I think i'm going to be sick...flat worm exit might have just nuked my entire 300G tank.

[Sir Chris]

Do you think it could have had anything to do with them being recently being returned from having dipped in Bayer and then the Flatworm exit?

I over dosed on a bayer dip for red bugs and they turned brown and stayed like that for 2 months then what was purple turned green and green went blue. The 3 front acros I dipped. As well as a acro that didn't need it but incase and it died in 3 days. And I went way under what 15 people said. I recently cracked the top off the stag as it wasn't rebuilding on its old skelly so figured it b like a topping on a plant where it splits. But bayer dip screwed my corals and only did 2 min dip and people said 5 mins. the single shots were after the dip

 

[Sir Chris]

I totally loved that middle pic with the stringy PE. Just loved it and it was growing fast. as in the pic new growth at the plug and he fragged it in front of me. was 2 weeks I had it and took that pic. But couldn't take a bayer dip at all. Came back from work and was 1/2 bleached then passed. I have only experienced lose like a wrasse killed my Darwin in front of me. And some corals I did QT right and the alk swing killed em in 24 hours.

 

[Scorpius]

I used FWE once and never again. I only had a minor infestation, but the dying flatworms did damage and melted several of my coral. Scary stuff. Don't sell your stuff and give up. Please don't.

 

[Frop]

to someone driving a car through someone's house (and in turn, their tank. Has happened more than once!)

 

[melev]

You can wash out all your sandbed and reuse the sand. Here's my video on that topic...



And if you put 1/2 cup of carbon (per 50g of water) in a reactor, that will remove any remaining toxins. I saw your test results, sounds like it didn't actually do the A-N-N cycle, or it was one very rapid one. Or perhaps because you pulled the dead livestock so quickly, it never increased the tank's ammonia level.

I'm super sorry to hear about your catastrophic loss.

 

[Bobhowr2005]

Is there a way to get rid of flat worms without using FWE and risk the tragedy this fellow reefer is experiencing?

 

[melev]

Is there a way to get rid of flat worms without using FWE and risk the tragedy this fellow reefer is experiencing?

You can siphon them out by hand. And you can add a few fish to help devour them, but they aren't going to slurp up every last one. They'll just hit the ones that interest them, and the population will continue to grow in volume. Here's my write up: http://www.melevsreef.com/node/651

 

[Robert Scott]

I've already giving my two cents worth. Choice is to go with the medication and take the precautions. Or go with the natural, ie wrasses and live with a lower level of pests and live with it. I decided on the natural approach and has worked out fine.

 

[2Wheelsonly]

Is there a way to get rid of flat worms without using FWE and risk the tragedy this fellow reefer is experiencing?

Here is where I stand on the matter after living through this disaster. First make a contraption from melev's website he posted right before me; sucking into a bucket using a standard siphon just doesn't work as effectively as you're relying on water change/replenishment. Having water circulate through a net without removing it from your system allows more time to concentrate on getting the worms.

Now, in my case I thought I got a majority of them and I knew from reading horror stories in the past that FWE can nuke a tank in a hurry if you have too many flatworms. I did not realize the sheer mass amount I could NOT see that were deep in my rock work. Spend the time removing as much rock as you can, even if it's epoxied/glued into fancy bridges and aquascape. After I cleaned out the dead corals in my tank I was amazed how easily I broke the aquascaping down. If I just spent the time to remove rocks and dip them in FWE solution outside the tank I could have gotten a huge majority of them off my rocks.

If I did that, all my stuff would be alive today and my only pain point would be re-aquascaping without damaging corals. I'd so rather be in that position right now

 

[Robert Scott]

Melev... it appears with an addition of a couple of wrasses the population has come down .. a lot. Before they were all over the and bed and rocks, now, I have to look hard to find them. I wish they were not there at all, but at the present they are not an issue.

 

[melev]

Melev... it appears with an addition of a couple of wrasses the population has come down .. a lot. Before they were all over the and bed and rocks, now, I have to look hard to find them. I wish they were not there at all, but at the present they are not an issue.

Yes, some wrasses help. A few people suggested target mandarins, or blue devil damsels. Some fish may help drop their population, and that's a good thing as long as they are eaten quicker than they reproduce.

 

[Rick.45cal]

Here is where I stand on the matter after living through this disaster. First make a contraption from melev's website he posted right before me; sucking into a bucket using a standard siphon just doesn't work as effectively as you're relying on water change/replenishment. Having water circulate through a net without removing it from your system allows more time to concentrate on getting the worms.

