ZeoVit Flatworm Stop OR not so stop!

[NanoTopia]

Now I am doubling the dose of FWS daily (2mL) with no adverse effects. Corals seem to be responding quite well.

 

A. valida, as I have recently found out seems to be one of AEFW's favourite acroporas in which to feed. I support this finding based on the rapid loss of my A. valida colony (no longer in my reef). This colony seemed to be the strongest hit in my reef. I have a purple A. valida frag from a different colony that is also being hit pretty bad now. The frag has only been in my tank a short while and has not been exposed to FWS for very long, which explains it's infestation and what looks like the beginnings of a rapid decline. I see tissue loss but no eggs at this time.

 

Other corals in the tank are stable and one A. millepora is showing signs of recovery. This coral I believe, along with the A. valida colony from a Bali mariculture, may have brought the AEFW into my tank as they were introduced at the same time. They have both been in the tank for ~8 months and exposed to FWS since the beginning of dosing, May 2012.

[albertthiel]

The name "Flatworm Stop" is a bit misleading IMO. If I marketed a product and called it "Common Cold Stop", I would expect that it would stop me from getting a cold or stop a cold instantly. The product should have been called "Acropora Tissue Strengthener" , but a name like that would not sell the product.

 

Here's a link to a post on my thread on AEFW FWIW

 

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/index.php?...t&p=4036401

[albertthiel]

Now I am doubling the dose of FWS daily (2mL) with no adverse effects. Corals seem to be responding quite well.

 

A. valida, as I have recently found out seems to be one of AEFW's favourite acroporas in which to feed. I support this finding based on the rapid loss of my A. valida colony (no longer in my reef). This colony seemed to be the strongest hit in my reef. I have a purple A. valida frag from a different colony that is also being hit pretty bad now. The frag has only been in my tank a short while and has not been exposed to FWS for very long, which explains it's infestation and what looks like the beginnings of a rapid decline. I see tissue loss but no eggs at this time.

 

Other corals in the tank are stable and one A. millepora is showing signs of recovery. This coral I believe, along with the A. valida colony from a Bali mariculture, may have brought the AEFW into my tank as they were introduced at the same time. They have both been in the tank for ~8 months and exposed to FWS since the beginning of dosing, May 2012.

 

Check this one for treating it ... still have not found that info on the fish

 

http://aquariumcoraldiseases.weebly.com/ac...atworm-aef.html

[NanoTopia]

Albert,

 

Thanks for all the links

 

I spent considerable time reading through a thread on Reef Central, some 35 pages or so. I'm not fully through as it dates from 2006 -2010. "Melev" of Melevsreef started the thread on AEFW's and there is quite a discussion regarding identification and treatments etc. It is quite a resource for learning what works and what doesn't for a cure. Of course now we have even more information and possible treatments like Zeovit Flat Worm Stop, but I feel we have quite a way to go in regards to treatments of this highly specialized predator. Just identifying you have AEFW's is a challenge in itself.

 

I think this thread and threads like it will be a valuable asset in the future as I still believe this pest will become even more prevalent in reef aquaria in the future.

 

Thanks for your help and input Albert

 

Christine

[albertthiel]

Albert,

 

Thanks for all the links

 

I spent considerable time reading through a thread on Reef Central, some 35 pages or so. I'm not fully through as it dates from 2006 -2010. "Melev" of Melevsreef started the thread on AEFW's and there is quite a discussion regarding identification and treatments etc. It is quite a resource for learning what works and what doesn't for a cure. Of course now we have even more information and possible treatments like Zeovit Flat Worm Stop, but I feel we have quite a way to go in regards to treatments of this highly specialized predator. Just identifying you have AEFW's is a challenge in itself.

 

I think this thread and threads like it will be a valuable asset in the future as I still believe this pest will become even more prevalent in reef aquaria in the future.

