Flatworms - what to dip coral in when switching tanks?

agoutihead · 12/10/2009, 04:11 PM

Ok I've had a crazy outbreak of the rust colored flatworms in my 12 nano for a little while now & its just ruined all of the coral.

I am going to remove all coral & put them in my friends tank.

But I can only put them in his once I am 100% sure all flatworms have been removed from coral.

So what kind of dip can I do to just the corals themselves? Just a fresh water dip?

If so, for how long?

The corals are really just mostly zoa colonies, and a GSP colony or two, not much else survived.

Also once I remove the coral & I drop the salinty down to say .015 - will that kill/destroy all the flatworms? (I realize this would also pretty much kill/destry all pods also, but it needs to be done)

junio · 12/10/2009, 04:58 PM

Levamizole

agoutihead · 12/10/2009, 05:09 PM

uhh what?

IslandCrow · 12/10/2009, 06:34 PM

Levamisole is supposed to be a good coral dip, but I believe it's used mainly for the very tenacious acropora eating flatworm variety, so it may be overkill for your more common flatworms. There were a few threads written on it not too long ago, but I've never used it, and I'm not sure how difficult it is to get your hands on it. I've always used Kent's Tech D. An iodine solution like Lugols works very well. I'm afraid I don't know the exact dosage you want to use, but it's very commonly used in the hobby, so it shouldn't be too hard to learn more about that.

ROLLINS240Z · 12/10/2009, 07:41 PM

Also do a search about Flatworm Exit by Salifert. It worked great for me and it was so easy to treat a entire tank. I had little red flatworms called 'planeria'.

Here is a link on AEFW http://www.melevsreef.com/aefw.html

Here is a link on Planeria Flatworms http://www.melevsreef.com/flatworms.html

Good Luck

spleify · 12/10/2009, 07:46 PM

I would also suggest you just do a full tank flatworm treatment with Salifert Flatworm Exit. It is a very good reliable product. Follow the directions to the T, with the exception of the dosage, dose at 3-4 times the recommended dose. Repeat this 2 times, for a total of 3 treatments over the coarse of 10-14 days. BAM, no more flatworms, and you don't have to relocate your corals.

HTH

Good luck

shackscs · 12/10/2009, 10:45 PM

I have used Flat Worm Exit with great results as well, but you have to really follow the directions. It is not the worm that is the problem but the toxins released when they are dead.

You could also use API Melafix. I used this in tanks when I was working at the LFS. Works great and heck of a lot cheaper than Flat Worm Exit.

If you want to see for yourself, grab a small bottle and a rock with Flat Worms on it and dose it. The little buggers come off right away.

ludnix · 12/10/2009, 11:06 PM

I have had good luck with iodine. I dip any corals that look like they might have flat worms in an iodine treated container and it seems to a great job.

agoutihead · 12/11/2009, 04:24 AM

Ok heres the thing, the tank is in an area where I am only able to really get to once a week or so.

Flatworm exit I hear is great, but its a long process & you have to be careful about the toxins. I'd rather just move & dip coral - they need to go under my buddy's MH to heal back up really nice, the PC's just wont cut it.

So I'm going to throw the rock I have in that tank in a holding bin with other rock that is cured & just pull another piece.

API Melafix - how toxic is this stuff?

Is iodine a better idea for dipping?

hilltopfarms · 12/11/2009, 06:52 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by agoutihead

Ok heres the thing, the tank is in an area where I am only able to really get to once a week or so.

Flatworm exit I hear is great, but its a long process & you have to be careful about the toxins. I'd rather just move & dip coral - they need to go under my buddy's MH to heal back up really nice, the PC's just wont cut it.

So I'm going to throw the rock I have in that tank in a holding bin with other rock that is cured & just pull another piece.

API Melafix - how toxic is this stuff?

Is iodine a better idea for dipping?

Have you considered adding a wrasse to the tank? I had a pretty bad flatworm problem several months ago... Added a six-lane wrasse and two days later, no more flatworms.

Jeremy Blaze · 12/11/2009, 09:08 AM

FWE is great.

Revive seems to work well as well.

I have had good sucess with freshwater dips to get planaria of as well.

tmz · 12/11/2009, 09:42 AM

I use a few of drops of flatworm exit in a gallon of water for a dip for infested corals. I've also done tank treatments with it with good results.

mitsurs01 · 12/11/2009, 10:04 AM

How harmful are Planeria Flatworms? I noticed some on the flesh of two of my frogspawns, at least I think they are Planeria Flatworms. I was planning a freshwater dip this weekend and I do have a six line, but how harmful are these to the flesh? Do I need to do something immediately?

