Flat Worms

Fish are great Flatworm eaters if they are hungry enough. Besides the Six-line, other fish that eat flatworms are Yellow-tail Blue Damsels, Mandarins and some other wrasses, one especially good wrasse whose name I don't recall now, but I believe it starts with the letter M.

Show us your tank by posting a few pics. It could  help us help you.
To get fish to eat things like Flatworms, it is sometimes necessary to stop the feeding. Let them go hungry and they will search for other food in the tank.

There is another medication, much cheaper than FW Exit. It is a pig medication called Levamisole.

When using any medication, we have found that it is better to utilize a sequence of increasingly larger doses. I have discussed this here on the MB many times regarding Flatworm Exit. Basically you start with a 10% dosage (1 drop FW Exit per 10 gallons) and see if the flatworms start to wiggle and move around. If they don't show signs of irritation in about 5-10 minutes, add another 10% dosage. When you see some flatworms releasing their hold and floating around the tank, wait 30-45 minutes and then add a bag of AC (Activated Carbon) in a place of good flow, typically this is near an intake or if you have a HOB filter use that. Don't use a so called "AC Reactor" That works too slowly.
The next day remove the AC and repeat the procedure above. This dosage will probably reach 50% before the remaining flatworms start to die. Repeat this each day until the dosage has reached 100-200% and no flatworms are left.
Don't forget to add the AC after the last, largest dosage.

There are two extremely important reasons for using Flatworm Exit according to this slow dosage procedure rather than the manufacturers directions.

1. ** Some tanks have so many flatworms, many of them hidden, that the full dosage overwhelms the tank with dead flatworms releasing lethal toxins into the water and even with major water changes, fish and coral may be lost. The slow dosing procedure puts NO fish or coral at risk of death.
2. The trouble and effort of siphoning flatworms and doing a massive water change is completely unnecessary with the slow dosing method.


Edited by Mark Peterson - February 25 2009 at 10:28am

I took all of my zoos out and put them in my nano, are there any more corals i should take out.  I have frog spawn, feather duster, leathers (cant remove), Leaf Plate Montipora, flower pot, and candy cane.

Removed coral? Why?
Unless you dipped those coral in freshwater or medicated water to remove all flatworms, you have flatworms now contaminating the nano tank as well.

Melev's added notes from Salifert at the very bottom of the page exactly mirror what I recommend doing from the very start. To slowly increase the dosage until the flatworms react. This is a very sensible way to do it. Rather than using the full dosage and having to be prepared for a crisis in the tank because of too many flatworms dieing at once, simply use the slow dosage method described above.
I promise it works. It is safer and less trouble than having to siphon flatworms and do a massive water change.
Too many people have had things die in their tanks when they followed the manufaturers directions. Play it safe, use the slow dosage method.

But again, it's not necessary to remove the coral or the dead flatworms.
I've been at this hobby a long time and have found ways to make it simpler, less hassle, less expensive and a lot more fun. Honest, I have.

So how do you suggest treating the levimosole?

We believe that Flatworm exit is a formulation of Levamisole. Start with a low amount of Levamisole and wait to see the Flatworms start to wiggle. From there on just follow the procedure in my post above.

how long after the last dose do you leave the carbon in?