Flatworm - Acoel Planaria

W

we do corals

New Member
i have a 125 reef and its has flat worms super super bad, like everywere you look they are and the some of the rock is basicly coverd with them, ive had them for a few months now and they arent touching my corals or killing them and i have a madine and a 6 line but i guess they can't eat them all. i also used a chemical and dosed the tank 3 times and every time over doesd a little and it didnt do anything.

i dont know what to do anymore, i guess i coudl either wait it out becasue they arnt harming anything, maybe get a couple more 6 lines or madirns and see what happens?

what do you think?

thanks
 
catran

catran

Well-Known Member
Anyone know if the Flatworm Exit will hurt my Cleaner Shrimp? I am going to dip my zoa's in them and I wanted to dose the tank too. I have nudibranch's eating my zoa's (caught a few on them) and I saw an experiment that showed FE worked for nudi's. I just don't want to kill my shrimp....
 
DanSReef

DanSReef

Member
So.... My 29 gal has flatworms....which means my other tanks are likely to have them now too. I think I got them on a coral that I bought from a LFS I normally do not buy from. Much to my chagrin....I am afraid all three tanks will need to be treated. Though in my 72 Bow Front the Royal Grama and Copper Band Butterfly seems to relish anything...and I am sure they will have their way with the flatties.... I hope.

So, I bought Flatworm exit...and I was told that this will kill shrimp and desimate my pod populations. I am curious from those who have been successfull.....did FE destroy your pod populations? What about snails.....etc....? With three tanks.... I guess I can dip... I can do water changes...I would rather treat the tanks...in whole.

Thoughts?
 
catran

catran

Well-Known Member
Doggone! I can't find it around here to do a dip either. Not many places will sell a lot of SW supplies. SW stores are few, and far away! I'll post to corals about my nudi's.
 
DanSReef

DanSReef

Member
So....last night I used Flatworm Exit on my small 8 gal BC and my 72 Gal Bow Front. Yes Indeed....I had an incredible population of flatworms in each tank.

Within moments of the start of the treatment, the flat worms started coming out of every possible place. My 72, where I had only seen a couple of worms....when I started the treatment...those couple turned out to be actually thousands.... I was blown away how many were in there. I used some airline tube and started a siphon into a bucket. I think I ended up removing about 5 gallons of water....and I would say 80-90% of the worms as they became dislodged from the rock and their hiding places. It was quite easy as they almost seemed to be connected by fine threads....and often in mass together on these threads. The siphon just sucked them up....even though it was low volume.

On the 8 gal BC....I was a little fearfull of the impact on the baby saddlebacks. So far, they seem to be ok. I am keeping my fiingers crossed. Again...with this small tank...I had dozens and dozens of flatworms that seemingly came out of no where. It was really amazing. I used the siphon setup and removed probably most if not all of them.

I have one more tank I am going to treat. More of a preventative at this point. My 29 gal I am sure has flatworms as well....since I have moved rock and coral frags from one tank to another. I am going to wait to make sure all the other inhabitants are ok in the other tank before I treat that tank. What I am interested to see is how much of an impact FWE had on my pod population. I have heard some say that it will destroy the population. Others told me not.... My guess is I will have to re-establish a population in all of the tanks.

For those looking for a solution to their Flatworm problems.... I would recommend Flatworm Exit. Thus far it has been brilliant!
 
DanSReef

DanSReef

Member
catran said:
Doggone! I can't find it around here to do a dip either. Not many places will sell a lot of SW supplies. SW stores are few, and far away! I'll post to corals about my nudi's.
Click to expand...


Cat - It did nothing to my cleaner shrimp. Mine is alive an kicking! Also, not sure where in Chicago you are but I have seen it as numerous shops. I bought mine in Buffalo Grove at SeaSchor.
 
D

DEO glass

Member
flatworms are a nasty pest... i had a really bad infestation in my tank a while back... had to go through the whole flatworm exit treatment which was a pain in itself... then i added a six line... he seemed to do pretty good, but i eventually "dipped" all my rock... and all new corals got a nice dip as well.... what a nightmare that was....
 
phantom2991

phantom2991

Active Member
i work in the local pet store here in my town. we unfortuanatly had a flatworm prob as well, but i quarantined the tanks and put signs up stating that nothing in them were for sale that the tanks were being treated. worms are gone, everything is up for sale once more. i think the customers are more likely to trust you and do business with you if you are always as truthful as you can possibly be with them. i refused to sell fish to a man yesterday because his tank had only been set up for a few hours. i got him on the right track and told him to come back when his tank had been cycled.
 
seanalfred1987

seanalfred1987

Member
I got a six line wrasse that loves to eat em. And I used to have a nudibrach problem on my Montipora. I havnt seen a single nudibranch since I put him in the tank. And all the flat worms in my sump must get eaten wen they make it up to the dt. I'm not big on adding chemicals to my tank. I like to go all natural with my solutions. If that doesn't work, then ill try a chemical
 
L

lzrlvr

Member
do your job suck them out remove as much as you can whenever possible,depleting their population may be the only hope.:bump:
 
L

lzrlvr

Member
suck them out and keep doing it whenever you see them. i do it in my 12 gal nano and i have seen a great decrease in their population. i will not use additives to remove them.
 
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