FarmerTy Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Well, The flatworms finally caught me after avoiding them for 5 years now. Guess I was stocking my tank a little too quickly with all the lil' frags I was getting from everyone and I must have not dipped a frag properly and now they are introduced to my system. I wanted to see if anybody knew of a local source of Flatworm Exit or if I should go ahead and order one online. Thanks and wish me luck. -Ty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teg Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Well, The flatworms finally caught me after avoiding them for 5 years now. Guess I was stocking my tank a little too quickly with all the lil' frags I was getting from everyone and I must have not dipped a frag properly and now they are introduced to my system. I wanted to see if anybody knew of a local source of Flatworm Exit or if I should go ahead and order one online. Thanks and wish me luck. -Ty try fishy business, I thought I saw it on his shelves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rjohn Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 the biological answer is a 6-line wrasse. Mine is fat and sassy and keeps them in check. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laura Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 the biological answer is a 6-line wrasse. Mine is fat and sassy and keeps them in check. yes...a 6 line works, as well as a mandarin or target goby....you can also dip in Lugols and they fall right off.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimReefer Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 dont let them get out of control, and DONT USE FLATWORM EXIT!!!!!!!!!!!! i did and lost alot of corals and fish. i had them bad when i first started saltwater and used flatworm exit that happened and they still came back 2 days later. i finally pulled out all my rock and fresh water diped it and fresh water rinsed my sand bed and then i got a big yellow coris wrasse and havent seen any since. i had a mandarin and six line when i got flatworms and never seen them eat one (not saying they wont). but i still had a couple after all that and i watched my yellow coris tear them up when i put him in Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Eckreef Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 I recently used flatworm exit with good results... at least as far as getting rid of the flatworms were concerned. I have not seen a flatworm in over a month. Definitely treat them before they get out of control. IME..if you are seeing 50-100 then you have thousands in your tank. Within a minute of treating my tank with Flatworm exit I had a sandstorm of flatworms. I had tried to suction out all that I could see but there were literally thousands hiding in the rock. The dying flatworms release a toxin that is harmful to your tank so wet skim and use carbon and have big water changes ready. flatworm exit is not harmful itself to the tank inhabitants so treat while the numbers are small. I did not lose any fish or softies but did lose most of my SPS frags and my frogspawn is still recovering. I bought it from marine depot. I think aquatek carries it though. Just my experience... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimReefer Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 flatworm exit might work 4 u but i have a 120 and had a HUGE infestation, and it was the dying of all the flatworms that killed my fish/coral, if u use it siphon out everyone u can see before you dose and have as much current in your tank as you can to get the exit into EVERY cranny to get them all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 1, 2010 Author Share Posted February 1, 2010 My plan is to actually remove all of my coral (since most are still just frags because they were all transported from my nanocube), dip them individually, then put them in my new 125-gallon tank for quarantine. Then, bomb the old flatworm infested 60-gallon tank, skim wet, add carbon, and do large water changes like Eckreef suggested. A week later, bomb it again just in case some of those buggers or their larvae survived. Repeat process and then reintroduce all my corals again after a few weeks. I guess it helps to luckily have a 125gallon tank nearby that I can use for quarantine. I one day would like to start selling frags in the Austin community and I would feel quite irresponsible if I could not guarantee that my frags were pest free in every form of the word. I would go the organic route (6-lines and mandarins) but they would only limit the numbers, not eradicate them. Though I guess there is never a 100% guarantee but... I appreciate everyone's input on the flatworms. I'd give everyone +1 on karma points if I could. -Ty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Eckreef Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 Excellent plan! Good luck and God Speed. I have nearly a full bottle of flatworm exit if you would like to borrow it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 1, 2010 Author Share Posted February 1, 2010 Hmmm, borrow with an intent to use it all may go against the definition of "borrowing" itself. I may not have anything left in that bottle for you to have back. If you are done with it, how about I give you a freshly dipped frag instead for it? I'll send you a link of some of my stuff. Thanks for the offer Eckreef! -Ty Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrimReefer Posted February 1, 2010 Share Posted February 1, 2010 a bottle will do 300g 1 time, but good plan, just incase freshwater and a shake will kill them if any straglers are there, good luck, they are a pain in the a** if you let them go for a while Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
don duncan Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 what type of flatworm are you talking about? The little red ones or dare I say the AEFW Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+o0zarkawater Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 I had a pretty bad infestation of the tan/light brown ones in my 55gal. I think mine were common planaria, as I never saw them on anything other than the glass and in one corner they were on the rockwork. I never saw any on the corals. They never harmed anything that I know of, they were just unsightly. http://www.austinreefclub.com/topic/9026-can-anybody-identify-these-things-on-my-glass/page__p__56564entry56564 <-- my thread and peoples suggestions. I took an old siphon wand about 3/4" ID and attached a razor blade to it to scrape/suck out as many as I could off the glass. I would do this weekly with water changes. I also purchased a target goby from Mama. Its been about a month and a half since I first saw them, and now I am hard pressed to find one. I wanted to exhaust the natural options before dosing the tank with chemicals. For me it seemed to work great and I'm glad. Just my 2 cents! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted February 2, 2010 Author Share Posted February 2, 2010 Don, They are the little red one's. I don't have any acropora so the dreaded AEFW may not make it in my tank. :-) I've seen the little red one's take over a tank before so I gonna hit them, and hit them hard before they get any more populated than they are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikedelgado Posted February 2, 2010 Share Posted February 2, 2010 Hey Ty, That mongo green coris wrasse you saw in my tank this weekend ate all of the flatworms,zoa eating nudis and pyramid snails I had in my tank many years ago.I had em all. I got him when he was barely 1"long. I got him and a six line at the same time. The six line ignored the nudis and died after about 3 weeks. The green guy got to work big time and I havent seen any of the three pest listed above since and that was probably 5 years ago. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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