killing flat worms

stedfast82 · May 13, 2011

OK got a job at a pet store just to help out a old timer guy that needs some help.its not for the money cuz he don't pay much but this guy has flat worms what do I treat his tanks with a six line will not help at this point this is the worst I have seen thanks for any help guys

milkman · May 13, 2011

Flat Worm Exit is the only product (or animal) that I have used that works. I have never had any side effects, but I follow the directions and use a cannister filter with carbon to remove the toxin from the dead worms.

NautilusQ · May 13, 2011

Have you tried Flatworm Exit by Salifert?

thewackyreefer · May 13, 2011

+1 for FW exit, used it a few times with no issues. Run carbon, do a WC and you'll be set. Try to suck out as many as you can before hand.

stedfast82 · May 13, 2011

Not yet will do asap I have never had a problem of my own so didn't know even what I was dealing with thanks guys

cparka23 · May 13, 2011

Are you talking about red planaria? fyi, flatworm exit doesn't work on all types of flatworms. I had a mixture of red planaria flatworms when I used it. It worked very well on most of them, but there seemed to be a variety of flatworms on which it only sort of worked, even after several liberal applications. Anyway, give it a try (or a few), then go for another product if you still have a problem.

Advanced Aquarist had an experimental writeup of different chemical treatments. Might be worth a read for you. My LFS recommended melafix marine, which wasn't nearly as effective for me. I ended up taking down my nano because of these things. Good luck to you, though.

stedfast82 · May 13, 2011

Thank all you guys for the help I will take some pictures for an ID on them.man this guy has it bad I was brought in as the guy that knows salt water and I'm trying to help. We all have had are ups and downs this guy is very old school not up to date on anything no RODI no skimmer it makes my skin coal to dump prime in tap water to top off and his helper said why don't we do a water change I said what's the point take old water out and put real bad in this tank has been up for 10 years and the sand bed is dead nothing. Living in it thanks for the help I will try to do the best I can for him

lps1212 · May 13, 2011

There's a thread on this stuff here over at reefcentral its called Bayer advanced complete insect killer this stuff here I believe you can buy at a lowes or homedepot check it out

milkman · May 13, 2011

I think the Bayer Advanced was used on red bugs and AEFW and also only as a coral dip.

If these are the basic red planaria which is most common, then Flatworm Exit is the most proven treatment.

hydroinnovations · May 17, 2011

Please be careful dosing the flatworm exit, when they die they release toxins and you must be prepared for this or you can lose everything in the tank. There are specific instructions that have to be followed to help prevent this. You must siphon out as many as possible first, treat, siphon out the dead ones, and then a large water change. You need to be running fresh carbon to help absorb the toxins as well. Please don't take this lightly, there are many people that lost their enitre tank using flatworm exit. It is no the flatworm exit that is the problem, it is the dying worms. The more severe the infestation the more of a chance this could happen.

The reason why there are so many flatworms (I'm assuming planaria since you can actually see them, AEFW are usually invisible on corals) is because there is food for them. You remove the food source then the flatworms start to die off. I had them in my tank when it was new and I almost took my chances with the flatworm exit but decided no to at the last minute. After a month or so they just dissapeared...I'm still not sure exactly why. Something must have changed in the food chain changed and I assumed they starved. Today I can't find a planaria in my tank if I tried and 6 months ago I had thousands. I think that the tapwater is ultimately to blame supplying food to algae perhaps that is feeding the worms, not sure.

Please do lots of research on flatworm exit before you use it!

stedfast82 · May 17, 2011

Thank you for the help I'm. Thinking I will take the few coral out and dip break down the tank and start over

SaraB · May 17, 2011

If it's a really bad infestation, I'd start by siphoning them out first and also dipping the rocks into FWE in separate bucket before actually dosing the entire system. Better to get them under control first than to nuke the entire system when they start to die from the treatment.