solution worse than problem?

[ReefWidowed]

What's the collateral damage of using flatworm exit?

 

[Kreeger1]

not much if you do it properly, remove as many flatworms you can see then use it make sure you do a water change afterwards and I highly reccomend doing it again the next following 2 weeks. They always seem to comeback unless you get them back to back to back.

 

[ReefWidowed]

So pods and stars and crabs and snails will all be ok?

 

[shawnz28]

I would recommend siphoning them each day for at least a few days before dosing. For every flatworm you see there is prolly 4 more in the rocks. The Exit is not toxic it is the "flatworm juice" that is after they die so you want to try to limit the toxin as much as you can.

 

[zzpw3x]

I agree w/ Shawn. When I had flatworms, I siphoned every 2-3 days for about 2 weeks. I used it after that and they disappeared. I agree that I should have done it again 1-2 weeks later but I didn't and they have never reappeared.

Dale

 

[fambrough]

Also, it should be noted that you may find the prescribed dosage inadequate. Many reefers have had to nearly double the dosage for good effect. I did notice what I believed to be irritation of the mini brittle stars at high dosage, but there was no "collateral damage."

FWE worked for me. I did not have a very large infestation. Just be ready with the water change and siphon as recommended above.

Best of luck,
Ben

 

[mattyice]

would a better solution be to get a fish such as a leopard wrasse or sixline wrasse?

 

[Kreeger1]

No

 

[mattyice]

so pretty much to get rid of them siphon out all of the visible ones and then use flatworm exit and siphon out the rest, do a water change, the next week add more flatworm exit, siphon out dead ones, water change, and the next week add the last amount of flatworm exit, siphon out the ones that are still left and then do a water change?

 

[shawnz28]

Sounds about right.... though before the first dose I would siphon multiple times/days if you have many

 

[Kreeger1]

A six line wrasse would help n the fight against new ones comin into the ank I feel but to defeat the plague you need to "nuke" them all a few times
Erik

 

[mattyice]

alright, i will do that then, because i do seem to have quite a bit and at first i thought they were little flakes of algae but everyday i seem to see more so i will siphon them out, im thinking about attaching some flexible hose to a canister filter and then just sucking them up into the filter and that away i dont have to lose any water siphoning them out

 

[ReefWidowed]

I bought a six line when I first noticed the problem, because they are tiny,most of them about the size of a comma in 12pt font. But it's not interested, and the tank is too small for a leopard wrasse....I even considered damsels, but they are so evil, and all of my other fish are so peaceful. So it looks like I will do the siphon, double dose, water change and repeat in 2 weeks that was suggested, and hope that works.

 

[mattyice]

i recommend doing the sihpon with a canister filter so that you dont lose any water

 

[ReefWidowed]

good call, I have a fillstar, it has 3 media chambers, right now I have carbon, LR and a sponge in it, should I get a really fine sponge to toss in there and trap, and just pitch all of the media after treatment?

 

[jh2pizza]

I would run Carbon for a few weeks afterwards. I had no issues at all with it.

 

[wsnyder6]

Same here, used it about 1.5 the recommended dose, no problems. Did lose most of my micro brittle stars though....