Red Planaria flatworm

[TK_KW]

#reefsquad #Reefsquadleaders, @KJ What is the life cycle for this flatworm? Or when can I trasfer hoping i dont move eggs from my QT into display?

Where do they lay eggs? Everywhere? Substarate only? Or can the lay on coral?

I've tried twice now using flatworm exit. Both times i did, it kill a bunch, but even after another 50 percent dose as recommend, some adults still live?

Only thing FWE has done is killed majority and it's really ticked of some lps and sps in my QT tank. But I cant whip them out.

Suggestions?

 

[GoVols]

Bout all that I could dig up.

How to eliminate Flatworms (Red Planaria) | Melev's Reef

Small reddish-rust colored creatures may already be in your tank. Or you may buy a coral and they'll appear as hitchhikers later. They may appear on the glass/acrylic, on the substrate, or on live rock. Due to their extremely thin bodies, they are called flatworms correctly. They appear almost...

www.melevsreef.com

Quotes from Bottom of his article:

"A suggestion by Salifert to determine dosage: If you've been unable to kill them with the recommended dosage after two attempts, try this experiment. Take one gallon of tank water, and add a few flatworms to it. Add one drop of F.E., and stir. Wait and watch to see if it affects the flatworms. If not, add another drop, stir, wait and watch. If necessary, add another drop and stir. Wait 15 minutes each time, until you see the flatworms are obviously distressed. At that point, you'll know exactly how many drops per gallon it will take to kill the flatworms in your system. Keep in mind, higher doses of this product in your reef may cause issues with your livestock. The purpose of this experiment is only to find out just how resistant they are.

Update - With Aggressive Dosing, Be Prepared To Act:

You need to make a concerted effort to siphon out 75% - 85% of the total infestation before dosing your system. The less worms, the less damage basically. Mix up and age some saltwater for a few days, in preparation for a 25% water change. The goal: to remove the toxins the red planaria release as soon as possible.


When you are about to use Flatworm eXit, all filtration should be off for the time being, but leave all the pumps on. No GFO, no biopellets, no skimming, no carbon. Within 15 minutes you'll see them dying. Siphon out all that you can see with airline tubing; they will be visibly active. You'll see some dangling off a weblike thread, and you may see 5, 6 or 7 of them like kites on a string. Siphon these out as they die. After a total of 15 more minutes, start up the canister filter with carbon (1/2 cup of GAC per 50g), and your skimmer. After an hour, do the water change. You can restart the GFO and biopellets therafter.


It may be necessary to re-treat the system to get the last of them a week later. With the bulk of them gone, the second treatment should be easier by comparison."

 

[TK_KW]

Bout all that I could dig up.

How to eliminate Flatworms (Red Planaria) | Melev's Reef

Small reddish-rust colored creatures may already be in your tank. Or you may buy a coral and they'll appear as hitchhikers later. They may appear on the glass/acrylic, on the substrate, or on live rock. Due to their extremely thin bodies, they are called flatworms correctly. They appear almost...

www.melevsreef.com

Quotes from Bottom of his article:

"A suggestion by Salifert to determine dosage: If you've been unable to kill them with the recommended dosage after two attempts, try this experiment. Take one gallon of tank water, and add a few flatworms to it. Add one drop of F.E., and stir. Wait and watch to see if it affects the flatworms. If not, add another drop, stir, wait and watch. If necessary, add another drop and stir. Wait 15 minutes each time, until you see the flatworms are obviously distressed. At that point, you'll know exactly how many drops per gallon it will take to kill the flatworms in your system. Keep in mind, higher doses of this product in your reef may cause issues with your livestock. The purpose of this experiment is only to find out just how resistant they are.

Update - With Aggressive Dosing, Be Prepared To Act:

You need to make a concerted effort to siphon out 75% - 85% of the total infestation before dosing your system. The less worms, the less damage basically. Mix up and age some saltwater for a few days, in preparation for a 25% water change. The goal: to remove the toxins the red planaria release as soon as possible.


When you are about to use Flatworm eXit, all filtration should be off for the time being, but leave all the pumps on. No GFO, no biopellets, no skimming, no carbon. Within 15 minutes you'll see them dying. Siphon out all that you can see with airline tubing; they will be visibly active. You'll see some dangling off a weblike thread, and you may see 5, 6 or 7 of them like kites on a string. Siphon these out as they die. After a total of 15 more minutes, start up the canister filter with carbon (1/2 cup of GAC per 50g), and your skimmer. After an hour, do the water change. You can restart the GFO and biopellets therafter.


