is dead. They came out in the open within 30 minutes of dosing the FE, turned upside down, and haven't moved since. The sand looks like a warzone of dead bodies.
The jury is still out on the pods, worms and minibrits. I haven't seen a single one in the last 48 hours. The fugeglass that was literally COVERED in pods is now like a graveyard. There is no evidence of any worms or minibrits at all. This is a drastic contrast to the time just before dosing. Also, the hermit crabs seem to be drugged or dead.
What's alive?
The ministars. Or either they died stuck to the glass and haven't rotted yet. But they never appeared to be under stress.
The mollies. Apparently no effect on them.
The nassirus vibex. They haven't missed a beat, in fact I think they have enjoyed all the carnage. They are swarming everwhere.
The astreas. Dont appear to have been affected.
CONCLUSION:
FE killed them. There is no way I can be convinced that I underestimated the flatworm population. NO WAY. This oversized fuge is my only tank and I have spent countless hours observing it. The pod population had just boomed when I saw the flatworm the first time.
Besides I followed the instructions and even went the extra mile in water changes, AND changed the carbon out after about 12 hours and then 24 hours. These animals were all but dead in the first 15 minutes of dosing. They died a slow death over the next 24 hours or so.
I will never use it again. I will try the nudi or whatever.
And to think, when I first read this post, I had hoped I would be coming back on here telling everyone how great it all worked out.
No such luck.
UrbanSage
New member
Uhm....... Pods do that. You get high numbers for a short period and then they stabilize at a substainable level.
That on top of it being an 8 week old tank where that experience would be normal (except for the shrimp) I find it difficult to trust FWE to be the culprit.
Don't jump to conclusions.
That on top of it being an 8 week old tank where that experience would be normal (except for the shrimp) I find it difficult to trust FWE to be the culprit.
Don't jump to conclusions.
ChrisB
New member
I don't think there is any jumping to conclusions here.
This wasn't any kind of natural progression. It was immediate and obvious.
My pod population didn't drop to a sustainable level. Within 15 minutes of dosing, the pods became very active, especially the gammarus(sp?) and started going apeshat, flying all over the place and they appear to have completely died out in 24 hrs. No trace so far.
All the ceriths having a meeting out on the sand and turning upside down and haven't moved.... in 3 days? Please....
Maybe the pods will come back, we'll see. Maybe the ceriths will come back to life, I hope so and I will post it if they do.
This wasn't any kind of natural progression. It was immediate and obvious.
My pod population didn't drop to a sustainable level. Within 15 minutes of dosing, the pods became very active, especially the gammarus(sp?) and started going apeshat, flying all over the place and they appear to have completely died out in 24 hrs. No trace so far.
All the ceriths having a meeting out on the sand and turning upside down and haven't moved.... in 3 days? Please....
Maybe the pods will come back, we'll see. Maybe the ceriths will come back to life, I hope so and I will post it if they do.
Agreed, had the same problem with the pods. They have become abundant once again after a few months. I didn't loose any shrimps though. Mostly small critters were harmed fatally.
Besides, unless anyone knows specifically what is contained in FWE the can pick out one thing to kill and not any other thing I wouldn't say it is jumping to conclusions not being reef safe. It has been 4 months since I last used FWE (A total of 3 separate doses werre done) and I still have flatworms. It was a waste of $, time, small critters, and stress on my tank for it not to work entirely.
Besides, unless anyone knows specifically what is contained in FWE the can pick out one thing to kill and not any other thing I wouldn't say it is jumping to conclusions not being reef safe. It has been 4 months since I last used FWE (A total of 3 separate doses werre done) and I still have flatworms. It was a waste of $, time, small critters, and stress on my tank for it not to work entirely.
aquarius77
In Memoriam
Get a Sixline Wrasse and save yourself the stress.
aquarius77
In Memoriam
Ive never seen a dragonette touch flatworms, ive seen wrasses destroy them. I have kept different types of both fish. Wrasses are hunters and they are relentless.
ChrisB
New member
I wonder.... will the "green wrasse" eat them?
I'm not sure on that name, but it was a solid electric green... oh man this was a super cool looking fish and it was called a green wrasse.
I wouldn't mind trying one of those ...
I guess the wrasse will eat shrimp too huh? Oh well, since my remaining two were dead tonite when I got home, it doesn't matter...
IMPORTANT UPDATE!!!: ONE of the 15+ceriths has moved away from the sunbathers back to the glass!!! It isn't doing anything but it did move! (The others are all still laying on their backs with their "feet" sticking out, just like they have for the last 3 days)
I'm not sure on that name, but it was a solid electric green... oh man this was a super cool looking fish and it was called a green wrasse.
I wouldn't mind trying one of those ...
I guess the wrasse will eat shrimp too huh? Oh well, since my remaining two were dead tonite when I got home, it doesn't matter...
IMPORTANT UPDATE!!!: ONE of the 15+ceriths has moved away from the sunbathers back to the glass!!! It isn't doing anything but it did move! (The others are all still laying on their backs with their "feet" sticking out, just like they have for the last 3 days)
ChrisB
New member
Well, as promised, I have returned for a final tally.
Survivors of FE:
All fish - never affected.
All snails - the ceriths that instantly went into a coma for over a week have all re-awakened and are now back on the job. Very strange.
Pods - Pod life disappeared in the beginnig, but after about a week I am seeing abundant pod life again, but strangely zero adult gammerus that were so plentiful beforehand.
bristleworms - I haven't seen an adult bristleworm since the dosing but I have seen numerous tiny babies in the last couple of days. The adults were pretty common before.
Ministars - never affected.
Lost:
All shrimp - 4 peps, 3 skunks. (gammerus too?)
Jury is still out:
Emerald crab - I don't see him very often anyway so I can't say about him.
Minibrittlestars - haven't seen one since first day of dosing. Several immediately came out into the open obviously in stress, but I have no evidence that they died.
Survivors of FE:
All fish - never affected.
All snails - the ceriths that instantly went into a coma for over a week have all re-awakened and are now back on the job. Very strange.
Pods - Pod life disappeared in the beginnig, but after about a week I am seeing abundant pod life again, but strangely zero adult gammerus that were so plentiful beforehand.
bristleworms - I haven't seen an adult bristleworm since the dosing but I have seen numerous tiny babies in the last couple of days. The adults were pretty common before.
Ministars - never affected.
Lost:
All shrimp - 4 peps, 3 skunks. (gammerus too?)
Jury is still out:
Emerald crab - I don't see him very often anyway so I can't say about him.
Minibrittlestars - haven't seen one since first day of dosing. Several immediately came out into the open obviously in stress, but I have no evidence that they died.
