Treatment of flatworms "Flatworm exit" - pic intensive

[luisgo]

This is a step by step procedure with photos of the treatment of my tank to eliminate flatworms.

A month ago I was looking at some corals and discovered in some of the mushrooms these little animals moving. After looking at some site for identification they resulted to be “Flatworms”.

Here are some photos of the worms in my tank

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/1769/2008080913smh7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/8624/2008080915ssu0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

I started reading and found different opinions as to the course of action for eliminating them from the system. Some proposed just to siphon them and that they will eventually disappear. Others proposed to treat the tank before the population was too large. I noticed that the population was growing in my tank and decided to treat my tank.

The must used product for the eradication of Flatworms is “Flatworm exit” distributed by Salifert. After reading about the experience of users I noticed that the horror stories were related to tank with heavy infestations of the flatworms. Fluids from the dead worms creating toxic reactions mainly on fish. That is why they recommend siphoning out all flatworms on sight.

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/7883/200808097scp1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

After reading various threads I came to the following conclusions:

For an affective treatment it was important to use a dose stronger than the recommended by the manufacturer. For that reason I used 200 drops of flatworm exit on my 125 gallon reef. The recommended dose is 4 drops per 5 gallon.

After 15 minutes of the treatment you can see the worms moving erratically and flowing in the water. As indicated in the instructions you will start seen a lot of worms coming out of the rocks.

It is very important to remove the flatworms from the water after they die to avoid the toxins to get in the water. I used a micron filter in the sump.

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/7126/2008080950slc7.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/7212/2008080925shd5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[luisgo]

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/430/2008080926sex4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/2163/2008080921slx1.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

A Turkey Baster was used to put the worms in suspension in the water.

http://img231.imageshack.us/img231/8572/2008080938svo2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

You have to watch the skimmer because more foam is produced.

http://img379.imageshack.us/img379/8788/2008080962slg4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Once the procedure was finished which takes one hour I started to filter the water with a H.O.T. Magnum filled with carbon and two Polyfilters in the sump. This is to remove the toxins from the water.

The last step is a water change. I changed 30 gallon.

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/4809/2008080910skp2.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

[luisgo]

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/9641/200808091sld4.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

Polyfilters in the sump

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/5464/2008080965sbz5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

HOT Magnum filter in the tank. This photo was three hours after the treatment. All fish were swimming without any lost.

http://img205.imageshack.us/img205/6082/2008080976sgp0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/6656/20080809102sks0.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

After 48 hours I can say that this is an excellent product. I don’t see any flatworm and there was no effect on any of my tank inhabitants. I hope not to see any in the future.

[mdrc]

ya it's a great product and the only horor stories are caused by people not takeing action fast enough after they use the product, but glad to see you had success with it

[bristle]

Most of the flatworm horror stories are those who didn't vacuum sand, blow off rocks or really just do much maintenance in terms of reducing the flatworm population.

Just be careful...I treated for flatworms and a couple days later I saw a few more. I don't know if it's effective on their young/eggs. You'll have to treat again. Haven't seen any since.

[Alaska_Phil]

I just treated my 20 gal for them. This is the second time, I guess a couple survived the first time. I used a stronger than recommended dose this time too. I had a very bad infestation, so I vacuumed all I could find each night for 3 days prior to dosing.

No loss of coral or fish noted. And I'm prepared to do it again this weekend if I see even one of the little buggers.

Phil

[lflint]

I have used Flatworm Exit with great success. They start wriggling around within one minute of adding Flatworm Exit. No loss of invertebrates, coral or fish. I used a good amount of carbon and did a large water change afterward. My tank never looked better!