 

Thanks for your help and input Albert

 

Christine

 

Yes I fully agree and it reinforces the need for all who get acropora and other corals to make sure that they carefully look at them, and treat them in some manner, using one of the many methods, to ensure that if any AEFW are present on what they purchased, is gone and not introduced in the aquarium.

 

As you say, this is indeed going to be more of a common experience that hobbyists will have as this flatworm seems to be spreading more and more and not just to Acropora spp.

 

Hopefully you found what you needed and if I find any other articles that are of interest, I will post them to my thread, and I know you check that one, so you should see them when I do post them

 

Today I posted a number of articles on other diseases and I believe they are now on the page before the last one .

[Seamonkey84]

I am extremely pleased with trying flatworm stop and k balance. At least in my case it stopped stn (which continued after dipping and I got parameters back in check), and after just about three weeks of dosing, color is almost back to normal and PE is insane! Growth has also resumed, as I see a ridge encrusting over what was just bare skeleton on some of my worst off acros that were still hanging in there.

 

However, I'm not sure if I had aefw, as I couldn't find any evidence of them after sifting through what came off in the dip or on the coral, even under 10X magnification. But my acros were all losing color, and stn from the base up. I had at the time been using seachem phosguard instead of chemi pure elite, and also changed from regular instant ocean over to reef crystals (stupid me didn't test and adjust my dosing after switch, i think the cal went up too much so Alk went down). So double wammy and paranoid that I had aefw, I dipped everything, and did several 50% changes to pull out the aluminum that the phosguard may have leeched.

I read that this product strengthened the corals, and re-colors them, so I figured even if I don't have aefw, it would be good to try.

so in my case, after seeing my mini colonies go one at a time all summer, it was worth every penny to save the remaing (and my favorite) acros.

[NanoTopia]

I am extremely pleased with trying flatworm stop and k balance. At least in my case it stopped stn (which continued after dipping and I got parameters back in check), and after just about three weeks of dosing, color is almost back to normal and PE is insane! Growth has also resumed, as I see a ridge encrusting over what was just bare skeleton on some of my worst off acros that were still hanging in there.

 

However, I'm not sure if I had aefw, as I couldn't find any evidence of them after sifting through what came off in the dip or on the coral, even under 10X magnification. But my acros were all losing color, and stn from the base up. I had at the time been using seachem phosguard instead of chemi pure elite, and also changed from regular instant ocean over to reef crystals (stupid me didn't test and adjust my dosing after switch, i think the cal went up too much so Alk went down). So double wammy and paranoid that I had aefw, I dipped everything, and did several 50% changes to pull out the aluminum that the phosguard may have leeched.

I read that this product strengthened the corals, and re-colors them, so I figured even if I don't have aefw, it would be good to try.

so in my case, after seeing my mini colonies go one at a time all summer, it was worth every penny to save the remaing (and my favorite) acros.

 

This is a very hard pest to identify in many cases. Newly hatched AEFW are 300um in size roughly, and clear. In numbers they can stress a coral enough to cause STN, along with gradual tissue lightening. However, there are other factors that can cause these signs on acropora corals. To positively identify this pest requires a diagnosis based on more than one factor in some cases. In other cases it is quite obvious AEFW are present, usually when they are of mature size and they are laying eggs, and their bit marks are large enough to be see with the naked eye.

 

Zeovit FWS requires an extended dosing period to be effective against AEFW's, if at all. It is not a medication. It is designed to increase the slime surface on the coral making it undesirable to AEFW's. However, I speculate that it may just be strengthening the coral tissue so that it can recover at a faster rate than the AEFW's can feed. In essence providing more food for the flat worm. Corals look like they are recovering to the eye but the worms are still present. I am not sure this is the case but I do know acropora tissue on many species is improved, but not on some species in my tank. A. valida and A. millepora are among several acropora species greatly affected by AEFW's, they seem to be the hardest hit, and FWS seems to be least effective on those species in my tank. Coincidence, I'm not sure. What I am sure of to date is that dipping and basting corals, even in the absence of FWS seems to be most effective in controlling infestation, along with manual removal of egg masses. FWS by itself did nothing to save my A.valida in the course of 4 months daily dosing. AEFW's killed it regardless. I am not fully convinced FWS is effective on all species of Acropora to ward off AEFW's. It may have other benefits that make it worthy of dosing, but without physical removal of the coral, dipping, basting, and egg removal, I do not see FWS "stopping AEFW's", maybe at best slowing them down a little.

