Spartanwarrior

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Hey All,

Going to be using this for the first time tomorrow morning on a small brown flatworm problem in my frag tank. These guys have been diagnosed to not be the coral eating kind, just the reproduce rapidly and smother everything in sight kind. Instead of getting a six line at the moment, I'm going to try this stuff.
Just want to make sure I am doing everything correctly before I begin.

I plan on dosing 125% of the 25G recommendation. Flow and turkey baster at the ready. Let swish around for 30 min and then turn on some carbon. After about 90min start to siphon out dead carcasses with airline tubings. I'm going to do a 100% water change.

How long do I let this stuff swirl around before I begin the water change? Instructions are vague. 2 hours? 6 hours?

I'll probably do this just the 1x for now and then get a six line to keep under control. My DT is totally unaffected so I'm guessing my sixline and melanarus in there are doing a great job.
 
Location
Queens, NY
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From my experience, flatworms that are in the hobby ( cultured systems and transportation) are very resistant to Exit, as compared to the wild types that you find in the ocean. All that means is double or triple the dose and use it repeatedly, don't wait to see if some survive, they will. Aside from that, it works, relatively non toxic. The flatworms themselves are poisonous, which is what the carbon and water change is for. As for when to use the carbon, again too early and its removing the Exit. I won't bother with the water change yet, if you have a low population of flatworms. If every square inch of surface area was covered in worms, then you need the water change. So since you seem to have a small infestation, I would use carbon after the first treatment. After the 2 or 3th treatment, then do the water change. The first treatment would kill most of them off releasing the most amount of poison. After that, let the Exit stay in the water. Note, I had a tang accidentally suck up a dead flatworm, and it died instantly.
Final note, on small flatworm populations, they die out without light after which, your biological control could keep them in check. The protein skimmer can keep up with that slow die off, which doesn't really release as much toxins as a freshly killed biomass.
 

Spartanwarrior

Reefer Always Learning
Rating - 100%
91   0   0
From my experience, flatworms that are in the hobby ( cultured systems and transportation) are very resistant to Exit, as compared to the wild types that you find in the ocean. All that means is double or triple the dose and use it repeatedly, don't wait to see if some survive, they will. Aside from that, it works, relatively non toxic. The flatworms themselves are poisonous, which is what the carbon and water change is for. As for when to use the carbon, again too early and its removing the Exit. I won't bother with the water change yet, if you have a low population of flatworms. If every square inch of surface area was covered in worms, then you need the water change. So since you seem to have a small infestation, I would use carbon after the first treatment. After the 2 or 3th treatment, then do the water change. The first treatment would kill most of them off releasing the most amount of poison. After that, let the Exit stay in the water. Note, I had a tang accidentally suck up a dead flatworm, and it died instantly.
Final note, on small flatworm populations, they die out without light after which, your biological control could keep them in check. The protein skimmer can keep up with that slow die off, which doesn't really release as much toxins as a freshly killed biomass.
The process went smoothly. Dosed 150% for about 4 hrs. Noticed every one i saw on the glass kind of float away never to be seen again. Sucked up some dead ones at the bottom and turkey basted every frag clean. Very smooth process. Shall keep an eye out for possible repeat of fwe
 

duke62

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You should use FWE as a last resort. What got rid of them for me were 2 times a week basting the rocks and syphoning all the ones that were floating after the baste. Also adding a coris, checkerboard and mandarin. Haven’t seen any in 7 months
 

Spartanwarrior

Reefer Always Learning
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You should use FWE as a last resort. What got rid of them for me were 2 times a week basting the rocks and syphoning all the ones that were floating after the baste. Also adding a coris, checkerboard and mandarin. Haven’t seen any in 7 months
I had no issue using the FWE today. Worked well. Corals were irritated but after a 100% change everything is open an happy again.
I do plan on putting a 6line in there to deal with the inevitable eggs hatching but I would use the FWE again with zero qualms. What was your experience to rec only using as a last resort, James?
 

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