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View Full Version : How to get rid of this flatworm?


FloridaFishMan
01/15/2006, 11:49 AM
Hi,
I am in the ealry stages of using flatworm exit to remove these flatworms. I have been treating for at least 30 -45min and I still see some crawling on the glass. I am not currently running any carbon or uv. Am I doing something wrong here?
http://reefcentral.com/gallery/data/500/102611DSCN2628-1.JPG

elephen
01/15/2006, 01:00 PM
How long have you been treating so far, I see 30-45 min but just checking. It took a while when I used FWE to kill the remaining few FW's.

FloridaFishMan
01/15/2006, 01:06 PM
It has been now about 1hr and 30min at least. Should I hold off running the carbon for a little while longer? How long did it take for you elephen?

FloridaFishMan
01/15/2006, 01:07 PM
Actually maybe even 2 hrs.

FloridaFishMan
01/15/2006, 01:16 PM
I did a very close observation of my tank and I see some dead ones floating on a small string of slime (1/2 maybe). So some are dying I believe. So why are the ones on the rocks dying but the ones on the glass not?

How long is the FWE safe if the tank?

Paintbug
01/15/2006, 01:24 PM
you need to syphon the dead ones out quickly. they (red flatworms) can give of a small amount of toxins into the tank. if you have a large amount of them it could kill the tank.

i cant help with the FWE. i have never had to use it.

FloridaFishMan
01/15/2006, 01:28 PM
I had a very small infestation. I was taking care of it before it got out of hand. I am currently siphoning them out. Thanks paintbug

fishgeeksrus
01/15/2006, 01:46 PM
keep up the syphoning. When we treated with flatworm exit, we did 3 treatments in 10 days. Every 3rd day the FWE went in and we sucked out as many as we could. We also changed our pump to a stronger one for added water flow. We weren't too sure if the FW eggs (if any) were affected by the FWE. (reason for 3 treatments) Good luck with them.

FloridaFishMan
01/15/2006, 01:59 PM
Were there visable FW left over from the initial treatment? I ask because I see a few live ones on the glass.

Gobie
01/15/2006, 02:12 PM
Get a large six line wrasse they eat flat worms.

FloridaFishMan
01/15/2006, 02:13 PM
I have a six line and he doesn't seem as interested as I heard they are. He may pick at a few but I haven't seen him do it.

Reef'in Colorado
01/15/2006, 04:22 PM
I had success with a six-line wrasse. I didn't feed him, and made him eat those damn flatworms. They never reappeared.

fishgeeksrus
01/15/2006, 04:31 PM
yes, there were some left after the first treatment. we also had a 6 line that didnt care much for the FW

Dubbin1
01/15/2006, 04:31 PM
FloridaFishMan you will also want to siphon out all of the live ones that you can see.

FloridaFishMan
01/15/2006, 04:46 PM
There are not that many in sight. I read melevs page but my infestation was minor compared to his. I had the most concentration in my sump. I did the sump yesterday. Since there wasn't anything expensive in the sump I hit it a little harder than the main. I removed it (it is a ten gallon tank) and let it run for hours. I cleaned all my cheato and cleaned the sand multiple times to siphon any that were hiding in the sand. Needless to say my sump is now cleaner than my main ;). I will do another treatment in a week or less and them maybe repeat it the week after that. Thanks for all your help!
Chris

j0tca
01/15/2006, 04:55 PM
I've cleaned my tank out several time from flatworms.

The keys are to simply keep syphoning off dead ones. I use a filter sock attached to a tube so that I don't syphon off too much water, it goes back into my sump.

Keep syphoning and don't worry about overdosing the exit, when I do it I use about 1.5X the recomendation and have never had any ill effects from the process