changing over tank/ killing f wormsyour vote

[jayjellyfish1]

my 180 is about to go in to service . my current tank is a 110. i have flatworms . ive read all articals. im sick of siphoning. give me your vote as to what action to take. i will have both tanks up so i can move my fish into the new 180 if i have to dose . the corals im not to worried about i can replace them. the 110 house about 200# of live rock . i will not be reusing the sand from the 110.i can also pull out the rock and place it in large sumps prior to placeing it in the 180 . i just dont want the flat worms in the 180. your suggestions please. thanx jjf

[Reefadict]

I recently moved a 29 into a 50. I had a flatworm problem too so I set up 2 5gal buckets one with fresh water and the other with saltwater that was diluted down to about 1.012 or 1.014. It is said that the flatworm will not tolerate low salt levels and I was also told that the flatworm will die if dipped in fresh water. So first I transfered the live rock but not all at once. I did it over a period of about 2 weeks. Each rock would get a fresh water dip swishing it around for about 5-6 sec. and then putting it in the low saltwater with a powerhead to blow it off. Each piece set in the salt water for about a minute before going into the 50. I repeated this for 2 weeks until all the rock was in the tank. Then I gave it a week to settle and moved all the coral in one swoop. Each coral got a low saltwater dip with the powerhead to blow off any flatworms. It's been almost one month and I still havent seen any flatworm. Been especially watchful of the pieces of rock that they had dominated and still see none.

[CAT]

You could also try flatworm eXit by Salifert. As the toxicity of the dying flatworms seems to be the biggest problem, I would remove the fish, dip the corals in a large bucket with the eXit (following instrutions) then move them to the new tank. You'd be able to dose the rock in the old tank with the eXit without worrying about your animals. As long as you have two tanks going, you have the option of re-dosing if needed.

I too have flatworms and I think that's what I'll be doing down the road.

Good luck

[jayjellyfish1]

you guys are great. i sure would love to have a tank without flatworms.ive been in this hobby now forever it seems like and 4 years ago i never even heard of flatworms you mostly just worried about getting a mantis shrimp in your reef. thanx jjf