Red Planaria strategy, will it work?

[huthain]

So i have an absolute infestation of red planaria almost exclusively in my sump. Majority of the ones in my tank are being eaten i assume as I have only spotted 2 so far, but if theres 2 we all know theres many more we cant see.

Ive read horror stories of flatworm exit killing fish and invertebrates alike and I know most likely that is due to the toxins released by the red planaria. I jave a 55 gallon and my strategy is as follows let me know if it will work.

First thing I want to do is remove all my fish, snails and shrimp from my tank place them in buckets of tank water. My corals will remain in the water however.

Next siphone as much as physically possible. It may be tough as the sump isnt too far off the ground and siphoning may be a pain. Remove my chaeto and all rocks in the sump as they are infested with flatworms too and do a fresh water dip. Next ill turn on the pumps and dose flatworm exit (should I stick to the recommended dose? I see a lot of people going a bit higher). As they start dying ill try to siphon more and use a net to remove. Hopefully we've got them all or most by that time and then start adding carbon 30mins in and leave it for the rest of the day? Do a 40% water change and then add fish back in. I estimate fish will be back in 30mins after carbon and skimmer are running.


Thoughts? Any flaws? Anything I can do better? My key priority is the safety of all live stock.


Im also thinking 3 days later do another dose of flatworm exit followed by a small water change without removing any live stock as I anticipate the numbers to be significantly lower. And possibly repeat this 2 to 3 times.

 

[lapin]

FWE never worked for me.
In my tank my wrasse ate them and I never saw any. In my external fuge they were thick. 2 rounds of FWE at 2x the dose would kill a lot but they came back. The solution was to get a new tank for a fuge and toss the old one with all the old rock, sand and plants. I also replaced tubing in and out of the fuge along with the circulation pump.
Since my sump is in the dark they never multiplied in there.
Me I would replace your sump.
I wish you luck.

 

[huthain]

@Mr. Mojo Rising i know youve done this multiple times what do you think of the above?

 

[Subsea]

FWE never worked for me.
In my tank my wrasse ate them and I never saw any. In my external fuge they were thick. 2 rounds of FWE at 2x the dose would kill a lot but they came back. The solution was to get a new tank for a fuge and toss the old one with all the old rock, sand and plants. I also replaced tubing in and out of the fuge along with the circulation pump.
Since my sump is in the dark they never multiplied in there.
Me I would replace your sump.
I wish you luck.

I am with lapin on this. On my Red Planaria infestation, I removed 30G refugium: bleached with chlorine and left in sun for 2 weeks. At the time, the 75G display was set up for 15 years with a mature biofilter. When flatworms returned, I assumed piping between display & sump was the source. Eventually, flatworms disappeared in display which I attributed to a Melanurus wrasse.