AEFW experiments and study

[Dave & Monica]

ah nice. I think the other thing you should consider is the acropora type. In my experience AEFW will mainly gravitate towards specific species and some species can handle a bit more abuse then others. If I were doing what you were doing I would go for some Bali cultured nanas or validas which you should be able to get pretty cheap browned out.

I found this to be true, plus add Milleporas too. I beat a bad infestation using the Bayer method earlier this year.

Great thread!!!

 

[dread240]

unbelievably interested in all this

 

[thermoJoe]

Excellent thread. It is somewhat surprising given all the interest and money spent in the hobby/field that more is not known about these parasites.

Nitex mesh comes in a variety of sizes down to a few microns, which you could use in your next experimental setup.

BTW, just today I confirmed I have AEFW in my DT....joy.

 

[tektite]

Excellent thread. It is somewhat surprising given all the interest and money spent in the hobby/field that more is not known about these parasites.

Nitex mesh comes in a variety of sizes down to a few microns, which you could use in your next experimental setup.

BTW, just today I confirmed I have AEFW in my DT....joy.

I've got a variety of mesh sizes I bought in the past, from I think 10 micron on up to 1000, thought they might come in handy one day

Would you be willing to send me some adults and eggs from your system before you kill them off? Its surprisingly hard to find sources of AEFW! Usps priority mail is probably fine, just a little water with them. I can pay for the shipping, just lmk.

 

[thermoJoe]

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.

 

[Fail_sh3d]

Tek, thank you for this thread and this "test". I'm subscribed.

 

[kevin32]

Thank you for putting your effort in solving one of the devastating problem in reefing.. Subscribing!

 

[Brian Peterson]

Thanks for the work being done here. This is just an absolute shot in the dark but... In your reference to their nocturnal behavior. And that they seem to lay eggs once the "lights are off" as it were. Any chance a prolonged photoperiod might upset their normal reproduction? Extended to starve out their life cycle? Just a random pondering thought on this subject. But maybe a test to see if the laying of eggs is somehow delayed by having lights on for extended periods of time.

 

[dowtish]

Thanks for the work being done here. This is just an absolute shot in the dark but... In your reference to their nocturnal behavior. And that they seem to lay eggs once the "lights are off" as it were. Any chance a prolonged photoperiod might upset their normal reproduction? Extended to starve out their life cycle? Just a random pondering thought on this subject. But maybe a test to see if the laying of eggs is somehow delayed by having lights on for extended periods of time.

That would be good to know to a degree but how would this application work? You can only leave lights on for so long before you start frying your acros.

 

[trueblackpercula]

Can you please see if they eat pellet food or flake food? The reason I ask is if the do maybe we can feed them some type of medicated food that will not affect fish or corals but affects there digestive system.

 

[tektite]

Day 4, Experiment 1 (Nov 8th)

Compartment 1: 3 new egg clusters (7 clusters total to date), 1 AEFW dead, 5 AEFW present
Compartment 2: 2 new egg clusters (5 clusters total to date), 1 AEFW missing, 7 AEFW present
Compartment 3: No change (5 clusters of eggs to date), all AEFW present
Compartment 4: 1 small cluster of eggs (~7 eggs), all 10 AEFW present
Compartment 5: 1 AEFW missing, 9 AEFW alive

Notes:

All eggs were laid overnight, observed in the morning

Especially with only 6 AEFW in compartment 1, since it now has 7 clusters of eggs, at least one worm has laid more than one batch of eggs at this point

Compartment 4 had eggs this morning. That is the 2-4mm size range compartment. Knowing it is possible for them to lay eggs that small is helpful for future experiments, especially figuring out how long it takes to grow from hatch to egg-laying sexual maturity.

80% waterchanges performed 9am and 9pm

 

[tektite]

Day 5, Experiment 1 (Nov 9th)

Compartment 1: 2 new egg clusters (9 to date), all remaining 5 AEFW present
Compartment 2: 2 new egg clusters (7 to date), all remaining 7 AEFW present
Compartment 3: 1 new egg cluster (6 to date), all 10 AEFW present
Compartment 4: No change, all 10 AEFW present
Compartment 5: All remaining 9 AEFW present

Notes:

All eggs were laid overnight, observed in the morning

Waterchange performed at 7pm

 

[tektite]

Day 6, Experiment 1 (Nov 10th)

Compartment 1: 3 new egg clusters (2 very small, 12 total to date), all remaining 5 AEFW present
Compartment 2: 2 new egg clusters (9 to date), 1 AEFW dead, 6 AEFW present
Compartment 3: 3 new egg clusters (9 to date), all 10 AEFW present
Compartment 4: No change, all 10 AEFW present
Compartment 5: No change, all remaining 9 AEFW present

Notes:

All eggs were laid overnight, observed in the morning. Egg clusters are much smaller now than when they were first removed from the Acropora, ½ – 1/3 the number of eggs.

Waterchange performed at 12pm and 9pm

 

[tektite]

...This is just an absolute shot in the dark but... In your reference to their nocturnal behavior. And that they seem to lay eggs once the "lights are off" as it were. Any chance a prolonged photoperiod might upset their normal reproduction? Extended to starve out their life cycle? Just a random pondering thought on this subject. But maybe a test to see if the laying of eggs is somehow delayed by having lights on for extended periods of time.

Great idea, I will add it to my list

 

[Allmost]

a week with no food and they are still alive and laying eggs ! wow

 

[Koralcrazy]

great work, thank you for sharing this with us all!

 

[Outdrsyguy1]

man i'm shocked at how often they lay eggs!!! crayness... no wonder they can go epedimic so quickly. I'm dying to see how long till that first batch hatches and how long they starve from birth to death!!!

awesome work!

 

[tektite]

With how often they're laying eggs with no food, its possible with a steady supply of acros they could be laying eggs as frequently as every 1-2 nights. And given that each cluster can be 10-15 eggs, with each egg having 3-7 embryos...talk about exponential growth!

 

[tektite]

Added to my list of questions:

As they are nocturnal, how does an extended or constant light period affect their life cycle?
How frequently can a healthy adult AEFW lay eggs?

 

[tektite]

Short video, sped up 4x. The flatworm wasn't happy with the compartment, it had just been moved from its host acro, and was holding itself up trying to find something other than the plastic to grab onto:

<iframe width="420" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/r2UTZHAnxqY" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>