[albertthiel]

This is a very hard pest to identify in many cases. Newly hatched AEFW are 300um in size roughly, and clear. In numbers they can stress a coral enough to cause STN, along with gradual tissue lightening. However, there are other factors that can cause these signs on acropora corals. To positively identify this pest requires a diagnosis based on more than one factor in some cases. In other cases it is quite obvious AEFW are present, usually when they are of mature size and they are laying eggs, and their bit marks are large enough to be see with the naked eye.

 

And as you pointed out, free floating ones can be removed, and maybe egg masses on the corals but the ones that fall off and then reproduce will still be in the tank, giving rise to re-infections and attacks by the new ones that eventually settle on the corals, and one is then back to starting all over after the eggs have hatched and have produced new flatworms that re-attack the corals and as you pointed out that could take 28 or more days, giving the hobbyist the impression that they have cured it, until the re-infestation starts after a few weeks getting the hobbyist to wonder where those came from since they thought they had it under control.

 

I left the portion on Zeovit out as I have not used it and so cannot comment on its effectiveness but you have the experience with it and yes it apparently works slowly and may not eradicate them but just strengthen the coral tissue wise and that may not stop the damage once the new ones embed themselves in the coral tissue and start feeding again

 

FWIW

[SCreefer]

I'm in a little rush, so I have not read everything posted and apologize if I'm just repeating what's already been said. I have had a bit of experience with flat worms because I did not know what they where until it was too late. First let me say they are not really a problem as long as they don't die. I've seen quite a few tanks that people just live with them in. I was not really ok with that.

My experience is with blue life flatworm control and I think the other one was salifert flatworm-x, but I did not really notice the difference. First you really do want to get as many of the worms out of your tank as you can. It is worth it to put a flash light on the side of the tank at night to make a spot light that they will move toward so you can suck them out and maybe even black out your tank for a day if you have a lot of them. Once you are ready to treat go for it. Don't be shy because they will adapt to the treatments, so it's better to do higher levels of treatment than lower levels. I used about 10X the recommended levels. That being said it's the duration of the treatment and flow that's really important. It seems the worms can make a slime coat that will protect them if they are not in a high flow area. You will see the worms start to crawl fast and then they will fall off the rocks when they start to get close to dieing. I don't know what happens to them. I've never seen one melt or actually die, but they will start to float all around in your tank. Don't freak out yet. Start testing at this point. You're phos is going to spike depending on how many of them there are so you really want to suck them out, but you want to wait as long as you can because if they make it through it will be harder to treat next time. I've treated a few tanks this way. One of them I did not get enough flat worms out and it was hell. The tank cycled, I lost a bit of stuff and it's taken 6months to get it back to being ok. I then did a lot of work on my other tank as far as cleaning them and moving things out of the tank to be safe and I never had a spike or any problems when I treated that tank. I even left the treatment all day (14hrs) with no spike. I'd say it's all about how you prep for the treatment. If you don't prep a lot and you just go for it with a lot of worms it's not going to be good, but it's really not as big a threat if you do the work to get ready for the treatment...

Well that turned into a long reply for being in a rush I'll come back and read everyone's post latter tonight when I have some time.

Good luck.

 

Sorry I'm talking about the little red flat worm Planaria. Please ignore this post.

