Salifert flatworm exit toxic to tangs!

[Rpd457]

I just treated my 120 gallon reef tank with salifert flatworm exit to get rid of the flatworms that were on all of my corals. After reading the instructions carefully, I removed my carbon,and dosed the appropriate amount recommended. I saw an immediate effect on the worms, lots of movement attempting to get away. I began siphoning the moving worms out and after an hour noticed my 6" purple tang was gasping for air. I immediately returned carbon to the tank and did a large water change, but by then it was too late. I lost my purple tang, a naso and a sailfin tang. All were over 10 years old and were huge. Wish I had seen something earlier that said it was toxic to tange, would have never used it!!!!!

 

[twilliard]

To give a better understanding of FWE it is non toxic.
Now based on the population of your flatworm and amount dosed it was the flatworm that killed your fish.
These guys, the flatworm, are highly toxic when treated with FWE
They (depending on species) release a mucus in high numbers that is detrimental.
I am sorry for your fish loss
May I ask what species of flatworm you have?

Also your o2 level may have tanked but IMO not likely the culprit

 

[melypr1985]

Agreed. I wouldn't think O2 depletion would have happened that badly that it would kill only the tangs. Toxins from the dieing flatworms are more likely. Did any of your other fish exhibit any issues? Heavy breathing, lethargy?

 

[Rpd457]

To give a better understanding of FWE it is non toxic.
Now based on the population of your flatworm and amount dosed it was the flatworm that killed your fish.
These guys, the flatworm, are highly toxic when treated with FWE
They (depending on species) release a mucus in high numbers that is detrimental.
I am sorry for your fish loss
May I ask what species of flatworm you have?

Also your o2 level may have tanked but IMO not likely the culprit

 

[Rpd457]

all other fish seemed fine and i siphoned out and scooped out many of the dying worms, which are small pink and red worms on all my corals. Can't see how that could have happened so fast ,did big water change and put carbon back quickly. Don't think it should be used with tangs ever,totally not worth it.

 

[twilliard]

Red planaria
Highly toxic when treated.
How many flatworm have survived?
Here is a thread that is non toxic approach
This is what I do

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/peroxide-and-the-use-against-flatworm.228032/

 

[mfinn]

To give a better understanding of FWE it is non toxic.
Now based on the population of your flatworm and amount dosed it was the flatworm that killed your fish.
These guys, the flatworm, are highly toxic when treated with FWE
They (depending on species) release a mucus in high numbers that is detrimental.
I am sorry for your fish loss
May I ask what species of flatworm you have?

Also your o2 level may have tanked but IMO not likely the culprit

I agree. I've used FWE on small populations of flat worms in a tank with 4 tangs and didn't have a problem.

Sorry you lost those fish. It's a bummer when you loose a fish that you've had for years.

 

[Humblefish]

First off, very sorry to hear about your fish. It really sucks to have fish that long and then lose them to something like this.

I've used FWE with tangs in the past without issues. However, I always siphon out a bunch of flatworms beforehand by shining a bright focused white light at the front of the tank. When the aquariums lights are off, the flatworms will congregate to this area and you can suck them out before using FWE. So, what FWE kills is just the stragglers left behind which equals less toxins in the water. However, I still run fresh carbon in a reactor 30-45 mins after dosing FWE.

 

[Triggreef]

I've also used it with 6 tangs in a 200g and about 30 fish total at the time, not a single issue. I also had the red planaria and I siphon as many as possible prior to dosing. Then a half hour later, 30g water change and fresh carbon. I also dosed way over the recommended amount because I still had worms slithering around when I dosed the regular amount. So I kept going until they were dead but I wouldn't be able to tell you exactly how much I overdosed it by.

Do you have a sump? Was it running through the time you dosed? I would think that would be sufficient to keep 02 in the water.

 

[CountrySideCoral]

Tangs are high energy fish. With low O2 and toxics entering the tank tank via dying flatworms the tangs likely panicked and swam around and suffocated. I would imagine anthias would suffer the same fate if toxins reached a high enough level. I use flatworm exit not within my tank but in a cup to contain the toxin

 

[RalphsReef]

I learned my lesson many years ago when I underestimated the amount of flatworms that were in a tank. I treated it with FWE and lost almost every fish. The effects were immediate and severe. Now, I use a freshwater dip on rocks without coral, and siphon out as many flatworms as possible now before treating. If you can get your live rock out, the freshwater dip only takes a second and the flatworms are history.

 

[Rpd457]

thanks for all your posts and advice, I siphoned out as many flatworms as I saw right after dosing ,did not see that many ,but I must have had many more than I thought. Did a large water change and ran carbon, but probably waited too long after dosing,tangs were already in distress. Wont do that again for sure, would rather have kept the worms and my tangs!!!

 

[RalphsReef]

Unfortunately, siphoning after the fact is "too little, too late." I tried the same thing. I could smell the water getting nasty as soon as the FW's started to die. Right after that, the fish starting dying. The FW's aren't actually that bad in the grand scheme of things. I doubt anyone would intentionally add them to their tank, but they are easier to cope with that acre eating flatworms, monti eating nudibranchs and red bugs.

 

[Mike810]

I know this is an old thread. I just dosed fwe tonight to treat my 360 gallon tank. I only saw one red flatworm a few days ago and decided to dose before they got out of hand. I blew off all the rocks and siphoned. Really didn't see any but treated anyways since seeing one means there's more somewhere.

Literally not even 30 seconds after dosing fwe, I see my Achilles tang laying on the sand gasping for air and 30 seconds later it was gone. I'm devasted, all other fish including tangs looked okay so I waited the 30 mins then added carbon with a water change.

I'm so confused and frustrated right now. Fwe killed my Achilles tang in less then a minute of dosing. At the same time I'm relieved it wasn't my gem tang or interruptus angel. The Achilles looked like it was paralyzed, its fins were completely extended as if it were flashing as it died.

 

[Christoph]

Mike, very sorry to hear that!! - Im very sorry for your loss! Thanks for posting this, since it will be very valuable information for others.

Its very likely that the active ingredient in FWE directly killed your tang, the time span was too short for secondary poisoning due to flatworms excreting toxins.

We always have to keep in mind that individuals react very different to chemicals. Same for humans, most are doing fine with a certain medication (for example aspirin), but a very small percentage is developing live threatening symptoms upon administration. Of course same is true for fish, certain individuals might have an allergic response to certain chemicals. Also metabolism rates of individual fish differ rendering them more or less suspectible to a certain substance. In my eyes no medication can be called 100% safe since there will always be those saddening exceptions.

all the best,
Christoph