Bleaching rocks to kill flatworms

Ok. I refuse to give up on my 29 gallon SPS project!!! I will not be beaten by these @#$% flatworms. The population has exploded and I want them gone! I'm considering soaking my rocks in a 20% bleach water solution, but I have a few questions. Will this be enough to kill the worms, both living and eggs? How long should I let is soak? Will draining and rising the rock then letting it soak in freshwater and dechlorinator make the rock safe? Will I need to let the rock dry out? Lastly and not really as important, will it turn my rock white again?

Luckily I only have two clowns and a cuc in the 29. I've ordered stuff to make a sump it but will be using it to plumb a spare 10 gallon into my 40B to make temporary home for my clowns. That should be a fun side project.

Thank you all in advance.

Charlie

 

Have you not tried flatworm exit?

Melevsreef.com - Flatworms | How to eliminate them!

They are not just on the rocks, so, just taking out the rocks and bleaching them, likely they will come back.

 

Yeah...two complete bottles. Before I transferred the rock I actually removed all the rock place it in a spare tank with about 150x flow dosed a whole bottle over the course of 3 days and let it sit for a week longer. Still the worms came back.

edit:
I'd be going with all new sand as well.

 

What kind of flatworms? Red planaria or something else. Often the ones that don't die from FW are not the bad kind and die off on their own if available food/nutrients are kept low enough. If you setup a temp tank for your livestock and bleached everything, including the tank it may work. You'd have to cycle again though and everything. Of course there could be one on a snail shell or something, but it you qt everything long enough you'll probably be okay. Have you tried increasing the FW dosage? Some people need to use more than recommended.
Sorry can't help more...

 

I've quadrupled the dose of FW exit. Thanks for all the quick replies. Maybe I'll give the tank a little more time to settle out. I just hate these flatworms! I hate them more than any other pest I've come across.

That being said, others please chime in. All comments and recommendations are welcome.

 

I try to not bleach anything as much as possible. I boil everything that I need to clean, rocks and sand. A big stock pot works great.

 

Hmmm, the rocks are small enough to put in a big pot. It would take a few batches. Any tips on boiling?

 

Folk lore has reported flatworms that are resistant to FWE. Hmmmm.

There is hope, I would get a damsel and not feed for couple days and see if it starts eating them. I have seen my Yellow Tail Damsel eat the less invasive ones and I know others that have had the problem resolved with introduction of a hunger Blue Damsel or yellow tail.

Any pics?

 

I wouldn't boil the rock, besides stinking up your house, if there are any toxin containing organisms, dinos, cyano, etc... you may aerosol the toxins.

If you really want to kill everything, this will do it:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1914426

Bleach alone should be more than adequate though.

 

I don't have camera capable of taking a quality picture, but a google search and they look very very close to this.