Flatworms

[hdsoftail1065]

I have not had those YET.

I have no idea how we got them, qt fish, dip the corals. Had to come in on the I've rock that we put in back in December. Havent added anything new since February.

 

[Katrina71]

Mind post pics along the way so I can learn?

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Mind post pics along the way so I can learn?

I can do that.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Well I picked everything up today to begin my battle against the aliens that invaded the Biocube. So this is my tool kit of goodies. Similar to the picture @Dsnakes provided. Lowe's didn't carry and ridged tubing like shown on the Melves reef pic, but not everything out there has one purpose. I almost gave up and found a $2.00 toilet fitting that fit the hose perfectly. I will just cut off one end and rig it up. I can always store it for future uses.

This process will actually take longer than I planned. I was gungho when the day started but the flatworms gave me a little surprise. I thought I would go ahead and clean the glass real good then start vacuuming those bad boys out, then when I completed the treatment, removed the worms and done the water change the tank would be off to a clean start. Wrong, they vanished into the rocks and haven't made it back out yet. Just a tip, they vansish quickly hide very well.

I will probably work on the manual removal everyday this week and hit them with the final attack Saturday. The directions tell you to watch the tank for about 6 hours after treatment and removal of the worms. Perfect! 12 pack and a recliner, this is my kind of work! I will keep you updated as this plays out.

 

[Robink]

I had them worse than that. Yellow coris wrasse and kamohara blenny took care of them. Only have a few now. I tried fwe before did not work for me. A melanarus would take care of them all in a short time. I would get one except I have some small shrimp that I like. Had a melanarus before that cleared an entire tank of spaghetti worms and flatworms in a very short time.

 

[HolisticBear]

I had a big outbreak of the regular brown flatworms. I added a small yellow coris wrasse and started daily dosing of KZ Flatworm Stop.

The population was wiped out within a month.

I'm a huge fan of the Yellow Coris Wrasse, everything in my tank benefited from him

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

I would have gone with a scooter blenny.
When mine died , I found out I had red flatworms.

The green spot fixed it.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

I had a big outbreak of the regular brown flatworms. I added a small yellow coris wrasse and started daily dosing of KZ Flatworm Stop.

The population was wiped out within a month.

I'm a huge fan of the Yellow Coris Wrasse, everything in my tank benefited from him

I finally seen a yellow coris wrasse at the lfs', that sure is a nice looking fish. We are tossing around the idea of snagging it up. Any cons?

 

[Dsnakes]

I finally seen a yellow coris wrasse at the lfs', that sure is a nice looking fish. We are tossing around the idea of snagging it up. Any cons?

They are jumpers. If you have a good top, it’s not much of a con.

 

[Katrina71]

Are they friendly with tiny fish?

 

[hdsoftail1065]

They are jumpers. If you have a good top, it’s not much of a con.

Nice, thanks!

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Are they friendly with tiny fish?

One of the websites I just looked at said: They are one of the more docile wrasses in theHalichoeres genus and are model citizens in your tank.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Well I picked everything up today to begin my battle against the aliens that invaded the Biocube. So this is my tool kit of goodies. Similar to the picture @Dsnakes provided. Lowe's didn't carry and ridged tubing like shown on the Melves reef pic, but not everything out there has one purpose. I almost gave up and found a $2.00 toilet fitting that fit the hose perfectly. I will just cut off one end and rig it up. I can always store it for future uses.

This process will actually take longer than I planned. I was gungho when the day started but the flatworms gave me a little surprise. I thought I would go ahead and clean the glass real good then start vacuuming those bad boys out, then when I completed the treatment, removed the worms and done the water change the tank would be off to a clean start. Wrong, they vanished into the rocks and haven't made it back out yet. Just a tip, they vansish quickly hide very well.

I will probably work on the manual removal everyday this week and hit them with the final attack Saturday. The directions tell you to watch the tank for about 6 hours after treatment and removal of the worms. Perfect! 12 pack and a recliner, this is my kind of work! I will keep you updated as this plays out.

So today I assembled the vacuum tool. I thought the filter bag would have been perfect, well not so much. They holes were actually to big. I vacuumed them out with the bag on the end of the hose and placed it in a bucket, I vacuumed what I could see at the time. After I finished I examined the bag and seen a few. Rinsed the bag out and looked in the bucket and had allot more in it. Definitely need something as tight woven as a filler sock for these things. They seem much smaller crawling around in the bucket vs on the glass of the tank.

 

[sfin52]

PetSmart and Petco sell very fine media bags that may work.

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Thank you, I have to pick up dog food tomorrow so I'll check and see what they have.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Very ingenious on vacuum. Known remedy is Flatworm exit by Pohl's and a lunare or melanurus wrasse.

 

[reef lover]

I have a coris and love him. Just dont expect to have many inverts left once hes an adult. Hes eradicated all my feather dusters, mini brittles,bristle worms and other desireable fauna. But hes my bug control so i love him...

 

[hdsoftail1065]

Oh my gosh! I knew we had some flatworms, but I didn't realize how bad the infestation was. I diligently vacuumed every other day since starting this post. I planned on hitting them yesterday but time got away from me, so I hit them with the vacuum and started the dose today. Within 5 minutes they started dropping like flies. 10 minutes there seemed to be 1000's blowing around in the tank. Vacuumed and removed the majority and done a 15% WC. Plan to vacuum more and do another 15 - 20% WC shortly.

Couple of snails dropped, not sure if they died at this point or if they just didn't like the stuff.

100% impressed with this product so far.

Tips if you see a a few in your system then you have allot more hidding in the rocks! Don't assume you only have a few.

I will keep posting as this plays out....off to get some more water!

 

[hdsoftail1065]

We have been vacuuming these little buggers out since we treated. What a day...this was some work and it's only a 32 gallon tank. I can't imagine doing this in a big system.
The RBTA's and BSP are not happy right now. Haven't seen any snails moving, the shrimps and fish seem fine. I just tested the Ammonia and it's still holding at zero. I have my bottle of prime out just in case. Plan to do the second 20% water change in about 1.5 hours. We have our carbon and filter in place.

Now I can take a break and catch up on a little R2R reading and see what all my friends are up to.

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Heres your Flatworm Exit:

Here is mine. Have not seen a single flatworm in the display and I am sure the wrasse is doing its job. Sorry I don’t have a better pic of my sixline