My Flatworm Exit experience...
My Flatworm Exit experience...
I recently got red/brown flatworms with a piece of coral- not too many but enough to be a concern.
I did some investigation and found out that Flatworm Exit was the treatment of choice so I purchased some.
After I read the instructions I became afraid of using it, so hit the "search" button yet again- I found horror stories about tank crashes and orange water and got really scared.
So I tried siphoning them out- with airline tubing, with a turkey baster, with a regular siphon hose and strainer in the sump- several different attempts. How the heck do you do this? I got as much sand as I did flatworms.
Then I sat and stared at the tank.
I didn't have all that many flatworms, but they were increasing at an observable rate. Treating now would be safer than treating tomorrow, as it is the number of dead flatworms floating around that causes the problem. So I decided to treat now, before I added another creature, before it got one iota worse.
I over prepared- I feel karma wise that overpreparing is the best insurance. It has always worked for me.
I got a load of carbon ready in my Magnum. I got the diatom filter ready to roll. I made 40 gallons of RO/DI saltwater. I waited until the lights had been on long enough for all of the flatworms to crawl up out of the substrate.
I put in the recommended dose of Flatworm Exit and walked away- determined not to sit there and stress while waiting the 30 minutes or so that it would take them to begin to die.
When I came back I noticed deadish rolled up flatworms, but no ill effects otherwise so I went in with a turkey baster to stir up the sand in the areas where I had seen them. Since I had read about folks retreating with subsequent higher dosages of up to quadruple the recommended amount I decided to wipe 'em all out this one time. I added another dose- now sitting at double the recommended amount.
The only creatures I noticed having a problem were the brittle stars and the mini stars. The brittles I would describe as agitated while the minis were visibly distressed- many lying belly up on the substrate. I made a mental note of where they lay.
I saw more dead flatworms floating, but not so many as I would have expected. I decided not to use the diatom filter and just use the filter floss my drain line feeds into for mechanical removal. I changed the floss and already saw many that I had caught.
Two hours after the double dose went in I fired up the carbon filter.
Later in the day I noticed no creatures having a problem other than the stars. The ones lying belly up began to revive, and after a couple of hours of carbon they all got up and walked away and are fine.
I had all the water mixed up so went ahead and changed maybe 20% of my water, but honestly think I could have gotten by without it.
And that's the end of it.
Double dosage, and now not a flatworm in sight.
In my experience Flatworm Exit was very effective and very safe- two thumbs up.
I would recommend treating at the very first sign of them as waiting only increases the toxicity of the treatment. And also recommend mechanical removal of the dead- through floss, a filter- whatever however you can do it. The fewer flatworms you have and the more efficient you are at removing the dead are the keys to this treatment working painlessly.
As always- in my experience
ymmv
