Flat Worms (I'm Pulling My Hair Out) - Page 3

amcarrig · 10-28-2006, 01:48 PM

No need to quarantine corals. Just have a lot of carbon on hand as you'll want to change it every 24 hours for about three days after you use the Flatworm Exit. Use about 1 cup of carbon per 50 gallons and water has to actually pass through it for it to work properly.

Pisces23 · 10-28-2006, 01:57 PM

i've got an old fluval 203 cannister i'm trying to resurrect...I'm pretty sure that the it can't draw flow by itself any longer (or ever) so I'll have to use a power head to force water through it. I've only got a 20 gallon tank so I won't need much carbon I guess. But then again, would using a ton of carbon have any negative impacts?
This is the first true issue my tank has had since it's been up and running and I'm kinda freaking out over here...thanks for all your help!

amcarrig · 10-28-2006, 02:06 PM

No, you can't use too much carbon IME. Just be sure to follow the instructions on the Flatworm Exit box to a tee.

Pisces23 · 10-29-2006, 04:26 PM

Well, the LFS doesn't carry flatworm exit any longer (too many horror stories), but they suggested a wrasse (banana or canary) I know, shocking...a fish store wanted to sell me a fish. I'm taking their advice with a grain of salt (though not the $70 bucket of Instant Ocean I refused to buy there). I know many of you believe in the powers of FE, but I was wondering if anyone else had had any luck/experience with a particular species of wrasse. I had originally considered a 6 line for my tank, but wasn't sure how it would do w/ my gramma and maroon clown...and my peppermint shrimp.
Thank you for your continued support (and patience)!

amcarrig · 10-30-2006, 06:44 AM

Success is a crap shoot when it comes to a flatworm's "natural" predator, the six line wrasse and green mandarin fish. The flatworm eating nudibranch has also been used with limited success as these animals tend to get sucked into our overflows and powerheads rather easily before they have a chance to make a dent in the flatworm population. If you'd rather go the natural route and not use the Flatworm Exit, my only suggestion is to keep your water as clean and algae and detritus free as possible and suck as many of the animals out of the tank as you can on a regular basis.

Pisces23 · 10-30-2006, 07:10 AM

That's pretty much where I am in my thinking. I'm going to fabricate a flatworm vac and try to siphon as much as possible. I'm going to keep reading up on the canary wrasse and set up a quarantine tank, just in case I decide to pick one up. I'm being more conservative with my feedings and I'm reconsidering the flow patterns in the tank. Would running carbon have any benefit at this point?

amcarrig · 10-30-2006, 07:14 AM

Running carbon will always be a benefit as it will keep your water cleaner than it would be without it. Clean water means less flatworm food.

A great way to get a lot of the worms sucked out is to turn the aquarium lights out and point a flashlight on one particular area of the aquarium glass, preferably near the top of the aquarium. The flatworms will congregate in that lit up spot on the glass after a while and you can suck them out en masse

Pisces23 · 10-30-2006, 08:45 AM

Brilliant! Thanks again!

pooner · 10-30-2006, 09:19 AM

I just went through a flat worm problem in 2 tanks. in my fowlr tank it was no prob. flat worms are photosynthetic so I turned the lights off for a week. I could not do that with my softie tank though so I bought a mandrin and I am seeing less and less every day. I also added anotherpowerhead.