Jeremy Blaze · 12/11/2009, 10:12 AM

typically they are an eyesore at best.

If numbers are large enough they may shade corals they are on, which overtime could lead to problems.

John Zillmer · 12/11/2009, 10:19 AM

I've had good results dipping corals like zoas and GSPs in 50/50 SW and RO mix (so, half NSW salinity saltwater).

This must be a good friend who is letting you put possibly infested corals in his/her tank. I can't imagine that anything is absolutely 100% reliable at killing flatworms. I agree with the aim of the posters who are recommending you treat the corals in the tank they are in now -- moving the corals isn't going to be too good for them, either, and there's no reason the corals you mention would benefit from MH over sufficient PC lighting.

junio · 12/11/2009, 02:00 PM

Flat worm exit active ingredient is levamiloze... a medicine that you can buy in any drugstore (at least here in Brazil). We use it a lot for short baths when moving a coral from a reef to another. We put a quarter of a pill in a plastic bag with the coral and salt water. It does kill anything but the coral, including flatworms, fireworms and even little serpent stars.

agoutihead · 12/11/2009, 03:58 PM

I was considering a sixline & would love one, but I think in a 12 gallon with a clown, chromis, firefish (on occasion when it wants to come out, which is never) and a clown goby, I think it would get too aggressive?

I was highly considering putting a scooter blenny in there in hopes it may eat some of them. I know they eat pods, so I was wondering how they would feel about eating flatworms.

What about a 50/50 NSW & RO water mixed with iodine?

The zoas are looking really bad. They havent opened for a long time & shriveled up. Trust me, they need MH. You cant even compare PC's being able to grow back a coral like MH's can.

I was also considering after removing all of the corals to leaving the rock in there, but just drop everything down to like 1.015 for salinity.

What do you guys think of that approach? (remember, FWE is great, but I dont have the luxury of being at the tank that often)

seafansar · 12/11/2009, 04:25 PM

If you're moving everything and they are all zoas and GSP just put them all in fresh water for 10 mins. That's what I did with all my zoas and GSP before putting them into a new tank and I haven't seen any flatworms since. For the SPS, LPS, and liverock I put them in a bucket with about 10 drops of FWE (excessive I know, but I wanted to make sure) and left them there for an hour. I throw out the sand. So far I haven't seen any flatworms.

junio · 12/12/2009, 08:45 AM

I have a six line, an iridis and a rubroventralis wrasses and none of them have ever eaten a FW.
Mellanurus wrasse is the most probable FW eater.

shackscs · 12/12/2009, 10:13 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by agoutihead

API Melafix - how toxic is this stuff?

It isn't but it may may your skimmer got nuts for a bit.

Honestly, the time it takes for you dip and relocate the corals, you could solve the problem on your own without running the risk of introducing flatworms or something else to your friend's tank.

There is also the possiblity that he may introduce something to your tank!

Here is my post in earlier thread about flatworms:

Quote:

Originally Posted by shackscs

I also recently had a problem with flat worms. They infested my 65 gallon tank like you would not believe. I siphoned what I could over a few days. I then treated with flat worm exit. I did the recommended dose. Waited for an hour, and dosed half the amount as they were not all dead yet. I finally did another half dose 45 minutes later and got them all.

I followed that with a 25 gallon water change and running a pound of carbon through a canister filter for two days.

The tank is spotless and I have not seen any since and that is was about two weeks ago.

Please note that flat worms release quite a bit of toxins in the water so have prepared water and carbon ready to go when you are done.

Good luck.

I also hooked up a HOB filter packed with floss to catch any of the ones that were floating after treatment (Looked like it was snowing).

The whole process would be quicker than your proposed plan. And since you can not get back in a few days, this fits in your plans.

Good luck!

VITARTE · 12/27/2009, 11:50 AM

A question for whoever did the flatworm exit treatment.

Do you guys turn the flow and skimmer off before the start of treatment or should both be running while treating?

I'm a little unsure as the Melevsreef site only mentions the skimmer running.

Any help would be really apreciated.

Rafo

agoutihead · 12/27/2009, 07:42 PM

The problem with FWE is that this is a 12 gallon nano... so hooking a HOB filter of any kind is not possible.

