Attention mr members !!!!! Please read.

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

I have carbon in my reactor but how often should I swap it out?

 

[kres1024]

Holy crap nowhere near that many Jesus that's reef herpes

Lol ,it was the clearest pic I found of them I found for reference on google..
But flatworm exit Yes it is safe. The chemical does not do anything to any of your inverts,fish,corals. The only time we see issues is when you have too many flatworms and than they all die suddenly and create high levels of toxins which can cause issues. so if you have a ton, def. siphon them out before hand
and you will likely have to redose weekly for a couple times

 

[ohana888]

if you see one, there are possibly hundreds more hiding everywhere. they can shrivel as small as pinheads & expand up to 2mm. i had them last year and my melanurus and mystery wrasses cleaned them up - they were the FATTEST fishes...good luck!

 

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

Guys tanks a lot I really appreciate the input an advice .

 

[duromega]

you're very responsible reefer :hug:

 

[masterswimmer]

Re-post from 2008

This is a post I wrote back in 2008 here on MR regarding the treatment of FW's (hope it helps):

I siphoned out every visible flatworm for three consecutive days. This step is extremely important.

I removed my carbon. Replaced it with fresh carbon to prepare for the post FW treatment.

Then I dumped three full bottles of FWE into the tank. The flatworms began dying and blowing all over the tank within 15 seconds. I continued to siphon them out. I used a powerhead to get to those hard to reach places. I siphoned them out for at least a half hour. I used a new pantyhose on the end of the siphon tube to catch the dead FW's, and not have to replace 40-50 gallons of water from a 100 g system.

I then siphoned out about 25g of water. Replaced it with freshly mixed (the day before) saltwater, turned on my carbon and prayed. Every single coral closed up like a clams a$$. I thought for sure I killed everything.

Within the next 24-36 hrs, every coral opened. I lost no coral, no fish. I did lose one feather duster.

On the third day I repeated the same process. I dumped three full bottles of FWE into the tank. I once again had my carbon off line and refreshed. Not one single FW could be seen blowing around.
I put the carbon back on, nothing even closed up.

One week later, I repeated the exact same procedure and treated with three full bottles of FWE and my powerhead blowing into all crevices. Again, not a single FW was to be found. Did another 25% water change. New carbon. I've been FW free for nine years.

I went through this detail to explain why now I treat EVERY SINGLE ADDITION to my tank with FWE. I temperature acclimate every coral with a minimum of three drops of FWE into every single bag with coral. I slosh it around in the bag and let it sit for the temperature acclimation period of about 20 minutes. Then into the tank.

I've never seen another FW in any system I run.

FWE should be in EVERY REEFERS possession.

 

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

you're very responsible reefer :hug:

Thanks brotha .

 

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

This is a post I wrote back in 2008 here on MR regarding the treatment of FW's (hope it helps):

I siphoned out every visible flatworm for three consecutive days. This step is extremely important.

I removed my carbon. Replaced it with fresh carbon to prepare for the post FW treatment.

Then I dumped three full bottles of FWE into the tank. The flatworms began dying and blowing all over the tank within 15 seconds. I continued to siphon them out. I used a powerhead to get to those hard to reach places. I siphoned them out for at least a half hour. I used a new pantyhose on the end of the siphon tube to catch the dead FW's, and not have to replace 40-50 gallons of water from a 100 g system.

I then siphoned out about 25g of water. Replaced it with freshly mixed (the day before) saltwater, turned on my carbon and prayed. Every single coral closed up like a clams a$$. I thought for sure I killed everything.

Within the next 24-36 hrs, every coral opened. I lost no coral, no fish. I did lose one feather duster.

On the third day I repeated the same process. I dumped three full bottles of FWE into the tank. I once again had my carbon off line and refreshed. Not one single FW could be seen blowing around.
I put the carbon back on, nothing even closed up.

One week later, I repeated the exact same procedure and treated with three full bottles of FWE and my powerhead blowing into all crevices. Again, not a single FW was to be found. Did another 25% water change. New carbon. I've been FW free for nine years.

I went through this detail to explain why now I treat EVERY SINGLE ADDITION to my tank with FWE. I temperature acclimate every coral with a minimum of three drops of FWE into every single bag with coral. I slosh it around in the bag and let it sit for the temperature acclimation period of about 20 minutes. Then into the tank.

I've never seen another FW in any system I run.

FWE should be in EVERY REEFERS possession.

very useful tactic , thank you very much , I will def be having fwe on hand all the time .

 

[reefs4life]

Sorry to hear that you're going through this but kudos for putting it out there. Very honorable of you.

I had them for a short amount of time back when I had my 210 but I had a melanurus, yellow coris and green coris wrasse. The only place that I used to see them was in the fuge but the DT was very well taken care of but the wrasses I assume.

 

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

Yes wrasses especially the malanarus are a true assault weapon on flats , I ordered one last night and hope to have it soon for future control , now I have to narrow down how I got them.........

I was embarrassed to post this at first but felt it was the right thing to do and I have received great advice and strategy in doing so .

 

[CleanYourTank11]

springeri damsels also, pretty cool not aggressive that I've noticed like most damsels.

 

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

Yeah I have a pair of those but they are not doing the job alone

 

[bkstang]

Great post!. This is what I'm talking about. Responsibility!

 

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

Great post!. This is what I'm talking about. Responsibility!

It's the right way , if someone got flatworms from me I would be wrong in so many ways !

 

[duke62]

Are you talking about red planaria FW or AEFW? Red planaria is not very hard to eradicate and can be as easy as 1 dose of FW exit if done right. Aefw that's a whole new ball game

 

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

The ones on the 1st page duke , little corn flake looking slugs

 

[duke62]

Seriously I wouldn't even worry about them. Do a FW exit treatment and read the instructions to a T and they will be gone by the weekend

 

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

Seriously I wouldn't even worry about them. Do a FW exit treatment and read the instructions to a T and they will be gone by the weekend

Wow really ??? That's what I'm talking about!!!!

 

[reefs4life]

Are red planaria FW even bad? For those who had them, what kind of damage do they cause? IME, no damage

 

[masterswimmer]

Are red planaria FW even bad? For those who had them, what kind of damage do they cause? IME, no damage

When left to spread uncontrolled I've seen them completely blanket the sandbed, rocks, and coral. Obviously no big deal with sand and rock (if you like that look :shocked1: ), however, when they completely cover coral they will block out all light. Not a really good way to sustain coral long term