Flatworm exit to remove predatory worm?

[GoFish]

I have a predator worm in a rock (oenone fulgida) just trying to get rid of him and perhaps it's babies. I tried taking the rock out and pouring club soda all over the rock as per a LFS staff suggestion, nadda. Then tried electrocuting the rock with a 12 v car charger at 15 amps for 5 minutes in a bucket of water, nada. I know it's in there.

Now. Just started reading about ridding flatworms and it seems like some people are saying that other worms and brittle stars died using the product? If so perfect, I can just take the rock out and place it in a bucket and treat that rock?

[gregzz4]

I can just take the rock out and place it in a bucket and treat that rock?
Why not just try placing the rock in a bucket of RO and wait for it to come out ?

No chems needed and such ...
Good luck

[sphelps]

What's the rock worth? Why not just toss it and cut your loses?

[GoFish]

If anyone who reads this has or will have worms they want rid of in the future, please dont flush them down the toilet, drain or storm systems... Saw a post recently about someone sending a worm on a one way trip to the sea... Thats not funny or proper...

The electrocution method was done in RODI water (didn't want to add current to salt water), 5 mins of electrocution and about 5 or 10 mins of scratching my head. Maybe longer would do? The club soda bath was about 10 minutes or so and even used a 50 ml syringe blasting any holes I could find.

After catching 4 of them a while ago in another tank (with a homemade trap) I left them in a glass of tap water on the counter for 4 days, changing 50% of the water once a day, just to see how long they would survive. On the 4th day they were still alive, gave up the experiment due to smelly water, wrapped them in toilet paper and tossed in the trash.

They've killed 2 fish in the past and many snails so pardon my complete lack of respect for them living.

[GoFish]

What's the rock worth? Why not just toss it and cut your loses?
The cost means little to me, would definitely prefer to keep it though, the rock is about 3/4 of a soccer ball in size and has a nice shape to it. If I toss the rock, the worm wins, I don't wanna lose to a worm, too stubborn

[hillegom]

How about you put the LR in a 5 gal pail without water overnight. Maybe the worm will come out looking for water?
I like the idea or putting the rock into ro water.

[straightrazorguy]

Electrocuting it won't work if it is inside the rock. Electrical charges travel on the outside of the rock only....

[GoFish]

Took the rock out and let it sit in 10 cups of RO and 10 ml of coral dip (precision solutions) for 1 hour. Killed 3 bristle worms, 30 brittle stars and 50 baby snails. No Oneone Fulgida. Then shook the rock around in a bucket of NSWdropping off some more dead snails brittle stars etc, and put it back in the tank
It either didn't die and is still hiding, or died and can't flush it out, or it moved rocks overnight and wasn't in there.

Will have a look for it when the lights go out

I'd leave it out overnight or take more drastic measures like that but I want to put the rock back in and not kill off everything as the tank may not be large enough to handle a mass die off of all bacteria, algaes etc.

[TimT]

I'd leave it out overnight or take more drastic measures like that but I want to put the rock back in and not kill off everything as the tank may not be large enough to handle a mass die off of all bacteria, algaes etc.

Since you soaked it in RODI water when you tried to electrocute it that will kill the algaes and bacteria. I would suspect the rock will cause a mini cycle from the die off.
Since you have already nuked the life on the rock then you can try soaking it in 50% hydrogen peroxide and 50% tankwater for an hour or more.
The easiest method is to just leave it out in the rain for a week or more. Then cycle it in a bucket for a month or so. The coralline etc will grow back.

The electrocution method was done in RODI water (didn't want to add current to salt water)

It is the minerals in the water that conduct electricity and not the water itself. RO/DI water is non conductive, ie conductivity or TDS = 0. I have seen people put computers(motherboard etc) in RO/DI water and run them. NEVER MIX ELECTRICITY AND SALTWATER!!!

Glad your still alive.

Cheers,
Tim

[NickC]

I know of someone else who had a problem with the worm im thinking your talking about he ended up taking the rock out and sawing it in half to remove the worm. Once he did that he found the worm and it was 3-4 feet long burrowed in the rock.

Sent from my SGH-I257M using Tapatalk

[asylumdown]

It's worth a shot, but if you were going to dose at a concentration required to kill anything other than flatworms, you shouldn't do it in your main system. I was able to kill AEFW at between 100-500 times the recommended dose for a tank, and at that concentration all the pods immediately expired as well. Not sure what effect if would have on a much larger, arguably more complex animal like the worms you're dealing with. My suspicion is that it likely won't work (flatworms are about as related to the worms you're dealing with as I am to a lizard), but if you're at your wits end there's no reason not to try it.

[GoFish]

It is the minerals in the water that conduct electricity and not the water itself. RO/DI water is non conductive, ie conductivity or TDS = 0. I have seen people put computers(motherboard etc) in RO/DI water and run them. NEVER MIX ELECTRICITY AND SALTWATER!!!

Ahhh, guess that's why the current readout on the charger didn't change a bit. A motherboard running in water?! Crazy! Just taught me something, thanks!

Didn't see it last night, may give it a few days back in the tank. Will then try to flush the holes out with a syringe to see if dead worm slime comes out, if not it may still be alive. Next step will be flatworm exit, and if that doesn't work, then the rock is coming out for a while...

[christyf5]

flatworm exit or any flatworm remover will likely not kill your worm. flatworms have a very thin skin and they easily transmit the FWE across their skin and into their systems, killing them. The worm you have is armored and very thick skinned. I had one of these worms in my system about 8 years ago and it was 2 feet long. My method was removal of the rock it lived in and then chiseling the rock apart to get the worm out (broke the rock into 3 pieces, it was annoying but then so was losing fish/corals to the stupid worm). Letting the rock dry out will take forever as if the rock is quite porous there will still be a lot of moisture in it for the worm to survive. I'd say the hydrogen peroxide/water mix method may be your best bet but if the worm is really holed up in there you will have to wait quite awhile to cycle the rock with the decomposing worm in it before you can return it to your tank.