[fishgeeksrus]

After no luck with a six line wrasse the amount of flatworms got to a level that we were not comfortable with. We put the flatworm exit in around 6:15. So far it looks like it is working. We will give you an update a little later.

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by fishgeeksrus

After no luck with a six line wrasse the amount of flatworms got to a level that we were not comfortable with. We put the flatworm exit in around 6:15. So far it looks like it is working. We will give you an update a little later.

I'm sure you are fully aware of exactly how to use this product, right? I would hate to see you kill off your entire tank.

[Ninong]

Flatworm - eXit


Flatworm eXit itself is quite safe to fish and invertebrates.
However, the body fluids of flatworms can be toxic to some reef inhabitants when present in a too high concentration. This body fluid is sometimes excreted when flatworms die.

So when you use this product it is important to do the following first:

1] Siphon out as many flatworms as possible.

2] Keep sufficient fresh activated carbon in a canister ready.

3] Turn off UV, ozone and remove activated carbon. Keep the skimmer turned on.

Important remarks
Below given remarks are a.o. meant to reduce the amount of the flatworm’s toxic body fluids in the water.

Many people have treated their reef tank(s) successfully using Flatworm eXit without any problems. The most important factors are reducing the number of flatworms before commencing with the treatment and reducing the amount of the flatworm’s body fluids, released when they die, as fast as possible.

Do not underestimate the number of flatworms in your system. In a few cases a significant number of flatworms can be hiding in for example crevices. Blow in such and any other potential hiding places water to blow any flatworm out of there. For that purpose you can use a powerhead or a turkey baster. Siphon out those flatworms as well.

Furthermore do not underestimate the amount of toxic body fluids these flatworms can excrete. This can be reduced significantly by really siphoning out the flatworms before commencing with the treatment. Further significant reduction is accomplished by siphoning out as many dead flatworms as you can.

Any body fluids released by the dead flatworms in the water has to be reduced further by using about 1 pound of fresh high quality carbon for every 50 gallons. The carbon has to be used in a canister with a sufficient forced water flow.

Take sufficient time for treating the tank. That is, do not treat your tank in a hurry. Also take time to monitor your tank for at least 6 hours after the treatment.

It is also wise to have at least 25% water ready for a water change if required.

Dosage:
Read all the above text before commencing with the treatment!

- 1 drop for every 4 liters or 1 gallon.
The dropper contains approx. 300 drops (10 ml). The dropper cap holds approx. 90 drops.
So 1 cap full is good for 360 liters or 90 gallons.

Add it in a high flow area of the tank. If you want to treat a refugium only and if it’s volume is too small for using a powerhead then mixing should be done manually.

- It should start to work within 30 minutes.

- If within 45 minutes no visible death of flatworms occurs add 50% more.

- As soon as the flatworms start to die commence with the activated carbon to take out any toxic body fluids. Also see the above given important remarks.

- After an hour or so you can turn any UV or ozone on again.

Keep out of the reach of children! Only for aquarium hobby use.

[Ninong]

Most of the flatworms should be dead within an hour or so after you dosed the Flatworm eXit. It is VERY important that you get the red toxic juice that the dying flatworms excreted out of the tank as quickly as possible. The juice from the dying flatworms can kill off everything in the tank if it is not removed.

Some strains have developed a resistance to this product, so it is not always effective.

[Poseidon]

That sounds like a scary product! Well at least the EFFECTS are scary! PLease let us know how it has gone!

[fishgeeksrus]

Ok, when we put it in the flatworm exit they started scattering everywhere. Before they didn't move very fast. We took a powerhead and tried to blow out the rocks as best as we could. Then we took a airline tube and sucked out as many as we could. But as a now, the ones that are still in there are still moving. UGHH!!!!! The little Bast***'s!!!! I am so completely disgusted. I figured that I was taking so a huge chance by using this and it doesn't seem as though it is going to kill them. My fish did start acting weird and it made me a little nervous. I wound up taking out the copperband because a noticed a few white dots on his tail. I am not sure if it is ich yet. He is in the QT but I have no treatment yet. I am going to do a 30 gallon water change within the next hour. We were told if the flatworm exit doesn't work to try a second treatment after the water change. We will see how it goes. It is not looking very good right now.

[fishgeeksrus]

We did discover were we got the flatworms. It was a LFS where we picked up three new corals. I will have to remember to go back by and Thank him!!!

