Pies Posted February 3, 2004 Report Share Posted February 3, 2004 Well after the discovery of these little pests about 4 months ago I have been syphoning them out every week or so. I concede, they have me beat... For those that don't know what they are but are reading. Flat Worms or Planaria of this type are a pest. They are photosynthetic (or at least partially) and can be a real problem. Why? Because there number are so great they will out compete coral for light by smothering them. They also are prone to mass die off and release toxin that kill fish and coral in a tank. FLATWORM = B A D. So whats one to do? SALIFERT FLATWORM EXIT here I come. I have it in my hands right now, I am ready to go, my finger is on the trigger. Anyone who had any experance with eradicating these little monsters? Anyone with any advice now is the time to share it, I am listening. Ohhh and I don't want to hear about the natural method. I have Mandarin, Scooter Blenny and Six Line wrassee and they are not interested. I hardly feed my tank as it is, so its not that they are getting their food elsewhere, they are just not interested... The Natural Method is a myth, raw firepower is the only way to go... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted February 3, 2004 Report Share Posted February 3, 2004 Nasty little things! I had a problem with flatworms of a sort, an outbrake of the white coral eating nudibanch. I managed to rid it from my tank surprisingly easily, by picking them either off the glass at night, or off the base of a colt coral I had, which they were all attracted to. They also had a go at my green sinularia flexibilis, which is only now really recovered. Here's a pic of one: Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desh Posted February 3, 2004 Report Share Posted February 3, 2004 Pies, I had a major problem with flat worms. People who have seen my tank know the extent of the problem I had. I used the same SALIFLERT flat worm exit and it worked. No mater how much light they need these things also live in, rock caves and cavities. Therefore extreme care needs to be taken. Know to the method of getting rid of them, Flat Worm exit works, it works so well that it will wipe out all the flat worms in the system, this means very high levels of toxins (released by the dead flat worms). Yes you can and must run carbon, but with large numbers of flat worms dead you might find carbon struggling to extract all the toxins from the water. Further more when flat worms die they continue to release poisons until they are completely decomposed. Certain fish have higher immunity to the toxins released by the flat worms than other fish. Tangs are very very sensitise. My advice would be to take as many flat worms you can from the system, treat the tank only keep the sump water in reserve. Mix-up new water and keep it handy and use much carbon as you can, and make sure that you pass all your water through the carbon chamber. Keep carbon running and change the carbon when required. If you have any specific questions please contact me. Good luck Desh Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted February 3, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2004 Thanks Desh. Were your ones the same as the ones in my photo? How many times did you need to dose your tank? Did you use single doses or doubble doses or even tribble doses? I understand that the more flatworms the more EXIT is required as more is depleted as more are killed. I don't have that many now, perhapps less than 100 visiable, but I am worried. It seems that everyone has had a different experanve with them... I hope to get some new bits and pieces in a few weeks, so I am not going to dose until the new stuff is in the tank incase it re-introduces them. At that point I am 99% sure I will just go for it. So here is my plan: 1. Syphon out as many as is possilbe 2. Shutdown the sump & Skimmer, then fill the sump it to the brim 3. I will take out about 60L from the display tank 4. Dose the FLATWORM EXIT - single dose calculated at 550 litres (700 less the 60 taken out, less 40 because not filled to the top less 120+ kg rock and sand) 5. Add 1KG of carbon to the plumbing that feeds the sump (ice-cream container with holes drilled in bottom, filter wool and full of carbon with filter wool on top). This way ALL water from the display travels through the carbon 6. Wait for 10 minutes... 6. Syphon out another 120L of water from display (will I see dead ones that should be syhoned out? Do they die and float or explode? 7. Turn on the sump slowly 8. Slowly add the rest of the top off water to make up the 160L I intent to swap out 9. Wait 3 hrs.... Change carbon Thats it what do you think? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
