Help please with qt tank and flatworm

[ruha456]

I'm setting up a quarantine tank. In it I will have no rock and no sand so my question is do I have to cycle the tank? I'm doing this because i am battling flatworm that i got from not dipping frags when i purchased them, ( lesson learned ) so needless to say I'm going to treat my tank with flatworm exit by salifert. In the qt tank I want to put my two clowns, pistol shrimp, and my frags which are three torches, one rbta, one hammer and half dozen frags of zoo. I also have a feather duster and small clean up crew. Can anyone give me advice on this battle I have ahead of me. I hope I'm headed in the right direction with my plan. Once I qt I will treat my main display my 16G Nuvo with the salifert as the directions state and then put all livestock back once tank is back to normal. I have carbon and HOB filters ready aside from skimmer and tons of water to change. Any advice is helpful. Thanks in advance.

 

[KathyC]

I assume you are going to use Flatworm Exit to rid the tank of the flatworms, why are you removing all of your fish & corals?
They can stay in the tank during the treatment.
Follow the directions on the package - carefully & FULLY - and you should be fine.

 

[ruha456]

Thanks for quick reply Kathy, yes I am going to use the Salifert Flatworm exit just a lil afraid to loose my clowns and corals with the toxins the flatworms release and figured taking everything out and treating the tank alone would be best for live stock. What do you think? Have you ever dealt with or know anyone who's had flatworm before?

 

[skene]

IF you read the directions and follow properly... you should have no issues with fish or coral.

 

[piranhapat]

Best to keep coral in. Just in case eggs or flatworm on coral.

 

[thirty6]

i used flatworm exit on tank with livestock and didnt have any issues. like previously stated just follow directions. i also agree with above with regard to keeping corals in to rid them of eggs or hidden fw.
might be good idea to have a good amount of water (surplus) available for water changes too. i was able to siphon most of the fw out with ease as they were in the back of aquarium mostly

 

[greybolt03]

I had them a few years ago got them from not dipping too..... When I found out I had them was right before I was getting ready to move so I ended up using all the tank water to keep my fish and corals in in plastic bins moved the tank dipped my live rock and corals in separate buckets fith FW exit in it then dipped in fresh salt water to wash off any flatworms.
Then placed into display havent seen one in over 2 years...

 

[ruha456]

Thanks for advice guys just ordered flatworm exit from drfoster&smith an a hob filter for carbon and extra filtration, gonna leave everything in there and try to follow directions ill keep you guys posted. Thanks again stuff will be here in a week or maybe two with all this snow.

 

[KathyC]

Thanks for quick reply Kathy, yes I am going to use the Salifert Flatworm exit just a lil afraid to loose my clowns and corals with the toxins the flatworms release and figured taking everything out and treating the tank alone would be best for live stock. What do you think? Have you ever dealt with or know anyone who's had flatworm before?

I've had to do it twice(different tanks).
It is a good product, but as stated you need to follow the directions carefully and have new SW made up and ready to go along with carbon. If you have one it's a good idea to use a powerhead that you can direct flow inside & behind your aquascaping to blow the dea flatworms out intp the open once they start to die off.
I also used a brine shrimp net to net them out of the tank as they died.
(the holes in a regular net are too large and they can slip through)

DO be sure to siphon out as many as possible before you even begin with the product. You have far more flatworms than you think you have - the majority of them are hiding under and behind your rock.
Not everyone is successful in getting a siphon going to remove the live ones first..you can simply stir up the tank and net a bunch of them out if you can get them into the water column.

You should plan the treatment for a day that you will be home ALL day so that you can keep an eye on the tank (yeah, it's a little stressful pouring a chemical that kills into your tank..but it will be fine if you follow the directions!)

You may find that you might need to use more of the product than the instructions state, BUT do start with the initial suggested dose and be sure to base it on the ACTUAL gallons in your tank (less the rock & sand), not what the tank says it holds.

Do let us know how it turns out!! Good luck!

 

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

I had flatworms and my malanarus wrasse nuke them!!

 

[ruha456]

Thanks Kathy ill have to look for something else to scoop em out with as of now all I have are my syphon hose and turkey baster.

 

[ruha456]

I had flatworms and my malanarus wrasse nuke them!!

Would try that Salt but my tank is 16 Gallons great looking fish though.

 

[saltwaterinbrooklyn]

On ok gotcha

 

[Nic-reefs]

Am with saltwater on this one just get a wrasse

 

[KathyC]

Am with saltwater on this one just get a wrasse

His tank is too small for a wrasse at 16 gallons.