[NanoTopia]

SCreefer,

 

Thanks for your post here, I am not convinced you have had an experience with Acropora Eating Flat Worms as your description with it does not fit a typical pattern. The product ZEOVit Flatworm Stop, is intended for treatment of AEFW only. There are many species of flat worms that can inhabit reef aquaria and treatments do vary.

 

Please read some of the links provided on this thread to help you identify if you have/had AEFW.

 

Also if you have AEFW and you are using a product entitled, Salifert Flatworm Exit. As this product is not deemed effective for AEFW.

 

Regards,

 

Christine

[SCreefer]

Ya, that's what you get for replying with out reading . You're right, I'm referring to the red flat worm Planaria. Sorry.

 

SCreefer,

 

Thanks for your post here, I am not convinced you have had an experience with Acropora Eating Flat Worms as your description with it does not fit a typical pattern. The product ZEOVit Flatworm Stop, is intended for treatment of AEFW only. There are many species of flat worms that can inhabit reef aquaria and treatments do vary.

 

Please read some of the links provided on this thread to help you identify if you have/had AEFW.

 

Also if you have AEFW and you are using a product entitled, Salifert Flatworm Exit. As this product is not deemed effective for AEFW.

 

Regards,

 

Christine

[NanoTopia]

No problem at all

[NanoTopia]

Update:

 

I am still dosing Zeovit Flatworm Stop daily along with the recommended Coral Booster. I have reduced dosage from 2mL/25gallons to 1mL/25gallons as I was getting a brown film on my pumps and glass. The reduction seems to be helping reduce the film.

 

I think I have the AEFW's under control now but maybe not gone entirely from the system. I have purchased some new Acropora mini colonies recently, dipped them a few times already, watching them closely.

 

Zeovit Flatworm Stop has been out on the market for almost a year and some people are starting to report their experiences with the product on various forums. I am seeing an increasing number of people saying the product has helped them reduce or eliminate AEFW. These accounts are anecdotal but are positive nonetheless. All of these cases were from long term FWS users, as the product is in no way a "quick fix".

 

I believe if you have invested the majority of your money on SPS live stock in your tank, you should have a look at this product, regardless if your corals show signs of AEFW or not. This product takes 3+ months to be effective at all, if it is indeed effective.

[albertthiel]

Update:

 

I am still dosing Zeovit Flatworm Stop daily along with the recommended Coral Booster. I have reduced dosage from 2mL/25gallons to 1mL/25gallons as I was getting a brown film on my pumps and glass. The reduction seems to be helping reduce the film.

 

I think I have the AEFW's under control now but maybe not gone entirely from the system. I have purchased some new Acropora mini colonies recently, dipped them a few times already, watching them closely.

 

Zeovit Flatworm Stop has been out on the market for almost a year and some people are starting to report their experiences with the product on various forums. I am seeing an increasing number of people saying the product has helped them reduce or eliminate AEFW. These accounts are anecdotal but are positive nonetheless. All of these cases were from long term FWS users, as the product is in no way a "quick fix".

 

I believe if you have invested the majority of your money on SPS live stock in your tank, you should have a look at this product, regardless if your corals show signs of AEFW or not. This product takes 3+ months to be effective at all, if it is indeed effective.

 

Thanks Christine for the update, and I hope you do have them under control/ eliminated .. there is so little real info available on them that it is hard to tell how to figure out whether they are "out" of the system or not.

 

I hope that in your case they are.

 

Now on your statement in the last line : "if it is indeed effective" ... does that mean that you are not sure that it is or is this based on posts of those who have used it but found that when they added SPS corals after say 3 or more months that a reinfection occurred ?

 

Just wondering about that statement (and yes I know their are no absolutes in most cases)

[NanoTopia]

Thanks Christine for the update, and I hope you do have them under control/ eliminated .. there is so little real info available on them that it is hard to tell how to figure out whether they are "out" of the system or not.

 

I hope that in your case they are.

