I have flatworms

[Tyronius]

I have red flatworms. Has anyone used flatworm exit? Is there anything else that I should consider?

Thanks,

Ty

 

[Ephesians320]

i put a six line in my tank and it eradicated them, i would try to go with a natural solution before you try chemicals

 

[Ephesians320]

i put a six line in my tank and it eradicated them, i would try to go with a natural solution before you try chemicals

 

[AeroD79]

The velvet nudibranch can eat those too.

 

[Tyronius]

I have thought about the six line but I am going to be moving from fort collins to denver in a few months and didnt know if I wanted to put one through the move. I just want these guys gone before I set up the new tank.

 

[Zooid]

If you are moving, I'd just wait.
Are you using new sand in the new tank?
If you are using new sand, I'd just dip each rock individually in a solution with Flatworm eXit before you put the rock in the new tank.
If you decide to use it on a running tank, Be careful using that stuff, I've read horror stories. Make sure you siphon out most of the flatworms that you can see before you dose with it. Also make sure you have plenty of carbon to remove the toxins released by the flatworms.
Personally, I like the idea of using six line wrasse. Maybe someone would buy him off of you before you move. I hear they do a good job reducing bristleworms also.
Good luck.

 

[stugray]

AeroD79,

Is your avatar a turtle?


Sorry - never had flat worms.

Stu

 

[AeroD79]

yea its a fly river turtle. I took a pic of it since it looks cute.

 

[spleify]

I've had very good success with FWE, its completely harmless to your tank inhabitants. If you see FW in your DT you can be sure they are in the whole system, including the sump/refugium. IMO the Wrasse will likely not be able to keep up with them, and will only, at best, keep them at bay in the display only, yet they will continue to thrive in the sump.

Like Zooid stated just have lots of carbon ready, siphon out as many as you can before hand, and have enough water ready for a big water change after.

Dose 3-4 X the recommended dosage, and for good measure repeat a week later.

The FWE itself is 100% safe and will NOT harm anything, it is the toxins that will be the issue. Follow the directions with the exception of dosage, and you will be good to go.

I personally would not wait I would do it as soon as you can. They produce exponentially. Just do it you won't be sorry.

Good luck

HTH

 

[Zooid]

FWE will harm flatworms! LOL it will also harm bristleworms and probably featherdusters. Yeah, I forgot about the big water changes, thanks Leif. I've never used it on my display tank but I do dip all my new additions in the stuff (i kinda like my bristleworms)

 

[spleify]

Yep you are correct Gale I lost pretty much all my bristle worms too.

I used to dip new corals in FWE too, until I found Revive. Man I love that stuff!!!

 

["Umm fish?"]

Are you sure that they are the bad flatworms? Most types aren't really harmful. I usually see one species or another at some stage in a tank's life. In fact, I've seen some the last couple of days in mine. They aren't the bad ones, though.

 

[Dave & Monica]

Here's my opinion. Anything that explodes to plague proportions is bad. When a tank first gets FW's, that's what happens and you OMG.

When this happen to me around two years ago, I went through all these measures including treating the whole system with FWE (up to 4-5x the base dose) and in the end, I didn't get rid of them for more then a few months. I never see them in my display tank anymore - with lots of flow, and natural predators. In my sump that has a frag part, I see them all the time and at have tried treating it a time or two but at this point, they've never come back as a plague. Now I seem to think they're free food. I do however treat everything that goes out of my tank; I believe its 4 drops for 5 gallons with FWE. I put three drops per little zip lock and tell everyone I swap with, or give corals to, that I have them. So if you manage it, you won't have a problem. Depending on your set up, you may or may not get rid of them. Good luck.
//Dave

 

[Tyronius]

Thanks to everyone for their advice/opinions. I think that I will treat with FWE. I only have a few mushrooms and a red zoanthid (it just split!) for coral. Inhabitants are 3 snails, 3 hermits, and two emerald crabs that are for general clean up of the live rock that will be going into the new tank. They are in a 20gal and 10gal that are holding 50 lbs of live rock, 20-30lbs of lace rock along with some cheato. The two tanks are linked via a pump and U-Tube. I am going to spend the next week or two vacuuming up as many FW as I can; I really let this get out of hand before I knew what was going on (newbie). Once I am ready to treat I will use five times the recommended dose and have plenty of water and carbon on hand. I think I will also treat one week later to ensure that they are all gone. I hope that all my bristle worms don’t die! They are interesting little creatures and from what I have read they don’t harm a reef tank but add to the diversity. I also hope my pods and mini brittle stars aren’t affected.

 

[tazdvl100]

hey andy

how do you know which ones are good and which ones are bad????

Chris

 

["Umm fish?"]

The bad one are the big, ugly ones that reproduce like mad and like to hang out on your corals' flesh. The ones I have are just eating algae.

 

[spleify]

Strictly my opinion, but I don't think there are any "good" flatworms, they are all bad and I wouldn't want them.

Tyronious, IMO I think what you are going to do is the right thing, treat now while you basically have a "holding tank". This way when you set up your new tank, you will start pest free.

Good luck.

 

[Tyronius]

Thanks spleify!

 

[Tyronius]

Spleify, it dosent look like we are going to get that workshop roling...

 

["Umm fish?"]

I don't know. I used to have some that ate cyanobacteria. Those weren't too bad, though the bacteria reproduced faster than the worms. There are about 25,000 species. They can't be all bad (although most are parasites).