i tried using some flat worm exit to get rid of red planaria that have been growing in my tank. I wouldn’t say I had plague proportions but I’m wondering if I shouldn’t have used this at all now. I siphoned out all of the flatworms that I could and there weren’t many floating around after the first hour or so. I did 10g water change (total system volume is 55g) and ran a pound of rox .8 carbon. Now quote a few of my acros are looking pale and polyps retracted. I have done another 10g change and removed the carbon. Any ideas what could be going on or should I just relax and things will color back up?
Acros pale fwe?
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zack801
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I was worried about that. I ran a ton of carbon for 24hrs but like I said I don’t think I had anywhere near the number of flatworms to run it longer. I was on top of siphoning them out throughout the treatment. I’m more concerned that possibly that much agressive carbon might have been a little overkill and caused more issues than the toxins.
What are your nutrients like? Carbon can make the water very clear and can bleach the corals from too much light also. How's alkalinity? Just that higher levels can exacerbate the problem. I usually make my nutrients go up when I have an issue to give them a little more food.
rkpetersen
walked the sand with the crustaceans
A sudden large amount of powerful GAC like Rox added to water that's already relatively clean can definitely shock acros into RTN, so your concern is warranted. It's very hard to say just from your description which situation you're in - whether you need to resume GAC asap for toxin control or whether it's better to keep it out now. Although I suspect it's the latter. Seems like most people who experience flatworm toxin issues have hundreds die in their aquaria, and it doesn't sound like that's your situation.
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zack801
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Yeah I don’t think it’s toxins just because their weren’t an overwhelming amount to start with and I removed almost all that were visible during and immediately after treatment. I pulled maybe 10 more out today that were alive on the glass so at least some weren’t even affected. I think it may be the carbon more than anything. What else can I do other than just let things stabilize? I turned my light intensity down a bit thinking that if they’re stressed it might help.
I'd just keep it steady, stability, and especially in alkalinity is more important than any fix. Sounds like the gac just may have had an impact. I'd just feed heavier than normal and keep an eye on it. But I like my nutrients higher than some. I've found that more than any change, as long as I don't make quick changes after an oops, I can pull most anything through.
thanks for th replies
