Eliminating flatworms

[Reefer07]

I have treated my flatworm problem three times over the past month. It just doesn't seem to work. They go away for a week or so and then it just gets as bad as it was. I even tried doubling the dose last week and the same thing happened.
I am using the blue vet flatworm control. I have heard the salifert flatworm exit isn't bad. Is it worth giving it a shot?
Any other tips on getting rid of these things would be much appreciated.

-Zac

[cutegecko3]

If you have a low flow fuge or sump,you'll need to put a small powerhead in there to get the water circulated really good.

Thats how they usually survive through a treatment.

[avshockey311]

I used flatworm exit about a year ago and it worked until now. I need to do another dose here on of these days.

[bobt2]

salifert worked for me, however not at the recomended dose. i followed a thread from this list and doubled the dose and didn't turn the carbon back on or do a water change for a few days. it worked and nothing else was lost.

[Reefer07]

Well thanks for the help guys. I am giving it a go today.

[LOTUS50GOD]

I had them BAD... when I upgraded the tank, I dipped every rock in a concentration of 4x the recommended amount of FWE before putting the rock back in the display; and some still lived through that...

After about a month I bought a sixline wrasse and I dosed the display with 2.5x the recommended dose and have been FW free now for about a 2 months

[docalatamu]

six-line wrasse
four line wrasse
canary wrasse
leopard wrasse
mystery wrasse
even mandarins

all are known to eat flatworms

[docalatamu]

also the black velvet nudibranch

[Reefer07]

We were actually talking about that nudi in my LFS the other day. They haven't seem them for sale in a while though.
Anyone know where I can get my hands on some?
An the only reason I can't use a wrasse is because I already have a flasher in my tank.
I dosed the flatworm exit today and I can say it made a big difference. I was planning on leaving it in there for a day or so until only 2 minutes after I dosed it the tank was just swarming with flatworms. I have never seen so many in my life but I sucked them all out and did my water change right there.
They seem better as I said but there are still a few here an there on my corals. Any idea how to get rid of them or why they didn't die?
I know they are asexual and because I am sure there are some left it just seems like I am going to have to go through all of this again next week. Seems like it's going to be a constant battle...

[Potsy]

I had a huge infestation in my 38 gallon. They carpeted some areas of rock and sand. I removed the rock to a rubbermaid tub and nuked those with twice the recommended dose of flatworm exit, siphoned as much as I could see from the sand and walls, and did twice the dose in the aquarium, and had 30 gallons of fresh saltwater standing by for a big water change along with a magnum h.o.t. filter for carbon.

My corals were perfectly fine. The flatworm toxins don't seem to affect them. Mini-brittle stars went into shock. Despite my diligent syphoning before and during treatment, TONS of dead flatworms seeped up from the sand and the toxins from those really stressed my fish. Their eyes clouded up, lost appetite, heavy breathing, and their fins looked ragged - the toxin appears to have some kind of burning affect. I thought I was going to lose my azure damsel and 7 year old percula, but they recovered after a few days and aggressive water-changing and carbon filtration. A few flatworms survived and were easy to spot and since the the eXit itself is harmless to the livestock, I followed up with several ridiculously large doses (4x or more) which I left in the aquarium for a few hours and that eventually did the trick.

If you can remove your fish to a hospital tank prior to dosing it's really quite easy and again, I must emphasize that the flatworm eXit itself is harmless to fish and corals, even at huge doses. My fish didn't even notice the 4x dosage.

[CleveYank]

Try this one. It actually works.

After numerous attempts with flatworm exit I needed to try something else. Finally red planaria flatworm free.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/sh...readid=1379099

[Reefer07]

Wow...that is a very very good method. I plan to dose the exit again this week as I know all the worms are not gone but after that I am going to try this method.
Thanks for the heads up.

[CleveYank]

No problem Reefer07,

use it and enjoy.

Just do me the favor to use it and post your positive result on the thread and pass it on. Thanks.

Mike

[hahnmeister]

I gave up on those chemical methods... too much stress on the tank as well. OTOH, I picked up a pack of fairy wrasses, and 5 of them whiped out an infestation of many thousands within days. It was amazing. I think you need to use them in a group... the competition for food is what makes them effective.

