Red Planaria toxin

PicassoDan · Sep 18, 2020

I've had a recurring problem with red planaria, and I've treated with Salifert FWE in the past to get rid of 99% of them. I say 99%, because as is often the case, they eventually came back. I've been lax about treating the tank again, and they reached "plague" levels. Concurrently, it seems that corals are being irritated; not by being smothered, but I suspect that as the flatworms die naturally (old age), they are releasing toxin that slowly builds up in the tank over time without some means of export. I should add that I use a skimmer, but no other means of exporting the toxin like carbon or even regular water changes. As of today, SPS is starting to show signs of stress (bleaching tips) and even some LPS like candy coral, duncans, and acans are receding. All other parameters are well in line:

Alk: 8.6-9.0 dKH
Ca: 420-440 ppm
Mg: 1250-1350 ppm

Phosphate (Hanna ULR): .045 ppb
Nitrate: 1-3ppm

Has anyone else experienced this?
Does anyone know what toxin red planaria release? And would it be the kind of compound that builds up in a tank?

I treated the tank last night, did a 10% WC, and started running carbon. I'll post results, but the plan is to not change anything else, in order to confirm the planaria are the problem.

lapin · Sep 18, 2020

A solution to keep the worms in check is a Melanurus wrase if your tank is big enough.

PicassoDan · Sep 18, 2020

Yeah, I should have mentioned tank details. It's a standard 120 connected to a 40gal breeder grow-out and 40gal breeder sump in the basement.

I do have a 6-line (model citizen so far...) and he can't keep up. I'll look into a melanurus - will the 6-line get along with him?

PicassoDan · Sep 21, 2020

So as a warning on Salifert Flatworm Exit; my latest dose did NOT go well.
I know it's been documented before, and Salifert warns of this, but I will repeat the advice here.

Get as many of them out manually as possible, maybe siphon them for a few days before dosing. Once you dose, continue to siphon for an hour or two. I use a siphon that goes down to a filter sock in the sump. After a couple hours start using large amounts of carbon and do a huge water change.

I screwed this up big time. I used a filter bag with about 4 cups of carbon on a 160 gal. system. I also didn't do a water change until ~24 hours later.

I lost about 2/3rds of my SPS. Like $1000+ in frags and a couple very nice small colonies.
I fortunately didn't lose any fish, but my hippo was not happy for a good two days.
LPS were not affected too badly and should pull through.