Richie1898
Community Member
Hey guys, having a bit of a flat worms problem. Can anyone suggest the best action to take? It’s a fluval evo 13.5. And there is a lot of them!
Flat worm emergency! Need tips
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Richie1898
Community Member
OP
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Richie1898
Community Member
It’s my camera, and it doesn’t help that I’m colorblind for blues and yellows
fcmatt
Well-Known Member
step 1 is to get a rigid tube and tubing to start sucking them out. Pour back water from the bucket through a filter sock. Repeat for a while until you see a lot lot less.
Nuke then with flatworm exit
Nuke then with flatworm exit
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Richie1898
Community Member
Could I do a tank tear down and remove my live stock? And dose that way? With a massive water change?
If you decide to use flatworm exit, I suggest reading some posts on the good and bad from using the product. I've used it myself many times, but I would never suggest someone use it without fully understanding the sheer amount of toxin released from killing red planaria. @fcmatt started you off on the right track that you will need to remove the overwhelming majority of the red planaria first if you decide to go that route.
There are a variety of other methods for treatment, so you might want to determine the pros and cons of each and figure out which works best for your setup.
There are a variety of other methods for treatment, so you might want to determine the pros and cons of each and figure out which works best for your setup.
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Richie1898
Community Member
There is an overwhelming amount of them, and with such a small system it’s probably not a good idea to use flatworm exit. That’s why I was hoping you guys had a better idea
fcmatt
Well-Known Member
Honestly I only had success with flatworm exit. I tried fish and nudibranchs. Nope.
You just keep sucking them out like it is a video game until you see a ton less then nuke em. And yes read more posts about them and fexit.
You just keep sucking them out like it is a video game until you see a ton less then nuke em. And yes read more posts about them and fexit.
OrangeCountyReefer
Well-Known Member
I’ve had them in one of my tanks for about 3 or 4 months and it has really never been an issue. They gather in one corner and I scrape them off with my glass cleaner. There are also some in the sand bed that I vac out when I do water changes. I’ve thought about doing flatworm eXit but they really aren’t hurting anything
I had an outbreak in my nano. Never could get them under control. Used Flatworm exit after removing all I could see, then did massive water changes 50% several days in a row, still lost some things, BUT flatworms didn't come back. still have tank running 5 years later. If you do it, just make sure you remove fish and know you will lose some coral.
najer
Valuable Member
A blue velvet nudi will do it but you need to take it back or give it to someone else once they are gone or it will starve.
A small light by the aquarium when the lights are off will concentrate them on the glass and you can wipe them off with a cloth, one pass with each cloth / kitchen towel sheet and bin it.
As above you can siphon them out, I use airline so you can siphon for longer and make sure you run fresh carbon.
A small light by the aquarium when the lights are off will concentrate them on the glass and you can wipe them off with a cloth, one pass with each cloth / kitchen towel sheet and bin it.
As above you can siphon them out, I use airline so you can siphon for longer and make sure you run fresh carbon.