It may be necessary to re-treat the system to get the last of them a week later. With the bulk of them gone, the second treatment should be easier by comparison."

Wish somewhere I could find something on there lifecycle, or eggs etc...

I guess I'll have to try that experiment

 

[GlassMunky]

I’ve dosed FWE at strengths of up to 20x recvomended as a dip...
And 5x what they recommend in the QT tank.
Only livestock that’s been effected by the higher dosages was echinoderms

 

[Leadfooted]

Wish somewhere I could find something on there lifecycle, or eggs etc...

I guess I'll have to try that experiment

I think there's a few species or at least one that Flat Worm Exit cannot kill off in our reef systems. I know a few that have used 4 X the dose and still couldn't kill them all. Like your issue, it kills like 90% from what you can see but we know if you still see one.....you bet there's more. My friends are using 6-lines to control them but the 6 lines cannot irradiate all obviously. We were looking for other ways to kill them but haven't had any luck.

 

[GlassMunky]

I think there's a few species or at least one that Flat Worm Exit cannot kill off in our reef systems. I know a few that have used 4 X the dose and still couldn't kill them all. Like your issue, it kills like 90% from what you can see but we know if you still see one.....you bet there's more. My friends are using 6-lines to control them but the 6 lines cannot irradiate all obviously. We were looking for other ways to kill them but haven't had any luck.

I’m almost convinced that the same way antibiotic resistance is built, that overtime these flatworms are becoming resistant to the FWE....

 

[Jeff Jarry reef]

It's aggravating I have used flatworm exit and still had some left. So I just got a malenaruse wrasse and I just sihopn out what I can and let them eat what they can. Still have some not hurting anything

 

[TK_KW]

I think there's a few species or at least one that Flat Worm Exit cannot kill off in our reef systems. I know a few that have used 4 X the dose and still couldn't kill them all. Like your issue, it kills like 90% from what you can see but we know if you still see one.....you bet there's more. My friends are using 6-lines to control them but the 6 lines cannot irradiate all obviously. We were looking for other ways to kill them but haven't had any luck.

Problem is, the QT their in, is coral/invert QT.

In my display tank, I do currently maybe have control, as I have a yellow coris and a melanarus wrasse. And a leapord that's almost done QT and going into display

 

[Pyromofyr]

I'm dealing with this as we speak on a massive scale. Pimafix is what I have been using, and it eliminates the flatworms, no problem. But DO NOT TAKE THEIR TOXINS LIGHTLY! I lost every vertebrate and some invertebrates in my tank the first time because I was treating with Pimafix for something else and did not know it would kill the flatworms. I have since used it to clear my 28g biocube that was so infested, the water literally turned opaque brown from the flatworms dissolving. It has since cleared, and is easy to remove with carbon and water changes. But you absolutely must be prepared, and take all measure to safeguard everything down to snails/crabs etc. None of my corals or anemones seemed to suffer, but I lost all my snails when I did the 28g. I didn't fully treat my DT after the first accident, and they came back with a vengeance, so this time I am preparing a standby tank, so that I can transfer items over after they've been dosed. Also, if left untreated, they absolutely will grow out of control, as they are almost purely photosynthetic.

 

[Leadfooted]

Problem is, the QT their in, is coral/invert QT.

In my display tank, I do currently maybe have control, as I have a yellow coris and a melanarus wrasse. And a leapord that's almost done QT and going into display

Are you worried about the Exit harming the corals? I assure you 100% Exit will not harm your corals (when following instructions correctly), at least at 4 X dose. I'm not sure about your inverts but I don't think they ind either. It's the toxins released by the FW's when they die, that's what you need to remove.

 

[Pyromofyr]

Oh, yea, and seriously, I wouldn't gamble with wrasse. I literally, LITERALLY bought one of EVERY single creature that I had even heard a rumor about. Melanarus, green, mystery, 6 line, even a blue devil damsel. They don't touch the friggen things. My blue velvet was the only one that chowed down, and no where nearly fast enough. Good luck finding one, though. And now I have to catch and relocate a bunch of wrasse so that I can treat the tank without killing them

 

[GlassMunky]

Are you worried about the Exit harming the corals? I assure you 100% Exit will not harm your corals (when following instructions correctly), at least at 4 X dose. I'm not sure about your inverts but I don't think they ind either. It's the toxins released by the FW's when they die, that's what you need to remove.

No, I’m pretty sure he was saying he can’t put a wrasse into the QT for control because the then that would defeat the purpose of QT by introducing a fish into the system.

