Flatworm eXit and water changes

[SkinnyPete]

I have been trying to keep my flatworm situation under control, but I finally resorted to flatworm eXit about a half hour ago. They started to die off right away, like after 10 minutes. So, about 15 minutes into it, I syphoned out as many dead bodies off the sand as I could, in the process I probably replaced like 10% of the water (if that). I have about 25% water change still waiting. Any idea how long I should wait before changing out the water? I'm just running carbon right now and my skimmer on high (not sure if that will even help). Should I do a 25% water change NOW, or wait a while. Not sure how long the toxins begin to emerge from the dead worms. I'd hate to change the water right away, just to find that it takes an hour or so for the water to become poluted.

Any help would be....well, helpfu.

- Skins

[Hara]

If you are running fresh carbon, I would wait an hour or two and then siphon more out and replace the water. Do this every couple hours until you have the majority of them. Then do a nice size water change tomorrow.

[SkinnyPete]

Okay, that's actually what I was doing when I posted. I just kept syphoning them off the sand until I ended up doing a total water change of about 50 gallons (I've got about 130 total capacity). It's been about 2 and a half hours since the treatment. I'm running carbon and everything seems fine. I can still see some dead flatworms but I just can't get them all. Corals in inverts all appear to be fine. My only concern is my zebra eel. He's acting a little strange, just laying his head on the sand and isn't doing the mouth open and close motion that he usually does when breathing. He's alive, but he's in an unusual spot, curled up motionless. I'm making another batch of water now, but it won't be ready until tomorrow. I'll do another 50 gallon change tomorrow and hope for the best.

Thanks for the help.

[SeeDemTails]

You brave for using FW eXit...I hope your eel doesnt die!

I would do as many pwc's as you can stand!

[SkinnyPete]

Originally Posted by SeeDemTails

You brave for using FW eXit...I hope your eel doesnt die!

I would do as many pwc's as you can stand!

Didn't really have a choice. I couldn't keep up with them just syphoning them out during water changes. I wasn't comfortable getting a wrasse to eat them because I have a mandarin. They were getting out of control and from what I've heard - it's when they infest your tank that fw exit becomes a problem, well the dead worm toxins become a problem. So, I didn't want to wait until I reached that point. I've spoken to many people over the past month or so, and I think this fw exit just needs to be used exactly as instructed.

My eel was acting normal right after I posted, either a fluke or the water change did the trick. He seems fine. I didn't lose anything (yet). Shrimp, snails, stars, even pods in my fuge, everything seems okay. I'm going to do another 50 gallon change today or tomorrow to make sure.

I think the trick is, syphon out as many as you can, run tons of carbon as soon as they start to die off, then do a large water change a couple hours after dosing, removing as many dead worms as you can - but then again all that is in the instructions.

[SeeDemTails]

I know people who have crashed systems using FW exit.

Im glad you are having good luck with it!

My FW's are easy to keep up with, just syphoning them, but they can be annoying to look at......and from what I heard six lines only eat them sometimes.