AEFW Chronicle
- Thread starter Gondore
- Start date
I noticed something sort of interesting today. One of the flatworms has crawled onto the glass. I noticed this about two days ago. What is interesting though is that it layed eggs today.
Here is a picture:
I am debating whether to remove both the worm and the eggs now or to wait and see how long it takes the egg to hatch for future reference. I haven't found a source anywhere online that states this information.
Here is a picture:
I am debating whether to remove both the worm and the eggs now or to wait and see how long it takes the egg to hatch for future reference. I haven't found a source anywhere online that states this information.
Fireworm
New member
Might as well, you are already on a schedule, what is another week if need be.
have you thought about just dipping the corals and cutting the base to speed up the time to put them back into your tank?
I thought I read or heard that they only lay eggs on the base of the coral, if so it might be a thought to put the corals through as little stress as possible.
have you thought about just dipping the corals and cutting the base to speed up the time to put them back into your tank?
I thought I read or heard that they only lay eggs on the base of the coral, if so it might be a thought to put the corals through as little stress as possible.
Alright, I just finished up dipping the first time through. I used TMPCC for the first dip at just slighty above the recommended dosage. Here are the steps I followed. I started by borrowing three containers from my wife (containers she said are now "fish" containers only).
The containers are shown here:
The one to the far right is the dipping container.
I added 1200 ml of tank water to this container and then added seven squirts of TMPCC (recommended is one squirt per 200 ml)
I did the corals in batches. The main reason for this is because every coral had to be inspected for eggs. If I dipped all my corals at once then some would have remained in the solution for probably at least an hour while the others got inspected. Instead I broke it into four batches. Each batch was dipped for 20 min. in TPMCC.
Corals being dipped in TPMCC:
Once the 20 min. was up each coral was removed one by one and swished violenty around in the second container which contained tank water. After swishing the coral I thoroughly inspected the coral for eggs with a magnifying glass (purchased this from Office Depot and it's awesome because it has a built-in light). I was surprised to discover a lot more of these worms/eggs than I had expected. Roughly six corals had worms that actually fell off of them in the dip and about eight of the corals had eggs at their bases. I removed several of the bases that contained more than 4 sacs of eggs. One coral in particuliar probably had 10 sacs of eggs at it's base. It appears these worms spread faster than I initially thought.
Here is a picture that shows some of the worms dead in the solution:
The entire process took me three hours to complete. I honestly can't imagine individuals who have entire colonies in their tanks doing this...it's a LOT of work.
I will try and post some pictures of the corals tomorrow to show the effect of the first dip.
The containers are shown here:
The one to the far right is the dipping container.
I added 1200 ml of tank water to this container and then added seven squirts of TMPCC (recommended is one squirt per 200 ml)
I did the corals in batches. The main reason for this is because every coral had to be inspected for eggs. If I dipped all my corals at once then some would have remained in the solution for probably at least an hour while the others got inspected. Instead I broke it into four batches. Each batch was dipped for 20 min. in TPMCC.
Corals being dipped in TPMCC:
Once the 20 min. was up each coral was removed one by one and swished violenty around in the second container which contained tank water. After swishing the coral I thoroughly inspected the coral for eggs with a magnifying glass (purchased this from Office Depot and it's awesome because it has a built-in light). I was surprised to discover a lot more of these worms/eggs than I had expected. Roughly six corals had worms that actually fell off of them in the dip and about eight of the corals had eggs at their bases. I removed several of the bases that contained more than 4 sacs of eggs. One coral in particuliar probably had 10 sacs of eggs at it's base. It appears these worms spread faster than I initially thought.
Here is a picture that shows some of the worms dead in the solution:
The entire process took me three hours to complete. I honestly can't imagine individuals who have entire colonies in their tanks doing this...it's a LOT of work.
I will try and post some pictures of the corals tomorrow to show the effect of the first dip.
LOVETHISHOBBY
New member
I hope you don't loose too many frags, hopefully none. Thanks for sharing with everyone on the progress.
melev - Thanks to you for all your great information. I can't even count the number of times I have visited your site to read up on all kinds of things from sumps to AEFWs.
mojo46825 - Thanks Jesse. Hopefully someone can benefit from the information in the future.
LOVETHISHOBBY - Yeah, I am really hoping I don't lose any of my more expensive frags. It will be interesting to see how everything is looking today after being dipped the first time.
mojo46825 - Thanks Jesse. Hopefully someone can benefit from the information in the future.
LOVETHISHOBBY - Yeah, I am really hoping I don't lose any of my more expensive frags. It will be interesting to see how everything is looking today after being dipped the first time.
JCR's Reef
New member
Just a thought, but what if you where to put your mandarin in the qt for a few days. Maybe he'll eat them. I know they eat flat worms.
