reef-fisher Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Ive recently encountered an issue with these @%#$& creatures and they are starting to annoy me. I thought I had them taken care of with my wrasse, but something happened and he passed away. Now the little bastards are EVERYWHERE! Im curious as to which treatments or predators are out there. Please let me know what has worked for you. Also, what parameters do they tend to thrive in? All Ive found in my search is low flow and excess nutrient levels. I think Ive got these two areas covered, but who knows... Any info is appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dsoz Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 Flatworm eXit worked for me. I got my bottle at SWFS. I have a bunch left if you want to negotiate a trade for a dose. (a few zoa polyps, a small monti frag, etc.) I would even come over to help you dose it once school is finally over. All you need is to siphon as many as you can each day for about two weeks, then drip in the FWE, then wait for a bit, then run carbon and remove as many bodies as you can find. Flatworm problem solved. dsoz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef-fisher Posted June 12, 2008 Author Share Posted June 12, 2008 Thanks. I sent you a pm back:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 I use a small gauge hose and siphon them out during water changes. You'd be amazed at how many you can get rid of. One of my tank has been fallow besides corals for the last few weeks and I did notice 4 flatworms today hiding in a corner, but a year ago I had hundreds. Those guys were pretty easy to suck out. I am running the tank fallow before the new stock just to be sure and rid anything in the system. When the new fish go in, nothing else will be again, the tank will be done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef-fisher Posted June 12, 2008 Author Share Posted June 12, 2008 Thanks Pledo, Ill give that a shot. They do seem easy to remove from the surface. When I do my cleaning, I usually take the rocks out and shake them in what Ive siphoned out. My problem is all the places I cant reachDOH! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyles Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 I hate flatworms, anyhow TMPCC was only thing that worked for me, tried f.exit and it did nothing for the ones I had, they where HUGE though measuring 3/8"-1/2" just nasty! TMPCC dip them and then blast with a mj1200 pump in a bucket, they come flying off. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Twitterbait Posted June 12, 2008 Share Posted June 12, 2008 DO NOT ADD FWE TO YOUR MAIN TANK!!! a ton of people have fried their tanks by doing this. i recommend a stronger dose and a 5 min dip of all your rock and coral. then shake and blow them off in another bucket before putting the rock back in your main tank. i consider a FW infestation to be something worthy of a complete teardown and rebuild because that is the only way i have effectively removed them. to get them out of sand just rinse your sand in fresh water and that will kill them too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef-fisher Posted June 13, 2008 Author Share Posted June 13, 2008 Not what I wanted to hear, but I gotta do what I gotta do....Thanks everyone. Ill try to update on what works best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nyles Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 I have a wonderful Christmas wrasse aI JUST got that is already looking for "Stuff" I hope he hunt flatworms like members say they do, so far for what I see I would bet money they do, hes a little seek and destroy machine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
impur Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 DO NOT ADD FWE TO YOUR MAIN TANK!!! a ton of people have fried their tanks by doing this. i recommend a stronger dose and a 5 min dip of all your rock and coral. then shake and blow them off in another bucket before putting the rock back in your main tank. i consider a FW infestation to be something worthy of a complete teardown and rebuild because that is the only way i have effectively removed them. to get them out of sand just rinse your sand in fresh water and that will kill them too. I'd bet five times as many people have had great success using it. Myself included. Typically the people that have problems with this product do not follow the directions properly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrgreenthumb Posted June 13, 2008 Share Posted June 13, 2008 I'd bet five times as many people have had great success using it. Myself included. Typically the people that have problems with this product do not follow the directions properly. I'd have to completely agree. Never used myslef, but used to work at a lfs, and found this to be true. Out of the 10-15 people who used this product, I can remeber one with a problem, and come to find out they did not follow the directions exactly. Not reading/following directions seems to be a very common problem these days. FWIW the person that didn't follow directions had nothing near a full tank crash. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef-fisher Posted June 14, 2008 Author Share Posted June 14, 2008 I think Im going to try the flatworm exit. I think Dsoz is going to hook me up. The good thing is, I have a qt set up, that also has flatworms. Ill practice in there and check my params. When I finally get around to it, Ill post my findings. Thanks for all your info:D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pledosophy Posted June 14, 2008 Share Posted June 14, 2008 If you want to try the siphoning thing and you have a major problem what I did was: I have a ball valve on my duroso so I turned it down a bit limiting the amount it drained. I hooked up a filter sock to my sump, just for this Used a 1/2" hose and put part of the hose in the sock the other in the tank. I siphoned for an hour or so getting everything I could. The removed the sock and tossed it in the washer. IME the flatworms went to the glass after lights off, so I did the siphon after lights off. JME Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tidalsculpin Posted June 16, 2008 Share Posted June 16, 2008 Remember, part of the FWE instructions is to siphon as many flatworms as you can find. If you have a really big system this may be hard. Melevs reef has a cool little tool tip for siphoning. Check it out. This will help with the toxicity of the dead flat worms. Also, hope you have a canister filter handy. Fill it with carbon and be ready to start it up after treatment. Lastly, do not be disheartened if some survive. A second or third treatment is not uncommon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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