[CleveYank]

Originally posted by hahnmeister
I gave up on those chemical methods... too much stress on the tank as well. OTOH, I picked up a pack of fairy wrasses, and 5 of them whiped out an infestation of many thousands within days. It was amazing. I think you need to use them in a group... the competition for food is what makes them effective.

With all due respect Hahnmeister,

I don't agree with buying of livestock being ripped out of the ocean with 1/2 dying in transport, 1/2 of that remainder dying in quarantine at the international airport, and another 1/3 to 1/2 of that dying at the distributor, and another 1/4 to 1/3 of that dying at the LFS to be used for parasite/infestation control/removal.

It might work like a charm hahn, but it's not within the lines of MY ethical aquarists practices. I'd rather stress my tanks (which it did not) and rather risk losing everything (which I did not really lose much of anything especially prized fish and corals) than push a finite resource to correct a screw up of bad quarantine on my part to begin with.

If a million reefkeepers around the globe bought 5 wrasse to control this parasite via your method I dare to say that with the losses along the way, surely there would be no more wrasse left to collect in short order.

Plus at minimum $30 per fish at a minimum example total of $150, vs $15 to $19 for Levasole enough to treat hundreds of gallons in one bottle....well the math doesn't make sense either.

[hahnmeister]

My stocking plans usually include multiple fairy wrasses anyways, not just for parasite control, but that is one of the perks of keeping them. Im not saying that someone should get them JUST for this, but if you are having problems with flatworms, getting a pack of flasher/carpenter/fairy/etc (some types of 'social' wrasses) is a good way to go. After having an infestation that just would NOT go away after multiple treatments with flatworm exit (every few months... they would be back!), the wrasses were the most effective method for total eradication and control without stressing out the rest of the tank with the toxins in the flatworms. Sure, its a $100+ solution over a 'chemical' method, but its more friendly to the rest of the tank... not to mention... how many bottles of that $15 chemical are you going to be going through, and how many hundreds of dollars of corals are you going to expose to the toxins released by the flatworms when they die? To me, the wrasses seem like the 'ethical' choice, as well as the smart economic choice.

You COULD buy the wrasses with the intent of flatworm control, and if you dont plan on keeping them, you could sell them after they are done eradicating.

Im a little unsure as to why you have such a reaction to this suggestion. For algae, many here include tangs in their stocking plans... thats not to say that they got the tangs just for algae control... but that doesnt mean it isnt part of it. Buying fish and critters to achieve a 'balance' within our tank's eco-systems is nothing new, and perhaps a smart way of doing things. Our stocking plans SHOULD include a balance of animals which allow it to maintain a balance after all. If you stock your tank with fish that just look pretty but dont help maintain the system, you end up having to do more yourself.

My stocking plans often include tangs first and foremost as algae control. Then I buy snails (only trochus, nerite, and cerith) for additional algae control. For the sand, I get a small yellow cuke, some super tongans, and if I can find them... the sand sifter crabs. I dont use hermits... they kill snails and otherwise are a scam IMO... they just kill other stuff including each other. I think of them as the industry's method of making sure we keep buying snails every 6 months. Besides the sand sifters, I dont get crabs of any sort, or shrimp, because I tend to go heavy SPS dominated, and I assume that at some point, I will have to treat for red-bugs... so no crabs/shrimp makes this easy to do on a regular basis. If anything, I will add shrimp/crabs AFTER the tank is fully stocked with corals. Instead of skunk cleaners, I use neon gobies. I add fairy wrasses because I think they are cool, and because I know they will help control bugs and flatworms. IF I have any bubble algae, I would get a rabbitfish/foxface or a desjardini tang. Every critter in the tank serves some sort of ecological control function...

Your argument against collecting 5 fairy wrasses seems a little off base... it could be an ethical argument against having a reef tank at all. Well, that would solve the problem. Heck, I had 8 solar wrasses, an exquisite, a couple temmincki, a couple lineatus, and I had rhomboids and others on the way... is that WRONG?