Yeah the egg removal is sort of tough. I used a tooth pick and a towel. I noticed the worms rarely lay the eggs on the coral itself, they tend to prefer the plug. This makes we think that in tank dipping is almost pointless because you will be leaving behind hundreds of eggs on the live rock in most cases.
After reading a good amount about fish that eat these worms, certain types of wrasses seem to be the best. My opinion is that these fish will not choose to eat the worms though unless they don't have any other options. This means you would pretty much have to starve the fish. I have read a little bit about mandarins and flatworms, but I think you stand a better chance with wrasses. Either way I shouldn't really need anything in the QT tank because the worms will be eliminated by the dips (at least I am hoping so).
I managed to snap a few pictures tonight before the lights went out. With my poor photography skills and my crappy camera it's hard to tell the exact color of the corals, but hopefully you can get the general idea.
Overall, the corals look pretty good after the initial dip. I expect some of them will really start to look better now that I have killed the majority of the worms eating them. There are a few of the corals that are stressing some. My green slimer has had a rough move overall. It started off when I used the bone cutters to remove him from my live rock. My wife was supposed to have caught him but unfortantely missed and he ended up falling through a frogspawn and a mushroom leather...poor guy. Consider what he has gone through though he still looks descent.
While the sps corals are on vacation in the quaratine tank I plan to make a few upgrades to my display tank. I am going to start by adding two Drew's dosing pumps (on special at bulkreefsupply this last weekend) to automate my 2 part dosing. I think this will provide a little more stability in the system and we will allow me to be away a day or two without having to worry about getting someone to watch the tank. I am also considering redoing my sump and upgrading to the MSX 200 and starting on Prodibio. I am still researching both of these options so we will see what happens.
Overall, the corals look pretty good after the initial dip. I expect some of them will really start to look better now that I have killed the majority of the worms eating them. There are a few of the corals that are stressing some. My green slimer has had a rough move overall. It started off when I used the bone cutters to remove him from my live rock. My wife was supposed to have caught him but unfortantely missed and he ended up falling through a frogspawn and a mushroom leather...poor guy. Consider what he has gone through though he still looks descent.
While the sps corals are on vacation in the quaratine tank I plan to make a few upgrades to my display tank. I am going to start by adding two Drew's dosing pumps (on special at bulkreefsupply this last weekend) to automate my 2 part dosing. I think this will provide a little more stability in the system and we will allow me to be away a day or two without having to worry about getting someone to watch the tank. I am also considering redoing my sump and upgrading to the MSX 200 and starting on Prodibio. I am still researching both of these options so we will see what happens.
I purchased it from here:
http://www.blackrockreef.com/products-5.html
The rack is awesome quality but a bit expensive for what you get.
Well...I do have two updates. First, I built another frag rack with eggcrate from Menards and PVC. I will post pictures this weekend when I dip again. Secondly, the eggs that were laid on Sunday have still not hatched. It will going to be interesting to see how long it takes this to hatch because it will give me a better idea of the lifecycle of this pests.
I am still searching for Levimasole. I called a vet in Grabill and they contacted two of the manufacturers and it appears that they aren't making any of this product until at least January. This means I will probably resort to do all my dips with TMPCC. I believe I should be fine going this route if I stick to seven dips or so.
On another note, I installed two dosing pumps today for my two part. I will also post pictures of this over the weekend in another thread.
I am still searching for Levimasole. I called a vet in Grabill and they contacted two of the manufacturers and it appears that they aren't making any of this product until at least January. This means I will probably resort to do all my dips with TMPCC. I believe I should be fine going this route if I stick to seven dips or so.
On another note, I installed two dosing pumps today for my two part. I will also post pictures of this over the weekend in another thread.
Fireworm
New member
can't wait to see the pics.
I didn't think about it before, but there are a few farmers that I work with. I am not sure if any of them have any of the Levimasole, but I will ask this weekend to see what I can find out. How much of that will you need? Does this come in a liquid, or is it a pill that you will have to crush? Until you started this thread, I had never even heard of it.
Did you try the vet in busco yet, just to see if they had any? or even a vet in Kendalville? Just throwing out ideas.
I didn't think about it before, but there are a few farmers that I work with. I am not sure if any of them have any of the Levimasole, but I will ask this weekend to see what I can find out. How much of that will you need? Does this come in a liquid, or is it a pill that you will have to crush? Until you started this thread, I had never even heard of it.
Did you try the vet in busco yet, just to see if they had any? or even a vet in Kendalville? Just throwing out ideas.
Levimasole usually comes in powder form that is water soluable. I would probably just need a couple grams of it. The calculations to determine dosage are somewhat complex and depend on the % of active ingredient.
The only way another vet would have this product is if they already had it in their inventory which seems unlikely. It might be worth a try though.
The only way another vet would have this product is if they already had it in their inventory which seems unlikely. It might be worth a try though.