 

Now on your statement in the last line : "if it is indeed effective" ... does that mean that you are not sure that it is or is this based on posts of those who have used it but found that when they added SPS corals after say 3 or more months that a reinfection occurred ?

 

Just wondering about that statement (and yes I know their are no absolutes in most cases)

 

All accounts are anecdotal, there may have been other things at play that contributed to a reduction of AEFW's. No scientific study has been done on this product. I have read that the product is working quite well for some, and others not the case. But there are so many variables to consider:

 

-There is also the possibility of different species of AEFW, FWS may be more effective on some species if that is the case.

 

-Some people baste corals in the display aquarium, this only spreads them to other corals they land on and like to eat. Not a recommended practice IMO.

 

-Dipping and basting in a separate tank weekly seems to be most effective. Not everyone is doing this properly or at all.

 

-Types of corals in the tank. Different corals seem to be effected differently. We know that AEFW seems to like certain species of Acropora more than others.

 

-When treatment began. The stage at which AEFW was discovered plays a big role in recovery. It only makes sense that if the AEFW was discovered late, the damage my be unrepairable. The Acro is very weak and my not be able to respond to treatment effectively.

 

I could go on Albert but I think I made my point. All tanks and situations are different so it's really hard to compare them all. I think the ones that have claimed success with Zeovit Flatworm Stop were in a better situation from the start than others who have claimed no success.

 

I will say that Zeovit Flatworm Stop is no miracle product. It looks to me, in my experience with it, to be helpful if dosed for 3+ months consistently, and indefinitely. Even with this, it is possible to introduce AEFW to your tank. A combination of treatments, including FWS, is the only known effective way to beating this worm. I would not rely on this product solely to eradicate AEFW, you will loose all your Acropora coral in time.

 

Christine

[albertthiel]

All accounts are anecdotal, there may have been other things at play that contributed to a reduction of AEFW's. No scientific study has been done on this product. I have read that the product is working quite well for some, and others not the case. But there are so many variables to consider:

 

-There is also the possibility of different species of AEFW, FWS may be more effective on some species if that is the case.

 

-Some people baste corals in the display aquarium, this only spreads them to other corals they land on and like to eat. Not a recommended practice IMO.

 

-Dipping and basting in a separate tank weekly seems to be most effective. Not everyone is doing this properly or at all.

 

-Types of corals in the tank. Different corals seem to be effected differently. We know that AEFW seems to like certain species of Acropora more than others.

 

-When treatment began. The stage at which AEFW was discovered plays a big role in recovery. It only makes sense that if the AEFW was discovered late, the damage my be unrepairable. The Acro is very weak and my not be able to respond to treatment effectively.

 

I could go on Albert but I think I made my point. All tanks and situations are different so it's really hard to compare them all. I think the ones that have claimed success with Zeovit Flatworm Stop were in a better situation from the start than others who have claimed no success.

 

I will say that Zeovit Flatworm Stop is no miracle product. It looks to me, in my experience with it, to be helpful if dosed for 3+ months consistently, and indefinitely. Even with this, it is possible to introduce AEFW to your tank. A combination of treatments, including FWS, is the only known effective way to beating this worm. I would not rely on this product solely to eradicate AEFW, you will loose all your Acropora coral in time.

 

Christine

 

Thanks Christine for this very exhaustive listing as an answer to my question ...

 

And yes I agree that tank conditions will have an impact and also at what stage the intervention begins as it may indeed be too late for some to get them to regenerate healthy tissue.

[NanoTopia]

Well i guess the folks at Korallenzucht in Germany finally agreed with me and quite a few others that the description of the product, Flatworm Stop, needed to be corrected in order not to mislead reefers into thinking the flatworms would some how just "stop" when the product is dosed as directed.

 

Korallenzucht / Zeovit has change there bottle description to now read:

 

"Flatworm Stop strengthens all kind of corals and reduces flatworms which attack certain acropora species."

