FLATWORMS and I know where I got em from

Dave & Monica · #1 01/01/2008, 07:03 PM

I can't believe this, I just noticed flat worms in my tank and I installed some plants for the fuge and gave my fish live shrimp - both from Tods just 2 days ago.... everything I belive is closed today but I will take a ride to Petco to see if I can find some flatworm exit.

rkl303 · #2 01/01/2008, 07:25 PM

Doubt you will be able to get them all. I never was able to kill them in my JBJ nanocube w/ F/W Exit even at 4x the recommended dosage.

Dave & Monica · #3 01/01/2008, 07:55 PM

So what did you do? Petco didn't have anything... I'm a sitting duck until tomorrow - It's not bad (yet) in that I used a siphon with a bag to get what I could see, but there are others I can see but can't get too. I they will 100X worse tomorrow when I come home during luch to treat the tank --

DrMilhouse · #4 01/01/2008, 08:19 PM

There's a gobie you can get that will fix those up for you. Natural cure is a whole lot less work. I forget which one it is, but you can do a search for them.

aqua_obs · #5 01/01/2008, 08:20 PM

They are photosynthetic (?) and you could leave the lights off for a while... It might not help the rest of your tank... I don't think they are a big problem unless they are at plague proportions... Doesn't a needle (?) crab eat them?

Zooid · #6 01/01/2008, 08:39 PM

my scooter blennies wiped out my flatworm problem.

FishnWishn · #7 01/01/2008, 08:41 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by aqua_obs
They are photosynthetic (?) and you could leave the lights off for a while... It might not help the rest of your tank... I don't think they are a big problem unless they are at plague proportions... Doesn't a needle (?) crab eat them?

I think you mean Arrow crab and yes they do work to some extent as do six line wrasse. I suspect you have had them in your tank for awhile. It takes more than a couple of days for an infestation. I would not worry about waiting another night. They are mainly an irritant than a plague. FW Exit will also work faster but like rkl303 said you probably will have some that remain. I had FW in my 90 reef and did not do anything but cut back on my feedings to twice a week and they dissapeared over time. My Possum wrasse may have helped. Once the rocks looked brown with FW and today I cannot find one. I am sure they are still there though. If you are still concerned or cannot find any FW Exit, I have a new box that I happened to have bought from Todd's to treat any corals or LR that I add. I live on Smokey Hill & Orchard and could meet you somewhere.

Dave & Monica · #8 01/01/2008, 08:48 PM

http://www.melevsreef.com/id/tbs/flatworms.jpg is a pic and everything I've read says they're nothing but bad news. My wife says she saw the Singapore Angle eat them... I would rather threat them with this http://www.aquariumguys.com/salifert-flatworm-exit.html and be done with em'

Dave & Monica · #9 01/01/2008, 08:55 PM

FishnWishn PM sent

Zooid · #10 01/01/2008, 10:31 PM

Be careful....if you have excessive flatworms that you can see, you probably have even more that you can't see. Get ready for water changes because flatworms are toxic when dying. Have carbon available also.

spstimie · #11 01/01/2008, 11:07 PM

zooid your scooter blenny ate them? nice to know

DrMilhouse · #12 01/01/2008, 11:12 PM

yeah, that's what I used too now that I remember. It was a scooter Blenny. Worked out great, had all of them munched in a few days.

spstimie · #13 01/01/2008, 11:30 PM

wonder if mandarins would eat them too?

DrMilhouse · #14 01/01/2008, 11:32 PM

I had one of those too thinking that he might, but he didn't eat the flatworms.

jgonzz · #15 01/01/2008, 11:59 PM

yellow coris wrasse will eat them.

Dave & Monica · #16 01/02/2008, 12:04 AM

Ok, FishnWishn was cool enough to meet up with me this evening and sell me a new box of FM exit. I read the instructions and did the treatment. We spent the last few hours vacuuming, netting and water changing. I ran the carbon 30 min after and I was surprised on how many came a floatin’. Still, not nearly as bad as I've seen on some of the pics during research. We caught it early from what I can tell and in a few days I blast em' again if I see em'

- Dave

rkl303 · #17 01/02/2008, 12:37 AM

Wow very nice camera.

