Who has tried Flat Worm Exit?

[jennifro]

I have had a few dark colored flat worms on the sides of my tank. I tried the flash light trick and got about 8 out that way (I usually only see 1 or 2 at a time). Hazmat was nice enough to copy all the directions off the FWE bottle for me so now I know how it works. But I am worried about the flat worms that I can't see. I know there are way more in there then I know about. I can't decide if I should just keep trying the flash light trick and sucking out the ones I can see and hope to keep them under control or if I should just do the FWE and take a chance with the dead ones I can't get out hurting my tank.

 

I would love to hear from people who have used FWE and how it went. And any advice to make it more successful when I do it. I just have a 6 gal. nano-cube. I have been using a turkey baster to suck them out so far but if I use the FWE I think I will get some kind of syphon that will work better and be more efficient. Anything else I should or shouldn't do?

[Gwoardnog]

I put in a dose and a half for my total ~50g. (including sump + refugium). I never bothered sucking any out premtively. I must of had thousands (red variety). When they started dying, I threw in a bag of carbon. I had 12 gallons of pre mixed water changes ready to go (yay used 7g salt buckets). I did staggered water changes a few hours later but I can't say that they were needed. My corals and anemones didn't seem to be bothered at all.

 

Used these instructions http://www.aquariumguys.com/salifert-flatworm-exit.html

[xplicit]

I followed the directions. I sucked most of it out first and used FWE. Started working within minutes. Sucked all the floating ones out and put a bag of cemipure while sucking them out. No harm was done to any livestock.

[yardboy]

I did the FWE treatment some years ago, and I can tell you there were a heck of a lot more than I expected to see. I had been siphoning them for a week and thought they were mostly gone, but there were still thousands. I've also heard more people who had trouble when they didn't use carbon or do water changes, or siphon as many of the dead ones as they could. Do all those things to the best of your ability and I don't think you'll have trouble either.

I had so many the air stunk above the tank. It was really foul, but with WC's, carbon and siphoning, I didn't lose anything (except the flatworms!)

Good Luck!

[jennifro]

Wow thanks for all of the fast responses. I am feeling better about doing it now. When they die do they float? If so can you just skim them out with a net or is a syphon better? before my last water change I blasted my LR pretty good with my turkey baster to see if any came out but I didn't see any even after the water settled. I guess I just shouldn't worry about the unseen ones since they didn't seem to be a problem for any of you. For my little 6 gal tank a 25% WC would just be 1 1/2 gals. Is one WC enough after that or should I do more then one? And if so how often? Of course I will test my water as I do it but what should I watch for in that department. Would the "body juices" at that site called them (that makes me laugh by the way) spike ammonia?

 

Sorry for so many questions. I am a newb!

 

Thanks again everyone! I couldn't do this tank with nano-reef.com!

[nano_regi]

I have used it on my 8g. The first time, i followed the directions and it hardy worked at all. After asking lots of questions on some forums, I quadrupled the dose and it did the trick. FWE has to be used before the problem is really bad. The FWE itself won't hurt your tank, it's the dying FW's....they're toxic. For that reason, it needs to be done sooner than later. I let it si for a few hours then added carbon and did a WC the next day. It took care of my problem.

[jennifro]

Did any one else use more then it said to or wait longer to put the carbon in?

[yardboy]

I doubled the dose and it seemed to kill every one. They do float, but not to the surface, a net might help but lots will fall back to the bottom and will need to be siphoned. I added carbon after a few hours and monitored the behavior of my fish and corals before doing a 20% water change, which I did after 4 hours. They start dying so quickly that I doubt any survive over 4 hours.

[Chutsk10]

I used a double dose however I took out all my LR and put it in a seperate bucket to use the FWE (I had no corals at the time so it was easy) Everythign worked great. If I recall though the directions strictly say not to overdose. . I do think the stuff can be harmful in large quantities but I am not positive.

[bellsofireland]

Flatworm Exit is a good product. Run carbon after using.

[JPF]

Works fast. Follow the instructions carefully.

[jennifro]

Thanks everyone! I will see if my LSF has it when I go there tomorrow. If not I will find it on line and order it. Wish me luck!

[dsoz]

+1!!! I used FWE, had great results. I did exactly what the directions called for, but I think I had to double the dose for it to have full effect.

 

Run carbon and suction the bodies out.

 

No problems with the tank.

 

dsoz

[Monkeyrobb]

I used 1 1/2 dosage and it destroyed the little bastages. My corals looked pissed for a day but everything turned out great. I would recommend this product any day.

[jennifro]

Thanks so much every one! I am going to try it! We are gong camping this weekend so I think starting Sunday night when we get back I will do the flashlight trick for or 4 days in a row to get as many as I can out that way then I'll do the FWE! I feel much better about it all now. It is good to know it worked so well for so many people and that your tanks were all fine after. Wish me luck! I'll let everyone know how it goes next week!

[United_Poseidon]

I just used the Blue Life Flatworm Control last night and it worked great. I used a little more than the specified 2 drops per gallon with no damage to anything (but the flatworms of course). Cheaper that FWE as well.

[snatchbak]

So if i'm currently running chemipure elite, I should remove it while dosing the FWE ? ANd put it back after the water change??