Flatworm Exit - Second Dose?

[mtdaly85]

Hello everyone,

This past Friday, June 26, I treated my Waterbox 130.4 with approximately 80 drops of Flatworm Exit. They say to treat 5 gallons with 4 drops and I figured my tank volume was right around 100 gallons. I'm happy to report it was a huge success! I spent about 5 days prior to treatment sucking up the flatworms I could see on the sand and rockwork and the ones that blew into the water column upon turkey basting my rockwork. No deaths by any of the inhabitants in my tank! My process was:

- Dosed 80 drops of the product
- Sucked up as many dead / dying worms in the water column as I could (filling a 5 gallon bucket and then putting 5 gallons back into the tank)
- After 30 minutes, turned on a BRS carbon reactor filled about 3/4 of the way with Rox 0.8 carbon
- After another 90 minutes, I did a 30 gallon water change

This morning (less than 48 hours after treatment), I noticed a few stragglers that survived the treatment. I'm thinking about doing another treatment any day now. Just a few questions:

1.) Should I wait another day before dosing again? (or two or three?) Do I need to worry about residual product in the water column?
2.) I assume I should have another large water change ready and waiting?
3.) New carbon?
4.) Up the dosage under the assumption that I have more than one species and these worms are "super worms" that can tolerate 80 drops?
5.) Turkey base the rock / sand while treating?

Thank you everyone in advance!

 

[vetteguy53081]

Yes you can- Just make sure to siphon up dead ones that release toxins if left in tank

 

[mtdaly85]

Yes you can- Just make sure to siphon up dead ones that release toxins if left in tank

Went well! I think it knocked out the last of them.... Might be a few left. Some of these worms are very resistant to the FWE. Different species maybe?

 

[vetteguy53081]

Went well! I think it knocked out the last of them.... Might be a few left. Some of these worms are very resistant to the FWE. Different species maybe?

Great to hear. Some are just plain stubborn. Be sure there are no eggs remaining for new ones to emerge

 

[Rjramos]

Do you have a sump underneath and did you check it for flat worms? Sometimes they refuge there and the eggs get back into your tank via pump. Pumpkin flatworms succumb to FWE pretty easily, but I have learned a bit over recommended dose hits them harder and won’t affect your other tank inhabitants.

 

[mtdaly85]

Do you have a sump underneath and did you check it for flat worms? Sometimes they refuge there and the eggs get back into your tank via pump. Pumpkin flatworms succumb to FWE pretty easily, but I have learned a bit over recommended dose hits them harder and won’t affect your other tank inhabitants.

Yep! Checked the sump. No flatworms from what I can see. I'm actually not seeing any this morning.... maybe the last of them died overnight?

 

[SMSREEF]

When I have only used one dose, they seem to always come back. If you hit them with a second dose a week after the first to kill off the ones that were just eggs during first dose, this usually works (and during 2nd dose it's less flatworms and less toxins from them). I do this now even if I don't see any after first dose.

This should work unless you have one of the resistant kinds in which case you will need to use larger and larger amounts of FWE to kill them off.

 

[jda]

If you just have a few worms, then you can leave the FWE in the tank and not use the carbon. It will be gone in 24 hours and this will give you the best chance to kill all of the worms.

The last time that I used it, it went like this... huge population and mess the first time with huge water changes and lots of carbon. Second dose was nothing... just saw maybe 100 worms and left the solution in the water. Third dose saw nothing and also left the solution in the water.

The seem to live near the rim at the top of the tank (or other places along the waterline), so if you scrape this part, then that would get more of them.

 

[SMSREEF]

If you just have a few worms, then you can leave the FWE in the tank and not use the carbon. It will be gone in 24 hours and this will give you the best chance to kill all of the worms.

The last time that I used it, it went like this... huge population and mess the first time with huge water changes and lots of carbon. Second dose was nothing... just saw maybe 100 worms and left the solution in the water. Third dose saw nothing and also left the solution in the water.

The seem to live near the rim at the top of the tank (or other places along the waterline), so if you scrape this part, then that would get more of them.

I like that 3rd dose option and leave in the tank 24 hours without carbon (when not seeing any flatworms prior to dose.
Did you wait a week between doses? Or a different time frame?

 

[jda]

About that... I don't remember. I am not the kind of guy who is judicious with timeframes or measuring... swags are good enough for me most of the time. I also make my own FWE out of Levamisole, so the dosing could be 50% either way of the Salifert and I keep on adding until they start to melt after a few minutes.

 

[jda]

FWIW - Dr. Holmes-Farley once opined that the structure of the product had nearly no chance to make it more than 24 hours in our environment. Even though there was not real testing, I tend to trust him since he never seems to let us down.

 

[KenO]

Try combining the FWE with peroxide. See this article on R2R

Peroxide and the use against flatworm

Hi all! I am finally able to get this up. Sorry have been busy with another article Lets talk about flatworm Now I know a lot will say something like "flatworm exit is what I recommend" People say this not even knowing what the population is. Well here is the truth!! For massive populations...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[SMSREEF]

FWIW - Dr. Holmes-Farley once opined that the structure of the product had nearly no chance to make it more than 24 hours in our environment. Even though there was not real testing, I tend to trust him since he never seems to let us down.

Thank you @jda

 

[mtdaly85]

This is all super helpful advice, thank you!

Going to buy some more FWE and just leave it in the tank! I'm down to just maybe a dozen or so (if that from what I can see!). What a fantastic product. Works as advertised and I'm so glad I decided to do it. I was so beyond scared about crashing my tank, but I was a nut about sucking up the worms for a week prior to dosing (aggressive basting of rocks / sand stirring, doing it throughout the day, etc.)

If anyone reading this is hesitating about using it due to the horror stories, you can chalk up another "everything will be okay' based upon my experience!

 

[mtdaly85]

Update: 11 days later and ZERO signs of any flatworms. I dosed an entire bottle (treats up to 300 gallons per the bottle), turned off the carbon, left the skimmer running, and turkey basted the rocks and sand. I'm totally jinxing myself, but I think they are behind me now.

Now I just have to deal with these god dang asterinas that I think are eating my zoas!

 

[fity2pounder]

So…did it end up exterminating them all permanently?

 

[Falreef]

So we need to dose consecutively I think because most certainly a larger population is going to have eggs all over.
Not sure the periodicity of the hatchlings but if you consider the most recent egg laying when you put in your first dose. You may need to dose every two days for three or four cycles.

Need more info on the little buggers life cycle.