Flat worms?

[hazmat]

Exactly! Now I really don't want to go in the ocean!!! And no apologies because I'm a newbie myself! This is my first SW tank ever. But I have tried to do lots of research.

 

The directions say carbon and I'm assuming it means whatever carbon you normally use in your tank. I use Chemi-pure. And I'm sure it's to absorb the toxins the flatworms give off.

 

So maybe this is TMI but here are the directions verbatem:

 

Flatworm eXit itself is quite safe to fish and invertebrates and is for use against parasitic small flatworms (up to approx. 5mm in size). However, the body fluids of flatworms can be toxic to some reef inhabitants when present in a too high concentration. This body fluid is sometimes excreted when flatworms die.

 

So when you use this product it is important to do the following first:

1)Siphon out as many flatworms as possible.

2)Keep sufficient fresh activated carbon in a canister ready.

3) Turn off UV, ozone, and remove activated carbon. Keep the skimmer turned on.

 

Important remarks:

Below given remarks are a.o. meant to reduce the amount of the flatworms toxic body fluids in the water.

 

Many people have treated their reef tank(s) successfully using Flatworm eXit without any problems. The most important factors are reducing the number of flatworms before commencing with the treatment and reducing the amount of the flatworms body fluids, released when they die, as fast as possible.

 

Do not underestimate the number of flatworms in your system. In a few cases a significant number of flatworms can be hiding in for example crevices. Blow in such and any other potential hiding places water to blow any flatworm out of there. For that purpose you can use a powerhead or a turkey baster. Siphon out those flatworms as well. (1 paragraph deleted here about toxins)

 

Any body fluids released by the dead flatworms in the water has to be reduced further by using about 1 pound of fresh high quality carbon for every 50 gallons. The carbon has to be used in a canister with a sufficient forced water flow.

 

Take sufficient time for treating the tank. That is, do not treat your tank in a hurry. Also, take time to monitor your tank for at least 6 hours after treatment.

 

It is also wise to have at least a 25% water ready for a water change if required.

 

Gives directions on how to dose and says about carbon:

As soon as flatworms start to die commence with the activated carbon to take out any toxic body fluids. Also see the above given important remarks.

 

I hope that helps. So I take it as you remove your carbon (since it will absorb the Flatworm eXit) and treat. As soon as the flatworms start to die put a new carbon packet back in so it will absorb the toxins. And it needs to be where the water will pass thru it so it will absorb the toxins as the water goes thru.

 

Wow! I feel like I'm in high school typing again!! I still got it! Excuse any mis spellings!!

[jennifro]

Wow thanks so much! That was so nice of you to take the time to do that! You saved me a trip to my LFS. I was going to go there tomorrow after work to see if they had it and read the label. I guess in my mind I was thinking that you only had to worry about the toxins from the flatworms if you squished them. And I thought that the FWE was also toxic to the tank and the things in it. I don't know how I missed that the flatworms release the toxins when they die. That makes sense. So it can be scary because who knows how many of them are hiding. And how can you know if you got all the dead ones. Maybe I will keep trying the flashlight trick for a while and see if that will help. I have been so busy this week I was only able to do it that one time. But next week I should be able to do it most nights. And I am hoping that if I can remember to turn the filter off this time it will work better too. I only saw 2 in there today so maybe they aren't too bad yet.

 

On a fun not I found a baby snail in my tank today! I am pretty sure it is just a Collonista Snail but that is fun because I don't have any of those in my tank. I guess I do now! Just when I think I know every creature in there I get a little surprise!

 

Thanks agin for your help in this and all that wonderful info! And your high school typing teacher should be proud!

