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Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 12/18/2006 11:05:20 AM
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| Anthony, I have a 37 gallon tank which houses a pair of mated percs. Due to the height of this tank the only corals I have are a bunch of shrooms. I am switching this tank to a 29 gallon. Which is a little shallower but will still fit on my stand and I won't need to replace any of my equipment. I also have an 18 gallon sump which contains live rock. Between the sump and the display I have about 60 lbs of live rock. I use a Remora skimmer which works great. Now for the question. I have a few pesky red flatworms. I have had them for about a year. They never get any worse but they don't get any better either. I have decided to try and rid myself of these while switching tanks. I purchased some flatworm exit from MD (plug for our sponsor). I was going to move the percs to my Qt for the switch. Would I be better off treating the tank and doing the water changes as stated per the directions or can I fill a tub with tank water and flatworm exit and do like a dip ? In the 29 gallon tank I will use new sand so we are mostly talking about my rock and shrooms. It seems kind of wasteful to change all that water and then just tear the tank down to start over with new water and sand. TIA for any help.
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Group: Moderators
Last Login: 11/4/2009 7:08:25 PM
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With all due respect for our sponsor, I would not recommend using a flatworm killing product of any kind. It will kill other desirable life forms and at best is only treating (most?) of this wave of flatworms. The Acoels are so common on live rock, corals, frags etc in the trade that you will get them again. Almostg all of us have them. They wax and wane in some tanks for sometims unclear reasons. But are easily controlled despite popular opinion otherwise  Increasing water flow alone when you already have great skimming does the trick in just a few weeks. Doing a good siphoning or two in the interim accelerates the process. So short of you spreading napalm every few months in your tank to kill of things that are going to come back anyway I'd suggest you put down the flamethrower and just adjust or increase water flow paths. There clearly are dead spots that are allowing these worms to flourish. Bare minimum thjis tank needs 1200 pgh to be in the ballpark. Even without it being a full reef (40-60X flow), you gotta employ at least that much! More is better in this case (solids in suspension, better long term water quality, etc).
. Anthony Calfo
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Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 12/18/2006 11:05:20 AM
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| Thanks for the advice Anthony. To be honest I dont really want to use this product. If I give my rocks a very good blast with a powerhead before moving them to a new tank would that be better than siphoning ? Then adjust or add flow to new tank to cut down on dead spots. My tank is hopping with pods and other tiny critters and I find it hard to believe that you can kill these pesty flatworms without a fair amount of collateral damage. Are you not in favor of dipping new purchases in flatworm exit either? A lot of folks are doing this. As I am sure you know. Thanks again for your help.
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Group: Moderators
Last Login: 11/4/2009 7:08:25 PM
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blasting them will just help them spread my friend  Siphon you must (Yoda voice) As for the "dip" of corals in advance... it's not ideal. Not only does it still do more harm than good with no guarantee of ridding Acoels... but it also blatantly ignores the need for a proper 4-8 week quarantine of all new livestock. So at best you can rid the flatworms but you can still bring in the rampantly infectious parasite, bacteria or virus that kills every living fish in your tank in days/weeks. But the corals will still be "flatworm free." Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight. Oh, joy.
. Anthony Calfo
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Group: Forum Members
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| I understand that ordinarily you dont want to just blast the flatworms however seeing as how I am moving to a new tank wouldnt I be blowing them off the rock before adding the rock to the new tank? Hopefully leaving most of the flatworms behind. As I stated I havent used "flatworm exit" but I think most people who are dipping new purchases are doing so in addition to proper QT not instead of proper QT. I just wanted to know your thoughts on this.
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Group: Moderators
Last Login: 11/4/2009 7:08:25 PM
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| ah... good to hear you believe they are QTing as well. This alone is all thats necessary with standard QT procedure, observationa nd removal/treatments if necessary. Again... the dipping though does far more harm than good. As for your situation, my apologies... I'm answering too briefly (too many posts/ems today for longer replies)... another issue here is noxious exudations from damages/disturbed flatworms. They are a rather toxic group of organisms. No blasting still. I can't think of an example where it would be OK.
. Anthony Calfo
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Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 12/18/2006 11:05:20 AM
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OK, siphoning it will be.  Thank you for your time.
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Group: Moderators
Last Login: 11/4/2009 7:08:25 PM
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| always welcome my friend... and I wondert/fear that I have not adequately conveyed how very serious a thread some reef invertebrates can be to handle. Numerous organisms we keep in our aquaria are highly noxious or toxic (such as sponges and ascidians). They are some of the "worst" on tbe reef in this regard. And motile critters, again, like sea slugs and flatworms can induce severe allergic reactions in humans including extreme respitory discomfort from bare skin contact (such as crushing one with fingers against rock or glass). I have read of aquarists going to the hospital from contact with a single contact. Your red/rust/brown Acoels (typically Wamoa or Convolutriloba species) are not so bad... but still worthy or healthy respect. Please try to always wear gloves when working in aquaria or at least finger cots to reduce contact/exposure.
. Anthony Calfo
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