flatworm exit success

[matt]

I treated my tank with flatworm exit today after doing lots of research; there's a several page thread on reefcentral that covers several peoples' experiences with this. I guess the trick is to siphon out as many flatworms as possible before treating, which I spent several hours doing before adding the stuff. Almost immediately after treating, I saw hundreds of more flatworms coming off the rocks and sand, dying quickly. That stuff is really fast; by the time I counted 150 drops in the sump and looked up in the main tank, most of the flatworms had already died. So, I got the siphon out and got rid of them, too. Then, I ran 2 lbs of carbon in a canister I made specifically for this. (about 12" tall 4" diameter acrylic tube completely filled with carbon) This was about 6 hrs ago, so far everything looks normal; at first my anemone retracted quite a bit, but it seems to be back to normal. I'll keep the carbon going for a couple of days. Maybe tomorrow I'll change 30% water.

After hearing the horror stories, and witnessing one, I was pretty apprehensive about treating for flatworms. But, so far, so good.

Matt

[Goofball310]

I personally used flatworm exit a few months ago to treat an out break that I had. The product worked great and I didn't experience any problems. Okay, sorry. I had one. I lost some of my red footed snails, but either than that nothing at all. My clams, acros, lps, softies, and fish were completely normal during the entire event. The only thing is that I had to do the treatment 2-3 times to completely rid myself of them, but still no experienced no problems.

[matt]

Going on 2 days, with not a single sign of any mortality or ill effect by this product. Whew....I re-treated on Sunday, about 24 hrs after the first treatment, because I saw what seemed to be a few straggler-survivor flatworms. This time I ended up using the rest of the bottle. It turns out that there are about 300 drops in a bottle. Several people had posted that they were using 2-3 times the recommended dose (1 drop/gallon) to get all the flatworms, so I went for it.

The unexpected thing is that after running the carbon for 2 days, my water is noticably clearer. It makes sense, but I didn't notice any coloration before. Also, I've run carbon before with a bag in the drain area of the sump, but have never had this kind of result. Of course, this is way more carbon. (2 quarts) For anyone thinking about using flatworm exit, I would suggest doing a search on reefcentral to find "flame*angel" 's long thread about it.

Matt

[Triggerman]

hey matt,

i'm interested in this carbon canister filter you made and how you hooked it up, etc. have any pics?

ray

[matt]

Ray;

No pics, I got no camera! The canister is really simple. It's a 4" diameter tube, 12" long. On one end i just cemented a bottom, and mounted a threaded adapter in it to hold a hose barb. That's the outlet. I also put some eggcrate in that end to hold a piece of fiberglass filter, to keep the carbon in place. On the other end I cemented a flange; all it is is a square piece of acrylic, then I flush trimmed out the middle inside the tube. Then there's a lid, which is the same size square, with another threaded adapter mounted, for input. A few holes for nylon thumbscrews, some rubber for a gasket, some "legs" mounted to the bottom piece so I could have it stand up vertical, and it was finished. I used a mag 7 to push water through it; probably a mag 5 would be better, cause they say that it's a little better to have slower flow through carbon for increased contact time.

I did this out of extruded, because I only intended to use it for this treatment. But, after seeing the new clarity of my water, I'd consider running some carbon through it every couple of months for a day or two.