red planaria aka red flatworms

Reefdiver72

Premium Member
Hats off to Mitch Carl!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry this is so long but its worth it.

I am so glad I went to his presentation at our club last year I have had these pain in my rumps for about 3 months and have sucked them out about every week well I got mad and quit hadnt even touched anything fish stuff for a couple weeks I know Bad But I had given up was going to sell everything or kill it to get rid of them .
Today I went to Tractor supply I was there to get some other stuff I needed and walked through the vet section and started thinking about something Mitch had said about pig wormer and flatworms I got a bottle of Levamisole and I took it home heck of alot cheaper then flatworm exit.


I though t if this doesnt fix it I quit this hobby.

Well I got on Reef central and after searching a few times found the recipe It takes a pinch of this stuff like .04grams to 25 gallons I thought yah right there is no way . So I got a 5 gallon bucket took a tiny bit of the powder not even enough to say a pinch mixed in some ro di water. let it sit for about 10 minutes while I sucked out as many flatworms as I could with into a 5 gallon bucket then I poured my mixture in the bucket in less then 3 minutes there was not a flat worm Remaining in the bucket alive. I couldnt believe my eyes so I took some out and checked it with a magnifine glass and they where melting down.

Then I turned off my pumps going from the sump to the tanks I mixed up a little more about 2 pinches for my 75 gallon tank mixed it with a 1/2 pint of water and started dripping it in with a turkey baster about 20 drips they where starting to feel it so I quit and let it sit for about 5 minutes there where some being stubborn so I dded 10 more drops well they let go and I vacumned them out then all of a sudden they started coming out of the sand hole in the rocks and everywhere I didnt realize there where so many in there they where all dead {I also noticed quite a few pods dying the ones that look like little shrimp}
I would say it is not shrimp safe but my crabs seem to be alright I sucked about 60 gallons of water out of the tank refilling it with the sump every little while when I thought they where all dead I opened up the valves to my sump and other tanks well they started dieing in tanks I had never seen them in.
Now I am doing big water changes and running a bunch of carbon and both skimmers are flooding into 5 gallon buckets but I havent seen one in my tanks alive in 2 hours.

Thanks again to Mitch Carl and Cora for having him.
Aaron
 
Newark or Lancaster has it I have enough for 3000 gallons of water if you need some.
It also killed a few young bristle worms in another tank I tried it in but everything else was ok snails crabbs ect.
 
I didn't think you could add Levamisole directly to your system. I have only heard of corals being treated outside of the tank with it.
 
That's what I thought Brad. I also only heard of people treating Acro-eating flatworms with Levamisole, not planaria.
 
I did some searching on here and it came up with the formula and everything for treating your whole tank so I tried it first in a 5 gallon bucket and everything seemed ok so I took the plunge on one tank and everything is doing awesome I have zoas open today that hadnt been open for months. and everything looks so much healthier already without all those pesky critters bugging them. I didnt have any big shrimp in my system my wrasse ate them all.
 
well its been 24 hrs and everything is doing very well corals that had not extended polyps in a while are extended and all my bubble tip aneomes are all looking great I have done 2 38 gallon water changes since I put wormer in the tank skimmers have finally slowed down also changed carbon out again earlier.
 
ok I found out the difference between what Mitch used and what I used he used paste with other ingredients where I used straight 100% Levamisole in the powder form with no additives I would almost bet you this is the same thing as flatworm exit.
I thought I lost pods due to this but they are still in great abundance in my tanks so I might have lost a few but not all I did lose a few bristle worms but when I fed last night they where coming back out of the rock work again everything is healthy and doing great I have not seen a flat worm since thank god and my elephant snails (keyhole limpets)I was worried about are back out laying eggs all over the tank I have not had any losses of anything that I have seen. I wish it worked on aptasia though I am about sick of it next.
 
I seem to have an unkillable strain of aptasia too. it just keeps coming back. driving me crazy. theres only 5-6, but they are indestructable lol
 
Do you have a link to the original thread? I have read about the dip in the Reefkeeping magazine article but never saw one where they dosed the tank. Interesting that you didn't wipe out the pods. Wonder if a cleaner shrimp would make it.

Thanks,
-- Kevin
 
If I may inquire to attempt to duplicate

If I may inquire to attempt to duplicate

Read this thread a few times.

Reefdiver 72.
Of the 8 oz or approximately 240 milliliters of water and .08 grams (did you weigh this?) how much of the mix in millilters is left after you dosed the tank?

Since turkey basters vary in volume and diameter, the measurement of exactly how much material or drips you dosed is unclear. (My generic turkey baster yields 5ml of liquid for 30 drops)
Hence the question how much of the 240 ml or 8oz mix is left?
If I read the thread and attempted to follow the metric to english to drops out of your turkey baster...you should have most of the mix left or 97 or 97.9 percent or 235 ml.

Would you be able to measure it and confirm?
Thanks.
 
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Also rather curious on this methodology. Do you have pics of your tank before and after? I'm more interested in the content of the aquarium to be honest.

Second, I would like to know what type of levamisole was purchased. I would like to know percentage contained and how much you added to your system. Do you have a rough estimate of total water volume?
 
I will get it all wrote out right tommorow when I have a little more time and get back to you and a list of what i have in my tanks i dosed.
 
Reefdiver72,

Thanks for the PM reply.
It gives me a starting point.

It just so happens that I have 1 of my 4 tanks on a separate loop that still have flatworms and your solution will be cheaper than the lengthy battle I fought to get rid them in 2 displays and frag system.

Serpentman & I (C-Sea) will be running a side test based upon your preliminary dosing. Thanks for venturing and sharing BTW.

We are going to setup a couple tests to find min and max numbers of dosage and time requirements with measurements of the following:

Rock weight & density.
Total tank and Actual water volume.
Try to calibrate dosage in applicable dosage per 10 or 20 gallons.
Best use of powder to water ratio to make best and most efficient concentration.


Since it's being used in place of Flatworm Exit...I would imagine that their water change and carbon recommendations are applicable.


This should provide precise application method and result.
And get complete step by step recipe together based upon the results. Not to mention support your findings.

We'll post them here to suppliment your thread when that shoe drops.

Mike
 
ok, I thought I understood it and had it al figured out in my head until Yank chimed in. Hey MIKE, stay in Cleveland...... lol
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=12218747#post12218747 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jh2pizza
ok, I thought I understood it and had it al figured out in my head until Yank chimed in. Hey MIKE, stay in Cleveland...... lol


Well excuse the heck out of me Joe. Wow posting cops everywhere. :D
 
I have used FWE and that is just what happened to my FW's when I dosed with it. Sounds interesting. Considder this thread bumped for me too.
 
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