Now, in my case I thought I got a majority of them and I knew from reading horror stories in the past that FWE can nuke a tank in a hurry if you have too many flatworms. I did not realize the sheer mass amount I could NOT see that were deep in my rock work. Spend the time removing as much rock as you can, even if it's epoxied/glued into fancy bridges and aquascape. After I cleaned out the dead corals in my tank I was amazed how easily I broke the aquascaping down. If I just spent the time to remove rocks and dip them in FWE solution outside the tank I could have gotten a huge majority of them off my rocks.

If I did that, all my stuff would be alive today and my only pain point would be re-aquascaping without damaging corals. I'd so rather be in that position right now

I think this strategy while a major improvement over the in tank treatment probably isn't foolproof. I would think you'd probably want to constantly swap out the dip water to prevent an ultra high concentration of toxin accumulating in a smaller volume of water where you are just nuking things as they go in the dip. I had been thinking about this today, and I don't think there is an easy answer. (Obviously).

I have no doubt you will likely save several tanks from a similar fate because of your thread.

 

[Robert Scott]

Would you recommend Flatworm Exit or an alternative approach?

 

[Toomnymods]

I'd get a 6 line wrasse and a melanarus wrasse, siphoning during waterchanges and also employ the use of korallen zucht's Flatworm Stop.. I think the combo of these would get rid of even the worst infestations.
Flatworm Stop doesnt kill the flatworms but instead helps the SPS develop a "non tasty slimecoat" that the flatworms dislike and they end up starving.

 

[Eric Cohen]

Really sorry to read about your loss.....just devastating. I think you're correct in mentioning that catching problems early is the best way to avoid a big crash like this. I've always felt that treating a fish at the first signs of ADR (Aint doin right) gives you the best chance at turning things around. From one fellow biker/reefer to another....sorry for your loss.

 

[MMreef]

I had a VERY similar experience with flatworm exit in my tank. I only dosed about 1/4 of the recommended dosage. My poor purple tang was in really bad shape within 15 minutes of dosing. I thought he was a goner. I pulled him out and put him in fresh saltwater for a short time while I performed a 50% water change. I continued smaller 25% waer changes over the course of a few days. I cleaned out, bleached and ran fresh media in all my reactors, turned my skimmer on let it run for days(I normally don't run my skimmer and 2 stage reactor all day/everyday). Over the course of the next week I was pulling out gravel, cleaning/rinsing it, dipping rocks and corals in freshwater. My 6 year old purple tang managed to pull through, it was a very rough few days for him. He wasn't eating, he was laying on his side on the bottom of the tank. It took a lot of work to get him to eat again, as this is what worried me the most.

I never did fully kill all of the flatworms in that tank and I have since setup a new tank. I did learn that a quick dip in freshwater (rocks/corals) will almost instantly kill red plenaria. I did this with all of my livestock and any rock I re-used (which wasn't much). It's been almost 4 months since adding my livestock to the new tank and thus far my new tank has been completely flatworm free. The bottom of the freshwater dipping buckets were completely covered in flatworms. I was astonished at how many there were. Tens of thousands, all hiding in little nooks and holes in the rock. The amount of dead red flatworms all dying at once, from using flatworm exit, is more then enough to crash a tank on it's own.

 

[scardall]

Is there a way to get rid of flat worms without using FWE and risk the tragedy this fellow reefer is experiencing?

I have treated 2 tanks 3 times each and 2 times were consecutive. no issues. One tank was a reef and the other fish only.

 

[2Wheelsonly]

Well I finally got back to rebuilding my tank, managed to save 4 LPS corals and 2 SPS. I had an amazing purple and green favia that sprung back to life, the thing looked like a dusty grey skeleton and is currently healthier than ever. New fish are doing great and water params are stable, have my first batch of new frags sitting on egg crate along the sandbed. Fingers crossed I remain stable and pest free and that my coral QT keeps it that way.

Thanks everyone for the encouragement to stay in the hobby!

I need to start taking pics of my new aquascape to track progress.

 

[Zack K]

This I awesome to hear. I wish to the best of luck with the rebuild. To make it any better you are going into it with a heck of a lot more knowledge than before AND nice modern equipment

 

[amazongb]

You have an amazing setup!! Glad to hear you're doing fine