AEFW experiments and study

Hey tektite,
Really love and appreciate all your work! I've read your updates and gained some knowledge on the issue; really interesting stuff! Just figured I'd post something as something to test (though I'm sure you have enough of those).

I'm pretty new to the whole coral-keeping scene, and a few weeks ago purchased a torch coral. I believed the coral to be fine when I bought it, but noticed recently after cleaning some hair algae from it (which I assumed was aggravating it) that there was what looked like a piece of its flesh moving across the stalk of the coral. I snapped a picture and people quickly pointed it out to be a flatworm (seen here http://i.imgur.com/gd8yeYP.jpg). I'm pretty sure it's been there since I bought it because I distinctly remember seeing what looked like the coral tissue connecting the tissue in the middle of the coral, then having seen it disappear when this monster appeared on its side. I only have soft corals as well as LPS, and the torch coral is the only piece that I've seen it on. The flatworm hasn't caused any significant tissue damage to the coral (just a bit of aggravation and tissue recession). I promptly removed the worm from the coral and all was well until we found another another one (3/4 of an inch) in the tank on the glass. It looks remarkably similar to the AEFW, especially when compared to the pale "starved" specimens you were talking about.

It could very well be a different species, I just found it very interesting that it seemingly came in alone, never reproduced (from what I could tell) and never did any significant damage to the coral it was "hosting" yet it still was sustained in the tank by the coral. Also considering how widespread this worm is in the reef-keeping community, it seems to have a higher probability of being a AEFW. Is it possible that the AEFW will host on LPS when there is no other food source present? Figured I'd bring it up as a possibility in case you wanted to test it out!

Thanks again for all your work!
 
That appears to be a polyclad flatworm, very different from AEFW but an annoying predator in its own right. They eat clams and snails for the most part. The flatworm may not have been preying on the coral itself, but other things in the tank.

I've seen AEFW on other corals when dislodged from their regular Acropora hosts, like if they're blown off the acro and land on them, but never stay on them. From much anecdotal evidence and one scientific study I'm aware of, AEFW are such specialized predators of Acropora that they are not able to survive on any other coral, whether it be other species of hard coral or LPS.

There are a ton of species of flatworms that will prey on other corals though. And a fellow hobbyist in my area found some Acoel (I think) flatworms that usually stay on LPS or softies living on an Acropora in their tank! Go figure...yet another Acropora predator. I found that one was susceptible to regular Flatworm eXit thankfully, so not nearly as hardy as AEFW.
 
Crazy interesting!

Thanks for your quick and super helpful reply, definitely going to be doing more research!

Thanks again for all the hard work you're putting in; it's in-depth studies like this that could help finally put questions about the AEFW to rest! (both in the hobby and the wild alike)

Can't wait to hear more!
 
Butane lighters!

I just beat an infestation with weekly Bayer dips. (I hope) It however was not instant. It took weeks of dips before I stopped seeing any more AEFW. All acropora were in a quarantine tank and my display went Acropora free for 9 over 8 weeks.

Corals were returned to my display yesterday. If the AEFW reappear I am going to try the Butane lighter. it might kill them. :hammer:
 
likefish said:
Butane lighters!

I just beat an infestation with weekly Bayer dips. (I hope) It however was not instant. It took weeks of dips before I stopped seeing any more AEFW. All acropora were in a quarantine tank and my display went Acropora free for 9 over 8 weeks.

Corals were returned to my display yesterday. If the AEFW reappear I am going to try the Butane lighter. it might kill them. :hammer:
Click to expand...

hmm... pretty dangerous :sad2:
 
thermoJoe said:
Well, I just blasted my acros with a power head, but I didn't see any come off. The one acro I pulled because it had bites on it only had one large adult come off. I may have caught it early, but if it turns into a plague I will try to get some to you. I'll let you know.
Click to expand...

I'm in the same boat as you. I found two frags that had them, one had two adults, and another had one. I dipped several other frags and found nothing, no bite marks anywhere else. It's possible there's eggs around and will hatch sometime, but so far, I am thinking maybe I got lucky and caught them early? Is this wishful thinking or possible?
 
Its possible, but I wouldn't assume that they're clean. Its better to act as if they're not just in case. Keep in mind some corals won't show any bite marks until they're pretty infested, and smaller AEFW may not leave any bite marks at all. The juveniles when they hatch are very very small, impossible to see on the coral or in a dip, so the corals could have had little ones you just couldn't see.
 
