:( Red Flatworms! Salifert eXit Experience

[pterfloth]

Damn it! I have red bugs, ie. red planaria. Well, I have an infestation of red bugs. :(. I have siphoned as many out as I can find and am planning a treatment with Salifert eXit tomorrow. I have read several articles about it and will have lots of carbon and mixed water ready.

Anyone able to pass on any more helpful hints/advice?

[Frenchie2]

I had the same problem almost 2 months ago... I was going to use the Melafix Marine but I voted against it.. Decided to go naturally: Got a yellow wrasse, a mandarin dragonet and I siphon the tank /water change (10%)every week. The 2 fish are pretty fat now and are working great. I have less and less flatworms. Try this first and if it doesn't work, then try the "chemical way"...

[BlueTang<3]

heart interceptors work as well get from any vet and only thing they harm are shrimp

[zazzoo]

i did interceptor 3 doses and my shrimps did not die

[marie]

To keep things straight, red bugs is the common name for the pod that is an acro parasite....inteceptor kills these things.

Flatworms (AKA red planaria) are harmless but unsightly and are killed by salifert flatworm exit....unfortunately when killed flatworms release toxins that can seriously damage your tank inhabitants so it's a good idea to siphon as many as possible out before using "exit"

[christyf5]

I would siphon out as many as possible prior to treating. Then do the treatment, if you don't see any dying within the first 15 mins or so I would add more. I never have much success with the dosage on the package so I usually go to town with the stuff. I siphon the flatworms out as they die, they form mucousy strings and sort of float. Let it go for about 45-60 mins or so, then run carbon and do a waterchange. I don't know if either of that is required but I'd rather the stuff not stick around in my tank.

I don't recall ever treating my large tank, just my nano which I can't remember if it had fish in it at the time, make sure you have a few powerheads pointed at the surface for aeration just in case.

Other than that I think you're pretty much set!

Oh and +1 on the wrasse, I had a melanurus wrasse that kept the tank flatworm free but some of the yellow coris wrasses and other wrasses have been reported to eat them, might save you from having to treat the tank again.:biggrin:

[George]

I read a tip somewhere regarding how to determine the dosage of flatworm exit. Use a bucket and fill it with 1 gallon of tank water. Siphon out some live flatworms and put them in the bucket. Then dose flatworm exit drop by drop and count how many drops does it take to kill the worms. Stir the water between drops. Multiply the drops by your tank volume and you get the dosage. The reason you need this procedure is that some people say they need a lot more than the recommended dosage to kill their worms.

[pterfloth]

To keep things straight, red bugs is the common name for the pod that is an acro parasite....inteceptor kills these things.

Flatworms (AKA red planaria) are harmless but unsightly and are killed by salifert flatworm exit....unfortunately when killed flatworms release toxins that can seriously damage your tank inhabitants so it's a good idea to siphon as many as possible out before using "exit"

Thanks for the clarification Marie. Wasn't sure if red planaria or AEFW were the red bugs one hears about. These planaria sure do multiply fast. Last week I saw nothing. This week patches all over.

Thanks to all for their input. I'll post my results tomorrow. I'll be looking for a yellow or melanarus wrasse as well. I have a Christmas Tree wrasse but that didn't seem to help.

[s.tan]

I had a planaria outbreak a couple of weeks ago in a 14 gallon nano. I followed the instructions on the Flatworm exit which included siphoning out as many planaria as possible and I used the recommended dosage. The dosage seemed to be fine since I haven't seen any planaria since. I also followed up with some charcoal and a water change a few hours after treatment. I didn't experience any losses of livestock and I still have spaghetti worms in my sand. I think using the Flatworm exit soon after I noticed the outbreak prevented the population from exploding so there was less toxin produced to deal with in the end.

[Reef_kid]

about 6 years ago i had a really horrible outbreak in my 145 gallon reef it was infested!
i got a whip tail fairy wrasse. He ate them all in about a month. I think they are a good
fish to use for control and they are reef safe. i didn't have to syphon or add chemicals:)

[pterfloth]

I treated my 200 gal SPS tank with Salifert eXit today. Prior to adding the eXit I siphoned out as many flatworms as I could find. I then threw 1.5 liters of carbon into a fresh 100 micron filter bag than all my return runs into in my sump and refilled my Phosban 150 with carbon to the max. I gradually added a whole bottle of eXit, good for up to 300 gal according to the instructions, into the tank. Flatworms began to die immediately and I spent the next two hours collecting them with a net.

All in all there were hundreds of dead flatworms collected. None of my livestock, fish, snails, shrimp and crabs or my SPS or LPS seemed to suffer. I am happy and relieved. I plan to treat the tank again next weekend just to be safe.