 

Recently changed NEW bottle label (photo courtesy ©Bigbuckdown)

 

 

The bottles initially stated:

 

"Effective help to get rid of tissue eating flatworms on Acropora corals."

 

The website has not been changed as of this post but I am sure it will also reflect the companies new description of there once touted answer to AEFW's.

 

OLD Bottle label as it currently appears on the Zeovit web site

[Xanthi]

Seems like the company or someone else needs to host a test on the matter.

[albertthiel]

Well i guess the folks at Korallenzucht in Germany finally agreed with me and quite a few others that the description of the product, Flatworm Stop, needed to be corrected in order not to mislead reefers into thinking the flatworms would some how just "stop" when the product is dosed as directed.

 

Korallenzucht / Zeovit has change there bottle description to now read:

 

"Flatworm Stop strengthens all kind of corals and reduces flatworms which attack certain acropora species."

 

Recently changed NEW bottle label (photo courtesy ©Bigbuckdown)

The bottles initially stated:

 

"Effective help to get rid of tissue eating flatworms on Acropora corals."

 

The website has not been changed as of this post but I am sure it will also reflect the companies new description of there once touted answer to AEFW's.

 

OLD Bottle label as it currently appears on the Zeovit web site

 

That is quite something indeed ... and hopefully they will indeed change the label and the description

 

Nice work on help getting that to happen !

[NanoTopia]

Seems like the company or someone else needs to host a test on the matter.

 

Yes I agree, but the complexity of such a task makes it likely it wont happen.

 

 

That is quite something indeed ... and hopefully they will indeed change the label and the description

 

Nice work on help getting that to happen !

 

Not sure it was me that made this happen Albert, there were a number of suggestions on the Korallenzucht sponsor thread on the Zeovit site. Thomas Pohl never responded but likely did read what people had to say about FWS. There is a translation issue with the company which likely lead to the confusion over what the product was intended to do. Interpretation of the written marketing of this product lead many people in North America (and there others) to believe flatworms would simply stop when the product was dosed for 3 months. They do not, and now Thomas Pohl has changed the description of what the product will do.

 

I have been dosing this product for 6 months and I still have flatworms, and from what others are saying, once you have them it's almost impossible to eradicate them without drastic measures. All Acropora spp. corals need to be removed from the display and treated for months in a separate tank. This means ripping your reef apart and setting up another tank capable of maintaining SPS corals. For many people I would consider this drastic, making it cheaper to just discard the corals, wait 6 months then start adding new Acropora slowly.

 

I said it before Albert, the person who invents a simple one step cure for AEFW is going to get rich, and I will be more than happy to contribute to their wealth

[albertthiel]

Yes I agree, but the complexity of such a task makes it likely it wont happen.

Not sure it was me that made this happen Albert, there were a number of suggestions on the Korallenzucht sponsor thread on the Zeovit site. Thomas Pohl never responded but likely did read what people had to say about FWS. There is a translation issue with the company which likely lead to the confusion over what the product was intended to do. Interpretation of the written marketing of this product lead many people in North America (and there others) to believe flatworms would simply stop when the product was dosed for 3 months. They do not, and now Thomas Pohl has changed the description of what the product will do.

 

I have been dosing this product for 6 months and I still have flatworms, and from what others are saying, once you have them it's almost impossible to eradicate them without drastic measures. All Acropora spp. corals need to be removed from the display and treated for months in a separate tank. This means ripping your reef apart and setting up another tank capable of maintaining SPS corals. For many people I would consider this drastic, making it cheaper to just discard the corals, wait 6 months then start adding new Acropora slowly.

 

I said it before Albert, the person who invents a simple one step cure for AEFW is going to get rich, and I will be more than happy to contribute to their wealth

 

Wow what a story .. odd because the Germans are usually very careful about all of that (I should know, I worked with Dupla from Germany for years and years and everything we did and wrote had to be checked and re-checked etc.) so the translation issue is a bit hard to accept, but so be it.