 

[TK_KW]

Are you worried about the Exit harming the corals? I assure you 100% Exit will not harm your corals (when following instructions correctly), at least at 4 X dose. I'm not sure about your inverts but I don't think they ind either. It's the toxins released by the FW's when they die, that's what you need to remove.

No, I'm just worried about transferring these devils into my DT. I'll have to do the experiment with the one gallon and flat worms to see what happens

 

[TK_KW]

No, I’m pretty sure he was saying he can’t put a wrasse into the QT for control because the then that would defeat the purpose of QT by introducing a fish into the system.

Exaclty

 

[TK_KW]

@GoVols @GlassMunky

I did the one gallon of water to one drip test.

Only after the fifth drop, did the final one of about 40 I had in a pail died.

So literally will 5 drops per gallon to treat. I shouldn't run into any issues?

Seems this strain are resilient like buggers

 

[GoVols]

@GoVols @GlassMunkySo literally will 5 drops per gallon to treat. I shouldn't run into any issues?

I don't know, because I've never had to deal with those boogers.
Might need to do those quick water changes, like Mel says.

#reefsquad #RSL

Is five drops per gallon safe?

 

[andrewkw]

IMO they are becoming flatworm exit resistant. I have used flatworm exit perhaps half a dozen times over the past dozen years and only lately am I having troubles eliminating them. A suggestion that perhaps I should try myself is use another brand. Flatworm Stop by KZ is another option. I was shocked to find a couple in my frag tank after doing about 4x the recommended dose. It did take several weeks for me to spot even one but I didn't add coral in the meantime.

 

[TK_KW]

@GoVols @andrewkw #reefsquad #Reefsquadleaders

So I did experiment with one gallon of water. Added drips on fifteen minute intervals. Looked as though around the 5 drop range they were all dead. I thought I had still seen one move, but was it was still otherwise.

Last night, i dosed flatworm exit at 4.5 drips per gallon. Sps were not have.....I left it in water column for approximately fifty minutes

I then did 50% water change and added fresh carbon. As of right now there are still flatworms in the tank, significantly smaller number. But, doesnt seem to have work?
Sps look good, as do my inverts.

Suggestions?

-Do I just bit the bullet and do aggressive dip, and just start etrasfering coral over to display?
-i need to added these hermits and snails in my QT into my display...but assuming I cant as I'd likely take flatworms over into my DT.
- like where do they actually lay their eggs?
- @andrewkw, you suggested that other product. What is my outcome? Is that an eradication or more coral treatment. As in if I got the product it doesnt help me with the shimp/hermits and snails that need to trasfer over?

I'm at a lose....

 

[GlassMunky]

IMO they are becoming flatworm exit resistant. I have used flatworm exit perhaps half a dozen times over the past dozen years and only lately am I having troubles eliminating them. A suggestion that perhaps I should try myself is use another brand. Flatworm Stop by KZ is another option. I was shocked to find a couple in my frag tank after doing about 4x the recommended dose. It did take several weeks for me to spot even one but I didn't add coral in the meantime.

I was under the assumption that KZ Flatworm stop doesn’t actually effect the flatworms but instead helps the corals better fight them off....

 

[GlassMunky]

@GoVols @andrewkw #reefsquad #Reefsquadleaders

So I did experiment with one gallon of water. Added drips on fifteen minute intervals. Looked as though around the 5 drop range they were all dead. I thought I had still seen one move, but was it was still otherwise.

Last night, i dosed flatworm exit at 4.5 drips per gallon. Sps were not have.....I left it in water column for approximately fifty minutes

I then did 50% water change and added fresh carbon. As of right now there are still flatworms in the tank, significantly smaller number. But, doesnt seem to have work?
Sps look good, as do my inverts.

Suggestions?

-Do I just bit the bullet and do aggressive dip, and just start etrasfering coral over to display?
-i need to added these hermits and snails in my QT into my display...but assuming I cant as I'd likely take flatworms over into my DT.
- like where do they actually lay their eggs?
- @andrewkw, you suggested that other product. What is my outcome? Is that an eradication or more coral treatment. As in if I got the product it doesnt help me with the shimp/hermits and snails that need to trasfer over?

I'm at a lose....

I’d suggest aggressive dipping of everything.
I’m in the same boat as they are in my invert QT, and have snails and crabs that need to be moved over...

I’ll probably over aggresivly dose the tank multiple days in a row prior to moving them, in addition to actually dipping all the snails and crabs in a heavy FWE dip...

About all you really can do in my mind unfortunately.