[Matty1124]

im fighting them again... second time.. i think im going to give in and get FWE... last time i syphoned them out everyday for a month... and they seemed to go away... sadly since then i moved up in tank size... so now there have to be millions of them in there... ill show a pic of how many i got in a 3 min period with my little syphon tool (3/16 ridgid air line connected to soft air line, goes into a filter sock)

 

[jennifro]

Wow! That is REALLY gross! Were all of those on the sides of your tank? Did you ever try the flashlight trick? I just can't decide what to do about mine. I worry that if I don't do the FWE they will get out of control but I worry that if I do, do it there will be a bunch I can't see or get out and they will hurt my tank. I think it would help if I had some kind of syphon other then just my turkey baster. It takes so much water out with each worm. I have been resisting though because other then for flat worms it seems like over kill for my little 6 gal nano cube. Maybe I better start looking into them though before I try FWE. Keep us updated Matty. Man that is a lot of flat worms! I think I can feel them on me!!!

[jennifro]

I posted this thread earlier today

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=154101

 

I asked who had tried FWE and how it went. I thought you guys might be interested if you haven't seen it already. I am feeling much better about using it now. I think I am going to see if my LSF has it when I go there tomorrow.

[Matty1124]

when i had a smaller tank with no refugium i just took air line hose (2 bucks for 10 feet) and put a milk jug on the floor and made a syphon and got all out that i can see witht he air hose... it is maybe 3 gallons an hour so after, 10 min you only have a cup or two of water and the suction is gentle enough just to pull them off... then i took a filter pad and slowly dumped the water through it back into the tank collecting all the flat worms on the filter... do this for a week or so, every day for 10 min, and you will have so few it wont be funny, thats what i did the first time but i left out the last step.... FWE!@!!!

 

 

and those were on my rocks and glass... thats about half of them that i could see

[hazmat]

Good link Jennifro! I'm glad you got responses. That makes me feel better too. And no problem with typing the instructions

 

I am also wondering how many I really have in my tank. I have seen some crawl on the rocks that I can't get with my baster!!! The unknown is scary.

Think of it this way, at 6 gallons it will be easy for you to do the water change.

As far as dosing....after I sucked some up into a cup I put a few drops of FWE in and waited. I expected to see them shrivel up immediatley. Well, they didn't. kept crawling along the bottom. That was 4 drops in a small cup of water. It says to dose 4 drops per gallon!! So I'm not surprised to hear people putting in double the dose. And the bottle is only 10cc! Says it's enough for 80 gallons but I'm thinking not!

 

Keep us informed!!

[jennifro]

Oaky Matty here is a newbie question. How do you get the syphon going through the hose? I think some one said that you just dip the whole hose in the tank and get all the air bubbles out and then just run one end into a bucket? Does that really work? My tank is so small I am not sure it has enough room but it is worth a shot if that is all there is to it. I do have some pretty narrow hose that my LFS gave me for free to try drip acclimation. I never go around to setting that up though so I guess I can try with that. Thank for the advice. In this hobby it is pretty exciting when something is cheap!!! Isn't it bad to pour the water back into the tank though? I read a thread the other day where some one did that and I guess it had the toxins from the flat worms and it was not good! I think I will just top off with some new SW.

 

Wow only half! EEEEEWWWW! I really hope I don't have that many! I am a weenie when it comes to wormy things!

 

Thanks Hazmat! Well water changes for my tank really are easy! The most time consuming part is heating the water. I get my water from my LFS since I need so little. And then I just put it in a bucket with a lid in the bathroom sink. I fill the sink with hot water and wait for it to get up to the right temp and dump it in! I just did a water change the other day. We are going camping this weekend so I think I will wait and try the flashlight trick a few days in a row starting Sunday and then use the FWE. I'll keep you posted!

 

I don't have any that I have seen crawling on my rock and I have only seen one in the sand. It is weird that the 4 drops in the cup didn't do the trick! They must be pretty tough!

[hazmat]

Now when I put them in a cup and add tap water they curl up very fast and die! That is how I know they release the toxin because I saw a little "cloud" coming out of them as they died.

 

And I figure they have to be hiding out somewhere! Do the burrow under the sand? Think about how porous the LR is and I can imagine all the places they can hide! YUCK!!