 

To me it seems that the product should be withdrawn as it does not kill the flatworms obviously, maybe it keeps them in check (not sure) but based on what you say it does not kill them.

 

And yes I agree anyone who comes up with a cure for AEFW will get rich real soon, of course with how it goes in this industry other manufacturers will reverse engineer it and come out with their own products, as happened for several that I brought out when Thiel Aqua Tech was still in operation. Several of the ones I developed got copied within months of us releasing them :-( but c'est la vie as they say ...

 

I have not really put my mind to AEFW cures as I am working on the book and on a new Phosphate removing compound that I am testing right now and that I am using on my tank and if you have seen the pics of it on my thread (which I am sure you have) then you will have seen that it is not affecting the corals and fish at all.

 

Maybe at some point I'll try to figure something out but I would have to set up an Acro tank and get the flatworms in it and then try to figure out how to eradicate them from the tank, not just kill then off from the Acros as that should not be too difficult, but making sure that they do not re-appear after a short while is the real issue that needs solving IMO.

 

Thanks for the update Christine

[picoreef78]

I have been recently battling AEFW, specifically Amakusaplana acroprae, already noted on this thread are links to Melev's reef and Leonardo's experience.

 

Happened upon this thread when looking for experience of the KZ flatworm stop.

 

I am hesitance about KZ products in that the don't list ingredients and there are no randomized controlled studies to determine true efficacy of there products.

 

So from my observation.

Loves Acropora valida, ORA Miami Orchid sps, ORA Red planet sps and Acropora millipora.

Mild love for mystery acropora sps and A. tenuis

Not so much love for A. nasuta, A tortuosa, A prostrata

Goes with the description by Kate Rawlinson

http://www.plosone.o...resentation=PDF

Hates Bayer Complete (so do some of the corals, but all survived)

 

Hates Revive (a little gentler on the corals)

After 6 weeks of weekly (sometimes every 2 weeks) of dipping:

The two small frags of the ORA Miami Orchid (aka ground zero) still tossing < 10 AEFW.

The two A. milliporas are also tossing off < 10 AEFW, all small.

The A. valida (GARF Bonsai) tossed off a few.

I plan on dipping them until no AEFW come off.

Alternating Revive and Bayer Complete (10 ml/200ml tank water)

Inspection under daylight has reviled no egg cluster.

Closes inspection, I had sad looking corals despite good water parameters an had been messing with lighting thinking it was too much.

Lots of luck to all dealing with this nightmare. What was said before with a QT tank and aggressive dipping might be the best way to prevent infestation.

[disaster999]

Ive just purchased flatworm stop after a local reefer suggested it. The shop owner also said this is one of the best solutions in removing flatworm. Taking their word for it, I bought a bottle in hopes of it successfully irradiating my flatwork population.

 

Ive always had a flatworm problem but they havent done any harm to my acros. I never seen them eat my SPS. They just like to hang out on the rocks and multiply in numbers. Its just really unsightly and I really want them gone.

 

Heres an example of my flatworm population

 

After reading up on the flatworm stop, I realized its not a medication per say, but it strengthens the coral and making their flesh unpalatable to the flatworm, taking away their food source and eventually die. Im not really sure what my flatworms are feeding off on, but if this works I'll be happy.

 

Ive tried Salifert's Flatworm Exit but that did nothing to kill off the flatworm. You can see them wiggle around and fall off the rocks and float in the current once I add the FWE and the tank seem to be clear of them, but after a while they start popping back up in my tank and unless I keep dosing my tank with FWE, they keep coming back.

 

Ive dosed my first dose last night and so far the FW doesnt seem to be phased by it. The solution did smell like some cider vinegar and my skimmer did stop for a while, but it returned to normal after some time. One 250ml bottle will only last me 40 days so we'll see what happens.