FWE Treatment

terri_ann · Jul 23, 2015

40B and yellow coris wrasse (50-60TWV)
Treatment 1 last week (Friday) was over the course of 3 hours: 50drops and no sign of death in 30 minutes....added 25 more drops and no deaths....added 25 more drops and many died 15-20 WC and Carbon ran after treatment.

Treatment 2 as flatworms on glass (today/Wednesday): 100 drops added and no deaths seen in 30 minutes....50 more drops added and no signs of death in 30 minutes...50 more drops added and some deaths were seen but some flatworms were still alive after 90 minutes! 30g WC and Carbon running.

I have been trying to help a friend but I have run out of options for helping him. He says he still has flatworms (brownish colored, small and flat, moves slow and has a rearend with a < He cannot add more fish because the bioload is high already. He wants them gone!

What am I missing to help him? He is feeding less. He thinks they are primarily in the sand and on the rocks now. He said his brittle stars died but nothing else. He wants to know when he should treat again (I do not know the lifecycle of FW's) and if he should start at 200 drops and go up from there? I am afraid to tell him anything more as I have never had flatworms.

hybridazn · Jul 23, 2015

Best treatments other than flatworm exit is manual removal and a natural predator. The best predator ive seen is a melunarus wrasse. There is also the blue velvet nudibranch.

For manual removal just take a long piece of airline tubing and suck them suckers out during a water change or you can have the water dump back into your sump by just having it go into a filter sock to catch the flatworm as you siphon them out.

These things are a pain, but can be managed without dumping chemicals in our tanks.

Best of luck to your friend

terri_ann · Jul 23, 2015

He is set on using FWE only... He did syphon out what he could see he said before using the FWE. He wants to know its life cycle (what day to treat again), if he should start with 200 drops and what the maximum amount of time for leaving FWE in the tank before turning on GAC and doinga WC. Thanks for the info and I will pass it on to him.

Humblefish · Jul 23, 2015

Little trick I learned... Before the aquarium lights come on, shine a bright white light at your tank. I think I used a desk lamp so the light would be more focused on one area. In any case, flatworms are attracted to the light and after 2-3 hours they will all congregate to this area. You can then use airline tubing to suck them out. Doesn't get them all but puts a dent in their population.

Like your friend, I've never had much luck using FWE. Sixline wrasse has worked well for me.

hybridazn · Jul 23, 2015

Ooo I like that spotlight trick. I will have to try that!

terri_ann · Jul 24, 2015

Thanks for the info! I will tell him to try that! I'm just afraid that he will use the FWE again and he might crash his tank! Will he use the tubing while the spotlight is on or, wait for his lights to come on? Thanks again!

Humblefish · Jul 24, 2015

terri_ann said:
Will he use the tubing while the spotlight is on or, wait for his lights to come on?

Do the spotlight thing 3-4 hours before the aquarium lights come on (flatworms move slow).

Once the aquarium lights switch on, start sucking them out using the tubing. They won't be able to get away in time (flatworms move slow

).