Its also going to be quite difficult to stop any toxicity issue when the flatworms die.

At that point with 12 gallons, I'm going to end up doing a 100% water change at some point just to try and rid the dead FW out.

Plus what about all of the flatworms that die inside the live rock?

Its a mess and a nightmare any which way you cut it.

I'm still debating lowering the salinity to .14 or something, but then I still run the risk of the FW contaminating the water and killing off the fish.

Rock and a hard place.

John Zillmer · 12/28/2009, 07:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by agoutihead

The problem with FWE is that this is a 12 gallon nano... so hooking a HOB filter of any kind is not possible.

You could leave the top cracked open and run a canister filter.

Quote:

Originally Posted by agoutihead

Its also going to be quite difficult to stop any toxicity issue when the flatworms die.

At that point with 12 gallons, I'm going to end up doing a 100% water change at some point just to try and rid the dead FW out.

Plus what about all of the flatworms that die inside the live rock?

Its a mess and a nightmare any which way you cut it.

I'm still debating lowering the salinity to .14 or something, but then I still run the risk of the FW contaminating the water and killing off the fish.

Rock and a hard place.

A couple suggestions have been made to hypo dip affected corals and rocks outside the tank. Why not this idea?

mitsurs01 · 12/28/2009, 10:06 AM

will a freshwater dip kill everything on the live rock? It did work pretty decent on a frogspawn I had planeria on, and I have a few other that need it. i am getting ready to do a tank upgrade this weekend and would like to get some of the rocks dipped.

tkeracer619 · 12/28/2009, 11:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by spleify

I would also suggest you just do a full tank flatworm treatment with Salifert Flatworm Exit. It is a very good reliable product. Follow the directions to the T, with the exception of the dosage, dose at 3-4 times the recommended dose. Repeat this 2 times, for a total of 3 treatments over the coarse of 10-14 days. BAM, no more flatworms, and you don't have to relocate your corals.

HTH

Good luck

This is how I did it until last time. The problem wasn't the dosage of the fwe it was the amount of worms hidden in the rocks. With the OEM dosage they take time to kill so you can suck them out. With a 4x dose they will all die instantly releasing all their toxins at once. I killed almost all of my fish and had sucked flat worms out for 5 hours strait before doing the treatment.

Please follow the instructions on the bottle of FWE to a T. They are like that for a reason. You will need to retreat a couple times.

I would not be afraid to double or quadruple the dose on the second treatment. The first there will be too many worms to do that.

IMO if you are putting them in a friends tank dip them in flat worm exit. In that size tank I would dip every rock. Then do an entire tank treatment. They will go away fast.

12/10/2009, 04:11 PM	#1
agoutihead Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Cleveland, Ohio Posts: 2,720	Flatworms - what to dip coral in when switching tanks? Ok I've had a crazy outbreak of the rust colored flatworms in my 12 nano for a little while now & its just ruined all of the coral. I am going to remove all coral & put them in my friends tank. But I can only put them in his once I am 100% sure all flatworms have been removed from coral. So what kind of dip can I do to just the corals themselves? Just a fresh water dip? If so, for how long? The corals are really just mostly zoa colonies, and a GSP colony or two, not much else survived. Also once I remove the coral & I drop the salinty down to say .015 - will that kill/destroy all the flatworms? (I realize this would also pretty much kill/destry all pods also, but it needs to be done) __________________ Experience the Liquid Realm...

12/10/2009, 05:09 PM	#3
agoutihead Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Cleveland, Ohio Posts: 2,720	uhh what? __________________ Experience the Liquid Realm...

12/10/2009, 06:34 PM	#4
IslandCrow Reef Monkey Join Date: Sep 2005 Location: Rockledge, Fl Posts: 5,759	Levamisole is supposed to be a good coral dip, but I believe it's used mainly for the very tenacious acropora eating flatworm variety, so it may be overkill for your more common flatworms. There were a few threads written on it not too long ago, but I've never used it, and I'm not sure how difficult it is to get your hands on it. I've always used Kent's Tech D. An iodine solution like Lugols works very well. I'm afraid I don't know the exact dosage you want to use, but it's very commonly used in the hobby, so it shouldn't be too hard to learn more about that. __________________ All opinions in the above message should be taken with 35 ppt salt. -Mike C. Current Tank Info: I have a reef screen saver on my phone, does that count?

