Matt LeBaron November 27, 2011 November 27, 2011 So my tank has been cursed with a fun flatworm problem that will just not go away. I've tried both AquaVision Aquatics Flatworm Solution and Flatworm Exit, careully following the instructions on each. The third time I even double the recommended dosing but they just keep coming back eventually after a couple of days, sometimes just 2-3. Starting to drive me a bit nuts since I'm having to treat the tank every 2-4 months just to keep them from over running the tank. So thought I would post here to see if anyone had any advice I have not thought of. Right now I'm thinking of buying about 3 bottles of FWE, removing all carbon and turning my skimmer off and doing a double dose and sucking out the dead ones as quickly as I can; do a water change to keep the potential poison in the water to a minimum and then adding more FWE to keep the concentration at double. Thinking of trying to keep the skimmer and carbon off for about a week and just do a couple water changes throughout the week to keep water quality decent without the skimmer or carbon pad I normally run. These things are driving me insane. If this doesn't work I'm thinking of just buying a blue velvet nudibranch and letting him hopefully just keep the infestation at a reasonable level.
F&Fmgr November 27, 2011 November 27, 2011 are your flatworms the red planarian type? if not the medication may not kill them at even 3x the dose might not kill the lil brown ones or the clear ones. unless you have some sort of media or pad pulling some of the med. out, thats all i can think of.
Matt LeBaron November 27, 2011 Author November 27, 2011 Sorry should have specified, they are the red variety and the treatments do kill them, they appear to work fine, the problem is that 2-3 days later they are coming back.
bbyatv November 27, 2011 November 27, 2011 I have had the exact same experience. I finally gave up. There is no way to rid them. You just have to keep them under control. I would recommend trying various wrasses. I have personally witnessed them eat the flatworms right off the glass. I see a couple now and then but they are not a problem at all any more. Good luck, Bruce So my tank has been cursed with a fun flatworm problem that will just not go away. I've tried both AquaVision Aquatics Flatworm Solution and Flatworm Exit, careully following the instructions on each. The third time I even double the recommended dosing but they just keep coming back eventually after a couple of days, sometimes just 2-3. Starting to drive me a bit nuts since I'm having to treat the tank every 2-4 months just to keep them from over running the tank. So thought I would post here to see if anyone had any advice I have not thought of. Right now I'm thinking of buying about 3 bottles of FWE, removing all carbon and turning my skimmer off and doing a double dose and sucking out the dead ones as quickly as I can; do a water change to keep the potential poison in the water to a minimum and then adding more FWE to keep the concentration at double. Thinking of trying to keep the skimmer and carbon off for about a week and just do a couple water changes throughout the week to keep water quality decent without the skimmer or carbon pad I normally run. These things are driving me insane. If this doesn't work I'm thinking of just buying a blue velvet nudibranch and letting him hopefully just keep the infestation at a reasonable level.
zygote2k November 27, 2011 November 27, 2011 I've noticed a trend in WAMAS members tanks- flatworms. I've seen them cover all sorts of corals and substrates but haven't seen them consume any. In tanks with wrasses, there seems to be a lot less of them. I don't think they are really much of an issue though. If they aren't killing anything, why are you trying to eradicate them?
hlem November 27, 2011 November 27, 2011 Not sure if the flatworms I had were different, but flatworm exit worked for me, hasn't seen a single one in about a year. Do you keep dosing couples of days after they you see them dying off, that's what I did.
Jon Lazar November 27, 2011 November 27, 2011 I treat all my new coral additions with FWE whether I can see flatworms or not. I put the coral in a quart-sized container of tank water, and add a several drops of FWE; way more than the recommended dosage. I use this in addition to Revive because Revive doesn't seem to have much effect on flatworms. This won't help your current problem, but it would help limit the spread between our tanks.
Buucca November 27, 2011 November 27, 2011 I've noticed a trend in WAMAS members tanks- flatworms. I've seen them cover all sorts of corals and substrates but haven't seen them consume any. In tanks with wrasses, there seems to be a lot less of them. I don't think they are really much of an issue though. If they aren't killing anything, why are you trying to eradicate them? I agree with zygote2k. I consider them part of my clean up crew as they are very effective scavengers and haven't ever seen them doing any damage to anything alive. Back in the day I used scoop out sand and rinse it in saltwater and pick out the little criiters with tweezers until I learned they were more help then harm.
Buucca November 29, 2011 November 29, 2011 Just saw the pix of the flatworm. I stand corrected, it was the other tank worms I thought we were talking about. http://www.coralscience.org/main/component/content/article/7-front-page/151-flatworms-compete-with-corals-for-zooplankton
Buucca November 29, 2011 November 29, 2011 (edited) http://www.coralscience.org/main/component/content/article/7-front-page/151-flatworms-compete-with-corals-for-zooplankton Edited November 29, 2011 by Buucca
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