Too bad Shermans is not still around as thats where I found mine, but I am glad you were able to find some locally.

For mine, I suspect some FW hid from my dosings by hiding in my substrate...but really I would see some adults right after a dosing w/o a carbon/water change and just lived with them. I eventually went to coral only for a while and I suspect thats why they disappeared for a while but now some different ones are in my new tank I've noticed.

<-- X's fingers that you got rid of them.

roguemonk · #18 01/02/2008, 02:47 AM

Be careful getting fish that eat flatworms to make sure they will eat something else your system (or you) can provide after the flatworms are gone...

Brad

hawkfish21 · #19 01/02/2008, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by rkl303
Wow very nice camera.

Too bad Shermans is not still around as thats where I found mine, but I am glad you were able to find some locally.

For mine, I suspect some FW hid from my dosings by hiding in my substrate...but really I would see some adults right after a dosing w/o a carbon/water change and just lived with them. I eventually went to coral only for a while and I suspect thats why they disappeared for a while but now some different ones are in my new tank I've noticed.

<-- X's fingers that you got rid of them.

Shermans is still around! I believe the new store is on 84th & Sheridan.

Zooid · #20 01/02/2008, 09:04 AM

Sherman's is open?

hawkfish21 · #21 01/02/2008, 09:39 AM

As of two weeks ago, they were setting up. It's over by the 7-Eleven on 84th & Sheridan.

spleify · #22 01/02/2008, 10:05 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by rkl303
Doubt you will be able to get them all. I never was able to kill them in my JBJ nanocube w/ F/W Exit even at 4x the recommended dosage.

I just treated yesterday(new years day) and this is exactly what I ended up doing, 4X recommended. I still think there are some in there. That might be a good idea, to to another treatment in a couple of days.

Dragoonsbreath · #23 01/02/2008, 04:53 PM

What about using a Neon Pseudochromis (Pseudochromis aldabraensis).

I added one in my 33L nano reef. There is a love hate love relationship with this fish that you need to be aware of. He will eat your shrimp, but he also keeps my bristle worm population in check. He will constantly hunt. The only shrimp he did not kill in my 33L was the Fire Cleaner Shrimp. He likes to visit the Fire Shrimp and get his scales picked. The other fish in my 33L are a Maroon Clown with three RTBA's and Midas Goby. Neither take any of his crap so they are all ok in the same tank. Make sure you have some aggressive fish in the tank or he will constantly bullie the weaker fish.

I know you dosed the tank but this might be another way to go?

jonthefb · #24 01/02/2008, 06:41 PM

yeah that neon pseudo can be a nasty little fish.

regardless of what fish will eat them, this brings us to a very important point. quarentine, and prophylactically treat. Have a bottle of flatworm exit laying around, and EVERY time you add something to the tank, add a couple of drops of the FWE to the bag while acclimating. We do this at the shop to EVERY new arrival, especially when dealing with hermits, snails, and other benthic critters that have a tendency to hang about where the flatworms live!
Cheers~!
jon

spleify · #25 01/02/2008, 09:35 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by jonthefb
yeah that neon pseudo can be a nasty little fish.

regardless of what fish will eat them, this brings us to a very important point. quarentine, and prophylactically treat. Have a bottle of flatworm exit laying around, and EVERY time you add something to the tank, add a couple of drops of the FWE to the bag while acclimating. We do this at the shop to EVERY new arrival, especially when dealing with hermits, snails, and other benthic critters that have a tendency to hang about where the flatworms live!
Cheers~!
jon

I couldn't agree with you more...now. I made it 5 years before I had a problem. I had heard someone say one time "it is only a matter of time before you have a problem".
I was one of those guys that thought, "oh, that could never happen to me".
Yeah right!

Lesson learned here. Treat everything.

Hope you get you'rs under control Dave, good luck

Spleify