 

When I do my water changes I have the same issue. Trying to get the temp right. I still do not have it down to an easy exchange. I mix my water. Tried doing it 48 hours in advance and that made algae grow. Then I did it 24 hours in advance and my temp went up to 85 degrees (powerhead helps heat the water). So when I let it cool then the temp went down and it took forever to get it back up again. And I do all this in a 5 gallon paint bucket. Everyone makes it sound like WC's are easy but I find them kind of difficult. I have to have my husband help me every time!

 

As far as the siphon....just suck on the end until the water gets over the top of the tank and that starts the siphon. It won't get anywhere close to your mouth! Of course I'm talking about the distal end

[jennifro]

Thanks Haz but I am not sure I can bring myself to put my mouth on anything connected to my tank. That is what my dad always did to start his with his fW tanks. It always grossed me out! I feel I would be breathing "tank air". I am a little weird I know!

 

I know that everyone says that bigger tanks are easier to maintain. Now maybe it is easier to keep things in balance but I defiantly have it easier when it comes to water changes! It is so great that all I have to do is put the water in my bathroom sink for about 20 minutes.

 

I spent a long time this morning trying to see if there were any flat worms on my LR. I didn't see any anywhere other then on the sides of the tank. I hope this is a good sign. I did see something else though. It was in a little hole in my LR. It stuck 4 little tentacles or antennae out of the hole. When I shined a light into it it pulled them back in. Then stuck them out after a few seconds. The way it moved made me think it has legs. I have a spaghetti worm in my tank. I am pretty sure that was not it. The tentacles were the same sort of white/clear color but they were much shorter. And they moved differently. I don't know what it is but it is fun to find new things!

[Matty1124]

yeah sadly to start a syphon i just suck on the end of the tube... i have done it for years with fresh water and at least salt water tastes like the ocean or i hear some people say that you can just put the in tank end up to a power head and let it push the water through the tube, never works for me but maybe youll have more luck

 

but yeah an air line hose is the way to go to get these guys

 

oh and yeah i have a ton because im working on a 29g display with 20g sump... so i have tons of surface area for them to sun themselvs on

[United_Poseidon]

yeah sadly to start a syphon i just suck on the end of the tube... i have done it for years with fresh water and at least salt water tastes like the ocean or i hear some people say that you can just put the in tank end up to a power head and let it push the water through the tube, never works for me but maybe youll have more luck

 

but yeah an air line hose is the way to go to get these guys

 

oh and yeah i have a ton because im working on a 29g display with 20g sump... so i have tons of surface area for them to sun themselvs on

 

You can start a sphon with out sucking simply by submerging the entire hose until it is full of water, put your thumb over the exit end (and the syphone end if you want), put the exit end in your bucket (without removing the syphone end from the water) and taking you thumb/thumbs off. Only problem would be getting all that hose in the display if you have a lot.

[jennifro]

Thanks guys. I will try the submerging method first! My tanks is so small it might be tough but I should be able to cut is pretty short too so it won't be too much in there.

[jennifro]

I went to my LFS today and got the FWE. I will try it in a few days when we get back from camping. One option the guy at the LFS told me about was a blue velvet nudi...thing that means slug that I don't know how to spell! They had some and they are so cool! They are just a sort of black blob with neon blue around them. They move pretty fast. I guess all they eat is flat worms. I almost bought one but the LFS guy and I both thought that I might not have enough flat worms to sustain one. But Matty I thought you probably have enough. I really wanted one but I don't want it to starve. ANd I haven't researched them yet either. Has any one tried one? Man are cool looking!

 

Here is a link with a picture. I think the ones I saw were about and inch to an inch and a half long.

http://www.saltwaterfish.com/site_11_03/pr...oot_parent_id=4

[jennifro]

Well I did the FWE. I don't know if it worked or not! Here is the link to the other thread I started about it if anyone wants to see.

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=155176

 

I just finished about an hour ago. I am off to go stare at my tank again and make sure everything is okay!