Flatworm suggestions!!

[UkrainianReefJunky]

My tank just exploded with flatworms!!!!!!! They are the clear kind. Whats the best way to get rid of them? I heard certain fish....flatworm eXit....nudibranches?

I'm leaning to the flatworm eXit, but want to know if anyone has had good results with it.

Also do mandarins eat flatworms? I know they like pods (which I also have alot of) but what about flatworms?

What about any species of Wrasse?

Any help is appreciated, thanks

[menelaus22]

I have used flatworm exit twice. It worked great both times, but I had to seriously overdose. I used the entire bottle in my 20 gallon. I don't have any fish in my tank, but found that the snails, starfish, and bristle worms were completely stunned during the treatment. About a week later, they all regained composure and were back to normal. Here's what you need to do;

- siphon flatworms out of the tank every day for about a week
- remove the fish from your tank
- dose with flatworm eXit
- begin siphoning dying flatworms out of the tank and into a throw away bucket.
- Dose more exit if they're not ALL dying. Don't be shy.
- Use a powerhead or turkey baster to make sure your water and the treatment is flowing into all the crevices of the rock.
- Begin a massive water change after you're confident all flatworms are melting.
- Run carbon
- Acclimate the fish again

You're going to need to do a water change every other day for at least 2 weeks. I've found the chemical from either the exit or the dying flatworms really knocks out the tank inhabitants and generally makes everyone appear really comatose. If you're able, you might want to keep the fish in another tank for a week.

good luck. it's really not all as hard as it sounds.

[wharyat]

Clear kind? Any pics?

The white flatworms are the good guys; the red and pretty much any color besides white are the "bad" ones.

I've had good experince with FLE, just make sure to follow the directions implicitly if you go that route.

Velvet nudi's will eat them; actually it's the only thing they will eat, so once your out of flatworms they will die of starvation. Usually people pass them throughout the community to clean all the FL infested tanks.

6-line wrass have been known to eat them; but it's around a 50/50 chance that you'll get a 6-line that will go after them.

[menelaus22]

I tried the nudibranch and it was seriously the most amazing creature I've seen. The coloration and way they glide around is just fantastic.

That all lasted for about three days, when he got sucked into a powerhead and was ground into smitherines.

that's when I went nuclear....

[Geoff]

post a pic of the flatworm first before you do anything else. most people get the clear/white ones within the first couple of weeks of adding LR to a system. they will die off with in a few weeks time when their food supply goes away. most likely the red bad flatworms are thier food source.

G~

[UkrainianReefJunky]

Thats the ones I got, the clear/white ones. I've had my LR for a month now and they just got bad the last few days? I don't want to add chems into my tank if I can help it.

I don't see any red ones....what else is their food supply?

Fill me in more on the fact they will die off. I was going to order a blue velvet nudibranch from my LFS.

[Geoff]

just wait it out. a pic would be very helpfull. i tried to search for one, but could not find one.

does it have a white center?

G~

[skilter]

i just added a tonga rock w/ star polyps on it, that was covered in brownish flat worms, all very small with a red dot in the center... are these the bad ones? or will they die off like the white ones have?

i just realized Geoff, in your brew theres an impression of a clover leaf, pretty cool pic.

[skilter]

any word on the brown/red dot flat worms???

[Geoff]

Originally Posted by skilter

i just added a tonga rock w/ star polyps on it, that was covered in brownish flat worms, all very small with a red dot in the center... are these the bad ones? or will they die off like the white ones have?

i just realized Geoff, in your brew theres an impression of a clover leaf, pretty cool pic.

that is an official Guinees from the Guiness Store house in Dublin, Ireland. they pour the shamrock into the head on the top off pour.

those tiny red flatworms are the bad kind.

G~

[skilter]

ok i thought they were... dang, so what do i do to get rid of them???, or will they naturnally die off... i only see a few now, unless they come out at night... but i dont see as many now as i did initially.

[Geoff]

if you have a few, be carefull there tends to me a lot more than at first glance, the best thing would be to use Flatworm eXit. if you have a whole bunch than a velvet nudibranch may be a safer bet, but Flatworm eXit is prolly the better choice anyway.

G~