12/10/2009, 07:41 PM	#5
ROLLINS240Z Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Chico CA Posts: 155	Also do a search about Flatworm Exit by Salifert. It worked great for me and it was so easy to treat a entire tank. I had little red flatworms called 'planeria'. Here is a link on AEFW http://www.melevsreef.com/aefw.html Here is a link on Planeria Flatworms http://www.melevsreef.com/flatworms.html Good Luck __________________ 60 Gallon Cube -- Sump. w/ refug. & Frag Tank -- 2 Tunze 6055's w/ multicontroller-- RKE Controller -- Aqua C EV180 Skimmer -- Check out my tank http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1858889

12/10/2009, 07:46 PM	#6
spleify Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2003 Location: Denver, Colorado Posts: 9,579	I would also suggest you just do a full tank flatworm treatment with Salifert Flatworm Exit. It is a very good reliable product. Follow the directions to the T, with the exception of the dosage, dose at 3-4 times the recommended dose. Repeat this 2 times, for a total of 3 treatments over the coarse of 10-14 days. BAM, no more flatworms, and you don't have to relocate your corals. HTH Good luck __________________ Make it a Great Day!!!! Current Tank Info: 60 gal SPS cube, with 25 gal refugium, 400W MH, DIY Lumenarc III, DIY skimmer, DIY stand and canopy. 40 breeder LPS with 40 gallon sump, DIY stand, 250W MH

12/10/2009, 04:58 PM	#2
junio Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Brazil Posts: 94	Levamizole

12/10/2009, 10:45 PM	#7
shackscs Super Premier Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: Norristown, PA Posts: 849	I have used Flat Worm Exit with great results as well, but you have to really follow the directions. It is not the worm that is the problem but the toxins released when they are dead. You could also use API Melafix. I used this in tanks when I was working at the LFS. Works great and heck of a lot cheaper than Flat Worm Exit. If you want to see for yourself, grab a small bottle and a rock with Flat Worms on it and dose it. The little buggers come off right away.

12/10/2009, 11:06 PM	#8
ludnix Registered Member Join Date: May 2007 Location: California Posts: 3,031	I have had good luck with iodine. I dip any corals that look like they might have flat worms in an iodine treated container and it seems to a great job. __________________ -Eric Sutter Current Tank Info: 14g Biocube

12/11/2009, 04:24 AM	#9
agoutihead Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Cleveland, Ohio Posts: 2,720	Ok heres the thing, the tank is in an area where I am only able to really get to once a week or so. Flatworm exit I hear is great, but its a long process & you have to be careful about the toxins. I'd rather just move & dip coral - they need to go under my buddy's MH to heal back up really nice, the PC's just wont cut it. So I'm going to throw the rock I have in that tank in a holding bin with other rock that is cured & just pull another piece. API Melafix - how toxic is this stuff? Is iodine a better idea for dipping? __________________ Experience the Liquid Realm...

12/11/2009, 09:08 AM	#11
Jeremy Blaze Former Reef Addict Join Date: May 2003 Location: New Washington, IN Posts: 5,864	FWE is great. Revive seems to work well as well. I have had good sucess with freshwater dips to get planaria of as well. __________________ Trust me my friend, the names are not important at all. I've own hundreds of different zoas and palys and don't know the name of a single one. In my opinion, they are a waste of valuable time. Mucho Reef

12/11/2009, 09:42 AM	#12
tmz ReefKeeping Mag staff Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: West Seneca NY Posts: 27,691	I use a few of drops of flatworm exit in a gallon of water for a dip for infested corals. I've also done tank treatments with it with good results. __________________ Tom Current Tank Info: Tank of the Month , November 2011 : 600gal integrated system: 3 display tanks (120 g, 90g, 89g),several frag/grow out tanks, macroalgae refugia, cryptic zones. 40+ fish, seahorses, sps,lps,leathers, zoanthidae and non photosynthetic corals.

12/11/2009, 10:04 AM	#13
mitsurs01 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: illinois Posts: 306	How harmful are Planeria Flatworms? I noticed some on the flesh of two of my frogspawns, at least I think they are Planeria Flatworms. I was planning a freshwater dip this weekend and I do have a six line, but how harmful are these to the flesh? Do I need to do something immediately?