[saltjunkie]

Originally Posted by fishgeeksrus

We did discover were we got the flatworms. It was a LFS where we picked up three new corals. I will have to remember to go back by and Thank him!!!

and present a bill!

[fishgeeksrus]

Well one last check before I go to bed. The fish seem to be back to normal but I can still see flatworms that are alive. It is nice to see that it did not kill my coepods (sp) and amphipods. I was a little worried about them. Also, I never saw any adverse effect on our corals. Even the two crabs that live in a couple of them are still alive.

I am really bummed about the flatworms though. I don't know what else to do about them if this doesn't work.

Andrea

[Ninong]

Did you follow this instruction?

- It should start to work within 30 minutes.

- If within 45 minutes no visible death of flatworms occurs add 50% more.


I wouldn't go any stronger than that or you might start killing off your sand bed infauna.

You shouldn't have seen any adverse effects on your fish or inverts if the flatworms didn't die and release their toxic fluids. It's not the product that is the threat to your tank, it's the red toxic fluid that is released when the flatworms die. The product itself is reef-aquarium safe but the consequences of a successful threatment can be deadly if the toxic fluid the flatworms release is not removed quickly.

[fishgeeksrus]

Yes, we even did the 50% extra. They are spread out over the sand bed now and I can't tell if they are alive? There are a few that are attached to the glass that are alive. Hopefully, when I come home this evening they will be dead. If not we might try a second treatment a little later in the week. I am going to do another water change this week also.

[saltjunkie]

i used that green stuff kinda bluesish.. stains real bad.....
i used half concentration of that in my reeef, with no ill effects what so ever... did it twice in fact.. so lived the first time.... but not the second..
Hopefully you get them all...
hell i used the stuff on the Live rock tank at the store i worked at.. which is where i got mine from..

[fishgeeksrus]

Flat worms have subsided, it doesn't look like they are 100% gone but a HUGE difference.

Another question...

Our sohal tang isn't looking too well. His/her color has darkened and at times black dots/specks appear on his body. but then they disappear. Could this be due to color changing with age? or maybe from the flatworm exit? It also looks like he's having trouble eating. We removed him from the main tank and put it into the qt with our copperband that is being treated for Ich.

any suggestions/ideas???

[Ninong]

Black dots on the body sounds like turbellarian worms (Paravortex sp.). Too bad you already placed it in the hospital tank with a fish infected with Cryptocaryon irritans. The usual cure for turbellarian worms is to simply dip the infected fish in a freshwater bath for a few minutes and then return it to the aquarium. See my response in this thread: coral color

[fishgeeksrus]

The black dots come and go. Do these worms do that? It is more like a defense mechanism. I was watching him today after i fed them. The dots appeared and then they went away. Weirdest thing! But I did notice that he was having some trouble eating. I guess I didn't want to take any chances. His swimming seems different???

[fishgeeksrus]

Well, unfortunately we lost our Sohal this morning. This is a really disgusting set back for us. He was doing so good. I don't know if it was just a coincidence or if the flatworm exit had something to do with this. He didn't have any noticable problems until after we added it. It sucks!!!! It didn't even get rid of all of them. It did get rid of most of them.

[Papa Doug]

Sounds like it was other than the flatworm toxin but hard to say. I never lost any fish when treating with Exit. I also had to treat my tank several times to finally eradicate them all.

[fishgeeksrus]

How long did you wait between treatments?

[Papa Doug]

I did a couple treatments, as per instructions above, several days in a row. I had not visable worms for a couple weeks, then some appeared again. This time I treated again and left it in most of the day, {only a few worms, so little toxin}. The same thing happened another week or so later and I repeated the complete day treatment. Of course both were followed by lots of carbon and a water change, not to mention the use of my beckett skimmer, always running. No worms since.

It seems some of them become almost resistant to the Exit and require multiple treatments.

Mine were super worms. I assume some survived from the Oomed treatment to the other crap I once used, to the Exit. Tough little ^^#%&^*

[aquadoc]

I had some flat worms in my refugium, then I dumped over 50 blue and red leg hermit crabs. Also I have tons of little starfish that were on some live rock that I put in there not to long before the crabs.

The flat worms were only on some of the dead sps skeltons, and after a day or two I noticed that the crabs and starfish were always on the skeletons. After several weeks they were not on the skeletons as much, and I studied the rock for flat worms and they were no where to be found.

So you might try some hermits. My friend just tried some in his tank, so we will se if I just got lucky or not.

Aquadoc