AEFW experiments and study

FWIW I am also following along and enjoy the updates. I am a scientist as well and know these things take time ;)
 
ritter6788 said:
I'm having the exact opposite experience in my tank. My millis were devastated by AEFW. Heavily infested with eggs and flesh was being eaten off the millis in places. I could see bite marks and PE was horrible. The smooth skinned Acros are not showing any signs of AEFW.
Click to expand...
+1 I think . They don't seem to bother my smooth skin types as much.

Regarding the redbugs fighting AEFW... that's interesting. I have both but it's hard for me to find a flatworm. I may try dipping at night. Maybe they hide off the coral in the day. I did a flatworm exit for planaria that may have reduced the smaller AEFW population. I've never seen any more than 2-3 mm.
 
SaltWater226 said:
hmmmmm, 4 months and no reports? did they give up?
Click to expand...

No. Those of us that put money to the project got an update. It's an open access project so I think I can re post the notes here:

July up-date

Hello All,

While Cat is busy getting a second AEFW tank set up ready for experiments on the life cycle, I am researching current ways in which other problematic flatworms are being controlled, and getting ideas to find new and effective ways to control AEFW.

The current way that doctors and vets are treating flatworm infections (e.g. tapeworms and blood flukes that affect over 300 million people, killing over 280,000 people per year in Africa alone, and which cause enormous economic losses to cattle farmers) is the drug praziquantel. However, based on the recent availability of genomic data from flatworm species, researchers are identifying flatworm specific molecules that will be the target of new therapeutic drugs - this will hopefully mean that when we have sequenced the mRNA of the AEFW we can find these flatworm specific genes and look for ways to disrupt their activity without affecting the biology of the other reef creatures - this is a long term aim!

In the short term, once we have described the AEFW life cycle, we will try treatments to eradicate them from the corals and I am reading the scientific literature and creating a spreadsheet of treatments people have used against other problematic flatworms such as garlic, formaldehyde, freshwater etc.

I am working with Prof Joerg Wiedenmann (National Oceanographic Centre, Southampton, UK) to write grants so that a team of us can go and study the AEFW in it’s native environment to see what is eating it in the wild - once we have the funding for this work, these data might give us some ideas as to possible biological controls to keep AEFW numbers down in reef tanks.

Once Cat has the second AEFW tank stabilized (a lot of work - as you'll all appreciate!), there will be more data coming in on the life cycle and I’ll return to Texas to collect material for mRNA sequencing and hatchling morphology.

Thanks for your patience and interest!
Kate
 
Still going on. Just in a period of maintenance at the moment. Keeping AEFW and the Acropora both alive and heathy is proving to be an incredibly difficult balancing act. I'll be writing a longer update in a week or so.
 
That is great to hear your still at it. I been battling AEFW for about a yr now. Its getting easier now since I know its flatworms that was leaving a skeleton cementary in my tank. I still have them but all my sps are starting to grow faster than the flatworm damage. I started dipping them with this solution that claims it kills the eggs too. Lets hope for the best.
 
Saltwater226 please keep us posted if you notice a difference with that stuff. What is it that claims it kills the eggs?
 
Don't bother with Praziquantel , I've tried it in super high doses as a trial long dip before and it has no effect. I've also used it couple with Milbemycin oxime in the form of Milbemax as a long in tank treatment, again no dice , if anything the infestation got worse at the time I tried it some years ago.
 
Coral RX won't do much for AEFW at all unfortunately. Might get some of them off, but not all and has no effect on eggs.
 
tektite said:
Coral RX won't do much for AEFW at all unfortunately. Might get some of them off, but not all and has no effect on eggs.
Click to expand...
I respectfully disagree. I used Coral Rx to help defeat my issues with AEFW.

However, I did also implement the superglue method to rid the corals of eggs.

In conjunction with other control methods, Coral Rx did help. :D
 
reef bloke said:
Don't bother with Praziquantel , I've tried it in super high doses as a trial long dip before and it has no effect. I've also used it couple with Milbemycin oxime in the form of Milbemax as a long in tank treatment, again no dice , if anything the infestation got worse at the time I tried it some years ago.
Click to expand...

How long did you treat? I have heard of people using 3weeks of doses and no more AEFW. I myself have not, but I have seen it drop Polyclads dead!, so why wouldn't it work on another flatworm?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

K
Help: SPS peeling strangely.
Replies
5
Views
205
griss
griss
8
Pinks, reds, oranges.
Replies
7
Views
338
Reefing102
Reefing102
E
Experience with large colonies
Replies
4
Views
246
Timfish
Timfish
M
Can't find 60"VHO Actinics anymore... LED recommendations
Replies
11
Views
225
mikej22
M
C
Looking for Octopus Eggs
Replies
9
Views
558
challengerdeepgirl
C
Back
Top