12/11/2009, 10:12 AM	#14
Jeremy Blaze Former Reef Addict Join Date: May 2003 Location: New Washington, IN Posts: 5,864	typically they are an eyesore at best. If numbers are large enough they may shade corals they are on, which overtime could lead to problems. __________________ Trust me my friend, the names are not important at all. I've own hundreds of different zoas and palys and don't know the name of a single one. In my opinion, they are a waste of valuable time. Mucho Reef

12/11/2009, 10:19 AM	#15
John Zillmer Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2007 Location: Wisconsin Posts: 375	I've had good results dipping corals like zoas and GSPs in 50/50 SW and RO mix (so, half NSW salinity saltwater). This must be a good friend who is letting you put possibly infested corals in his/her tank. I can't imagine that anything is absolutely 100% reliable at killing flatworms. I agree with the aim of the posters who are recommending you treat the corals in the tank they are in now -- moving the corals isn't going to be too good for them, either, and there's no reason the corals you mention would benefit from MH over sufficient PC lighting. __________________ Maybe there isn't any such thing as normativity -- but there should be. Current Tank Info: 90 g mixed reef, 40 g 'fuge, T5HO, Simplicity 240DC

12/11/2009, 02:00 PM	#16
junio Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Brazil Posts: 94	Flat worm exit active ingredient is levamiloze... a medicine that you can buy in any drugstore (at least here in Brazil). We use it a lot for short baths when moving a coral from a reef to another. We put a quarter of a pill in a plastic bag with the coral and salt water. It does kill anything but the coral, including flatworms, fireworms and even little serpent stars.

12/11/2009, 03:58 PM	#17
agoutihead Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Cleveland, Ohio Posts: 2,720	I was considering a sixline & would love one, but I think in a 12 gallon with a clown, chromis, firefish (on occasion when it wants to come out, which is never) and a clown goby, I think it would get too aggressive? I was highly considering putting a scooter blenny in there in hopes it may eat some of them. I know they eat pods, so I was wondering how they would feel about eating flatworms. What about a 50/50 NSW & RO water mixed with iodine? The zoas are looking really bad. They havent opened for a long time & shriveled up. Trust me, they need MH. You cant even compare PC's being able to grow back a coral like MH's can. I was also considering after removing all of the corals to leaving the rock in there, but just drop everything down to like 1.015 for salinity. What do you guys think of that approach? (remember, FWE is great, but I dont have the luxury of being at the tank that often) __________________ Experience the Liquid Realm...

12/11/2009, 04:25 PM	#18
seafansar Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: Deltona, FL Posts: 1,023	If you're moving everything and they are all zoas and GSP just put them all in fresh water for 10 mins. That's what I did with all my zoas and GSP before putting them into a new tank and I haven't seen any flatworms since. For the SPS, LPS, and liverock I put them in a bucket with about 10 drops of FWE (excessive I know, but I wanted to make sure) and left them there for an hour. I throw out the sand. So far I haven't seen any flatworms. __________________ -Sara Current Tank Info: mixed reef

12/12/2009, 08:45 AM	#19
junio Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: Brazil Posts: 94	I have a six line, an iridis and a rubroventralis wrasses and none of them have ever eaten a FW. Mellanurus wrasse is the most probable FW eater.

12/27/2009, 11:50 AM	#21
VITARTE Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: WESTCHESTER CO., NY Posts: 32	A question for whoever did the flatworm exit treatment. Do you guys turn the flow and skimmer off before the start of treatment or should both be running while treating? I'm a little unsure as the Melevsreef site only mentions the skimmer running. Any help would be really apreciated. Rafo

12/27/2009, 07:42 PM	#22
agoutihead Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2005 Location: Cleveland, Ohio Posts: 2,720	The problem with FWE is that this is a 12 gallon nano... so hooking a HOB filter of any kind is not possible. Its also going to be quite difficult to stop any toxicity issue when the flatworms die. At that point with 12 gallons, I'm going to end up doing a 100% water change at some point just to try and rid the dead FW out. Plus what about all of the flatworms that die inside the live rock? Its a mess and a nightmare any which way you cut it. I'm still debating lowering the salinity to .14 or something, but then I still run the risk of the FW contaminating the water and killing off the fish. Rock and a hard place. __________________ Experience the Liquid Realm...

12/28/2009, 10:06 AM	#24
mitsurs01 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2009 Location: illinois Posts: 306	will a freshwater dip kill everything on the live rock? It did work pretty decent on a frogspawn I had planeria on, and I have a few other that need it. i am getting ready to do a tank upgrade this weekend and would like to get some of the rocks dipped.