Flatworms :( Treatment Update

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debdp

Premium Member
Okay so I've found a few flatworms in my holding tank... I could only see a few but I'm sure there's more. I removed the few on the glass I saw and then treated with Blue Life Flatworm Control (20g... 4 drops). I left a couple on the glass so I could see what happens since I don't see them on the corals or rocks (yet). Nothing happened, except my tubiporas closed up and the mysids went nuts swimming around. I left the stuff in the tank for 90 minutes and didn't see anything happen. Did a 25% water change, already had carbon running & the skimmer. It did nothing and I see a few here and there on the sand, glass one rock. I checked the new 40g and since I had moved a gorgonian and a few corals into that tank unknowingly I also moved some flatworms. I saw one on the sand so I scooped up about a tablespoon of sand trying to get the one single flatworm. I put the sand into a critter carrier with 12 cups of SW and surprise the one soon became 5 or so as they crawled out of the sand. In that 12 cups of water it took 4 drops of the Flatworm Control to kill them.

At this point I'm unsure how to go about getting rid of them, as 4 drops per 12 cups of SW is a lot of drops to put in a small tank. I can't siphon them or blow them off rocks because I only see maybe a few here or there, and since the substrate in the 20 is a mix of dark sand and white sand and shells it's really hard to see them unless I use a magnifying glass. Even in the 40g I've looked with a magnifying glass and only saw the one on the sand, but ended up with about 5 that were in the sand. I'm just starting to reach that frustration point after redoing my FW because of snails, breaking down the 12g because of major bubble algae issues, redo the frag because of dinos and I thought things were just settling in after clearing up the cyano in the 40 and now this.
 
if you only see a few then I wouldnt worry. They only cause trouble in large numbers.

Also if you want to kill them use salifert flatworm exit.

The best way to remove them is to siphon them out with an airline hose.
 
i noticed i picked up a few off the lil buggers a couple years back on some mushrooms i bought and maria religously siphoned them out with a turkey baster every morning and night until they were no longer visible. i have never seen a single one since. it is my beleif that the hitchhikers dont travel far from their "home" and if you catch them quick enough then you can easily eradicate them in this manner. so if you have seen them on a newly purchased coral, you are probably ok with this, otherwise i too have heard good things about the flatworm exit. be careful though, its like any other treatment, done wrong and it causes more harm than good.
 
Having gone through a battle with flat worms myself I feel the best way to treat is to remove them manually as Wes suggests if there are not that many in your tank. A Sixline Wrasse or Yellow Wrasse also works in many cases, they eat them. Flat Worm Exit works but you need to follow the directions on the box.
 
Thanks guys for the pointers. I thought about a six line, but based on other posts, flatworms may be on the bottom of their munchy list especially in my tank which is LOADED with mysids and brittle stars because they have no predators. And if the sixline ate all those then there would be nothing left to compete for food and I'd probably end up with more flatworms instead of fewer. Because they're so difficult for me to see it's hard to siphon them... the substrate is a mix of black sand, white sand, reddish brown coralline encrusted shells... So the only thing I can think of is maybe the reverse. Set up a couple buckets and a QT tank. Use a minijet to blow them off the rocks/corals in the first bucket. Set up a dip in the second bucket and then put them in the QT. There's not a lot in the 20 and they're all small pieces so it's doable just time consuming. Then with minimal critters treat the tank with Flatworm exit. I'll see how that goes before workng on the 40g. I've only known things to escalate quickly in nanos and I'm thinking if they're under the sand and inside rock crevices where I can't see or get to them, it won't be long before they quickly multiply.
 
Hi,

If you had 5 come out of a tablespoon of sand, then I would say you have a fairly large amount in your tank. You sound like you have a good plan, it's just gonna take a bit of work and I'm sure you will dip everything from now on before it goes into one of your tank's. :lol:

Cheers,
 
Yeah, you'd think someone who is religious about QT fish would be just as smart with frags... :? At least my 24g softie and my softie frag and sps frag tanks are home free and I certainly plan to keep them that way. I ordered a couple days ago from Marine Depot the Tropic Marin dip and Restor and I already have Kent's Lugols. I'll get them Thursday.
 
So I made time yesterday to take care of the tank. I took everything out of the 20g one piece at a time and blew off the coral or rock, dipped it in Tropic Marin Pro Coral Cure for 10-15 minutes, then rinsed in fresh SW and placed into my 10g holding tank which was set up the night before. I left three small rocks: one had a couple black sun corals which seem to be diong well without direct feeding, one had a hitchiker clam. I didn't want to iodine dip them. I treated the tank with the recommended dose (4 drops per 5 gallons=16 drops) Some flatworms started moving around. After 45 minutes not seeing any death I added the recommended dose of 50% (8 drops). I didn't see much happening but started carbon 45 minutes later and did not do a water change. The 40g was a different story. I did not remove any corals mostly because there was no more room in the 10g, but simply treated the whole tank, even though I couldn't see any flatworms. That dose was 32 drops. My Christmas tree worms looked like they were melting so I grabbed that rock out and put in a nearby small container with fresh SW. A couple small flatworms came off of that rock. I started seeing these little dark spots floating in the tank but with the Vortech going I couldn't see them clearly. I did see a couple crawl out from in the sand start squirming around. My Royal Gramma kept running around grabbing stuff out of the water and I"m wondering if he was making a meal out of these dying flatworms. :? My starfish were stunned and looked dead laying in the sand. But otherwise no other reactions. I had started the carbon, but I don't remember how long I waited and did a 25% water change after 45 minutes. I blew off the Porites rock with the Christmas worms again and put them back in the tank.

In the next couple days I'll treat the 10 gallon holding tank with Flatworm Exit, letting the corals rest from the move and the iodine dip. And then rather than putting anything back in the 20 I'll just go ahead and dip them before moving them to either the frag tank or the 40g. And then break down my 20 :cry: Picture of the 10 gallon with corals.

Oh almost forgot, while emptying out the 20 I found this tiny frag laying in the sand. I don't remember having it or ordering it. I have ordered frags and received freebies or I may have bought it and it fell off the disk and got blown under something where I couldn't find it and I've simply forgotten about it. It seems quite healthy just a bit brown from no light. Picture below. Any ideas what it might be?
 
From the pictures that you posted you tank is looking good and it is always nice to find new corals in you tank that is really cool.

Looks like you have everything under control in terms of your FWs. Remember when using flat worm exit to follow the dosing instructions and remove the dying FWs right away as dead ones will release deadly toxins into the tank. You will also need to run carbon about an hour after the application. Also have an ammonia test kit on hand to make sure that you do not get a spike. If you do get a spike use AmQuel on hand to remove it. Also be prepared to make a water change.

The reason I listed the above is so that you can be prepared for anything that could happen while treating and hopefully some of the steps will not be necessary. Keep up posted.
 
I actually used flatworm exit in my sons 12gal nano last night. The flatworms had gotten so bad they were covering up the corals and killing them. They were all over the sand and the sides of the tank. I couldn't catch his 2 gobies so I just put in the drops and waited to see what happened. Within 5 minutes there were dead flatworms everywhere. Used a net to get out what I could and then did a big water change and put a bunch of carbon in. Checked the tank a couple of hours later and both gobies were out and acting normal. Also saw his CBS so I guess the flatworms didn't turn toxic. I did still see a few so I will probably have to repeat the procedure next weekend.
 
That is great news and you may have to treat several more times in order to get all of them. Glad that it worked out for you.
 
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