I first encountered AEFW's about 10 years ago. Back then, no one paid attention to these. I have to say that I am extremely glad that people are paying more attention to it TODAY. I remember that they seem to like A. Validas. Back then, we used the freshwater Fluke Tabs and they were extremely effective in eradicating these. From what I remember, among the 3 most popular pests in SPS keeping, the montipora eating nudis are the hardest to eradicate since they required manual removal, and the AEFWs and Red Bugs were very easy in comparison.

This experience helped me a lot recently. Several months ago, I acquired a Valida colony from an LFS. Like a careless dummy that I am, and ignoring what I have learned previously, I tossed it in the display right away. Fast forward to last week. The same colony started showing telltale signs of visible bite marks. I knew right away what these were and as luck would have it, I found a box of Fluke Tabs in my cabinet (that I've hidden YEARS ago) and used half a tablet per half gallon of SW to treat the infected colony. In 5 minutes, the white bucket was filled with red flatworms. After inspecting the colony, the red eggs are clearly visible on the bald parts of the colony. My procedure was to dispose these parts and only save the upper tips. My rule was: If you think it's infected, toss it. I had 3 containers with Fluke Tab solution and each frag will spend about 15 minutes on each stage, until it is finally cleared on the final dip. The reason for this is so that whatever wasn't killed in the first dip, will hopefully get killed in the second dip and the third dip. Thank God I have this experience or it would've been a total loss of several colonies again.

Later that night, I decided to buy Fluke Tabs online, and was shocked to see that these have been banned YEARS ago. Good thing I have plenty left, but the day will come when I will need some. When that time comes, I'm not sure what I will do.
 
xtm said:
I first encountered AEFW's about 10 years ago. Back then, no one paid attention to these. I have to say that I am extremely glad that people are paying more attention to it TODAY. I remember that they seem to like A. Validas. Back then, we used the freshwater Fluke Tabs and they were extremely effective in eradicating these. From what I remember, among the 3 most popular pests in SPS keeping, the montipora eating nudis are the hardest to eradicate since they required manual removal, and the AEFWs and Red Bugs were very easy in comparison.

This experience helped me a lot recently. Several months ago, I acquired a Valida colony from an LFS. Like a careless dummy that I am, and ignoring what I have learned previously, I tossed it in the display right away. Fast forward to last week. The same colony started showing telltale signs of visible bite marks. I knew right away what these were and as luck would have it, I found a box of Fluke Tabs in my cabinet (that I've hidden YEARS ago) and used half a tablet per half gallon of SW to treat the infected colony. In 5 minutes, the white bucket was filled with red flatworms. After inspecting the colony, the red eggs are clearly visible on the bald parts of the colony. My procedure was to dispose these parts and only save the upper tips. My rule was: If you think it's infected, toss it. I had 3 containers with Fluke Tab solution and each frag will spend about 15 minutes on each stage, until it is finally cleared on the final dip. The reason for this is so that whatever wasn't killed in the first dip, will hopefully get killed in the second dip and the third dip. Thank God I have this experience or it would've been a total loss of several colonies again.

Later that night, I decided to buy Fluke Tabs online, and was shocked to see that these have been banned YEARS ago. Good thing I have plenty left, but the day will come when I will need some. When that time comes, I'm not sure what I will do.
Click to expand...
You pulled red flatworms? All AEFWs I have seen are tannish-brown. You aren't referring to Red Planaria, are you?
 
Has anyone actually tried a Blue Velvet Nudi? A few people say they won't eat AEFW but when pressed to prove this, it's their assumption rather than their experience.
 
ok so I just look at a monit of mine in the holding QT bin. was brown and half white. did a swish in a bucket to find.. hunderds of rust colored flat worm.. I brushed up on some info and there was an article describing AEFW and also referred to rust brown flat worms.. is there a difference. monti now in a bucket away from other sps. I can post a pic if you guys like..
 
Planaria flatworms are different from AEFWs.

AEFW only feed on acropora.

Planaria flatworms can be eradicated using flatworm exit or use biological control.
 
AEFW won't be infesting montipora. Depending on the tank situation there may be one temporarily on a monti on occasion if it got blown off the host acro, but definitely not like your posted pics! Most likely that's a type of acoel flatworm, but without a closeup pic I can't tell.
 
I really don't think these are aefws. Aefws only live on acropora, pretty much. You have a typical planaria infestation, looks like to me..
But it looks pretty bad. Treating your tank with regular flatworm exit or similar flatworm killer will create a serious toxicity issue in your tank as the flatworms die.
I'd suggest spending several weeks siphoning out as many flatworms as you can before you treat the tank with a flatworm killer..
 
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