reef Posted February 4, 2004 Report Share Posted February 4, 2004 the best way is to follow the instructions. i have doubled the dose with no problems. the plan would be to do the following. turn off main pump syphon as many flatworms as possable add salifert exit as per instruction turn power heads on full wait 30 mins add carbon to main tank and wait 5 mins turn on main pump. thants it repeat in 1 week Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jetskisteve Posted February 4, 2004 Report Share Posted February 4, 2004 Sounds like a good plan to me Pies.... Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desh Posted February 4, 2004 Report Share Posted February 4, 2004 Sound like a good plan. I used only the recommended dose. I immediately could see the results. My water started to go yellow. If you don’t have too many of them it should not cause any problems at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Interfecus Posted February 4, 2004 Report Share Posted February 4, 2004 I've never heard of photosynthetic planaria. In fact, I'm sure that the planaria aren't photosynthetic at all since no animals are. Unless this is some odd type that I've never heard of with a symbiotic relationship with some photosynthesiser, I doubt they have anything to do with light at all. They are, however, scavengers and may be a pest in other ways since they are capable of killing other small animals. Good luck with the treatment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted February 4, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2004 Interfecus - Photosynthetic may be the wrong word. They exibt behavior that means they are most obvious in the light, not the shade. If there wa say 1 on a rock, it would always be in the light. At night I only ever see a small number and they are much smaller and never move. As soon as there is light, out they come. Like I said its not that they are a problem now, but they can get out of control. They can also kill coral by smothering it and out competing it for light. Cheers everyone Pies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alan Posted February 4, 2004 Report Share Posted February 4, 2004 Is the word that you are looking for - - - phototropic - - - Alan Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Interfecus Posted February 4, 2004 Report Share Posted February 4, 2004 Yes Alan, positively phototropic would be the term for attraction to light. That makes a lot more sense . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted February 4, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2004 phototropic? as long as they be deadotrpoic soon is all I care about Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JackJackJack Posted February 4, 2004 Report Share Posted February 4, 2004 sounds like a line from an arnold swartzenegger (spelling??!!!) film Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted February 5, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2004 The more I look the more I see... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted February 5, 2004 Report Share Posted February 5, 2004 They're kinda pretty, actually. That's as long as I don't end up with any if I have you cycle some rock for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted February 5, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 5, 2004 There is none in my sump, thank god! They look pretty in the photo. Remember they are only about 2mm long, so the photo is an ULTRA closeup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted February 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2004 Well I dosed Salifert Flat Worm Exit (SFWE) tonight... First I drained as much water into the sump as possible. Filled it to the brim. I then got into the tank and syphoned out as many flatworms as possilbe. Thousands came out, in about 35 litres of water. By now the water line in the tank is about 2 inches bellow the over flow combs, I am guessing less than 550 litres counting displacement. I then dosed 2 caps full (enough of 650 litres) of SFWE. Watched, nothing! A few minutes later NOTHING! Hrmmm. Ring JetSkiSteve and whilst nattering, I start to see the water colum fill with flatworms, hundreds of them. The fish seems fine through this, perhapps a little skitish, but I fed a little dried shrimp which they gulped down. So good news there! While this is happening I take the time to disconnect the skimmer for a complete clean (getting a little slimy in there) and make my 'carbon filter'. Basically an ice cream container with a hole in the bottom, full of carbon with floss and a stocking on top. I also decided that for the next 24 hrs ALL water will pass through the skimmer, then out into the carbon filters to the sump before being re-circulated. About 2 hrs later everything is back to normal and I am just about to hook everything back up and what do I see? A few flatworms have survived? It was at this point I decided I would dose again! The same dose! So here I am sitting in front of the PC watching the last of the flatworms DIE! Will report back with part 2 later... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lduncan Posted February 26, 2004 Report Share Posted February 26, 2004 Hope it all turns out well for your tank Pies. Layton Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pies Posted February 26, 2004 Author Report Share Posted February 26, 2004 Thanks Layton. Well its the day after and the tank looked fine this morning, polyps out and all well. It is curculating slowly through the sump and ALL water is being skimmed then dumped into my 'carbon filter'. I suspect there will be no problems the worst should be over. So now its just a case of crossed fingers than it doesn't come back. It was interesting how many died. I was surprised by just how many were floating in the water, thousands. I didn't think I had that many especially after syphoning them away. So my initial verdict on the Salifert product is positive. Perhapps a little to early to be singing its praises but if you have these little sods and need to get rid of them, this is perhapps the only garanteed way. Thanks to everyone who contributed or offered to help. Cheers Pies Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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