Aefw - Full tank

[Rouselb]

Thanks everyone. I have almost got everything dipped. I only had 3-4 colonies that had enough fw on them to be concerned. I lost count after 76 colonies last night. I hope to have it all dipped and bases removed from infected colonies by wed this week. I will then continue to dip for the next 2 months (once a week). This opportunity to remove everything will allow me to have better flow in the tank once i move some rock around, and let me take out those stupid damselfish that have killed countelss new fish. Its funny that when you look at the tank your think theres some coral in there, but you really have no idea how much until you start pulling out colony after colony. I thought my buddy was going to die when i said cut a few branches off!

Thanks for the input. Ill update as i go. Revive seems to really work well. Im alrealdy thinking about a seperate contained full system for QT. That will allow me to QT for 1-2 months. I plan to remove the base off of every new frag i get from now on.

 

[CUNAReefer]

Hey Larry,

Any way you could PM me with your suspected source of AEFW? I live in your area and would like to avoid the source. I dip with coral Rx, but still would like to avoid throwing out a new frag due to AEFW.

J

 

[Rouselb]

Okay, got 90% of the acros moved. next question, should I dose AA or something to keep the SPS happy since there are no fish in the tank?

 

[ReefBum]

In my opinion removing and treating SPS will do more harm than good. Corals thrive best when in stable environments and removing and hitting them with chemicals will make them very unhappy.

Additionally, I think it would be extremely difficult to completely eradicate these pests in a quarantine tank unless there was something out there that kills the eggs. I am also not convinced that a display will be pest free if all colonies are removed. SPS encrust and you just don't know where else they could hide.

I have had AEFW for a couple of years and have had great success with weekly basting. I also have a couple of Leopard Wrasses but i am not sure if they help. Check out my tank in another thread In this forum...."Full Tank Progression Shots".

 

[Stanley-Reefer]

I agree....I see a few basting 1-2 times/week. I only do it with the lights on before I feed and my aefw eaters fight for them: leopard wrasse, radiant wrasse, 3 pyramids, and a lamarks angel.

Over 120 colonies and 230# of LR in my 175 means another complete set up.

The colonies I pulled and dipped and basted and scraped and dipped and cussed ended up not making it.

 

[Rouselb]

Okay, just an update. I removed all acros from my display, setup a 240 gal tank tied into my main sump. I have all the acros in the new QT, they have been dipped, fragged, or both. I removed any eggs i found. Overall, not too bad, i caught it early, i may have only lost 1 colony. I have been adding oyster-feast into the tank each night, and the sps look really good. I dipped for 2-3 min in revive. I plan to dip again tomorrow night (its been one week). I took a cut off wheel and removed all acro bases from the LR. I re-scaped my display, raked the DT for any sps pieces, i even removed every LR in the display to make sure i caught everything. I plan to remount the sps onto rubble so i can peg it back into the display in 2-3 more weeks.

I never fed any sps before this, but a buddy recommended some oyster-feast, and the corals really opened up after 2 days of feeding. I believe the food is helping after the dip, i also kept the dip short.

 

[LifeAquatic]

Aefw

Aefw

In my opinion removing and treating SPS will do more harm than good. Corals thrive best when in stable environments and removing and hitting them with chemicals will make them very unhappy.

Additionally, I think it would be extremely difficult to completely eradicate these pests in a quarantine tank unless there was something out there that kills the eggs. I am also not convinced that a display will be pest free if all colonies are removed. SPS encrust and you just don't know where else they could hide.

I have had AEFW for a couple of years and have had great success with weekly basting. I also have a couple of Leopard Wrasses but i am not sure if they help. Check out my tank in another thread In this forum...."Full Tank Progression Shots".

Reefbum.... You have a very nice tank! But living with AEFW? Thats insane man. I fought ripping all my colonies out at first to. Took months for me to realize and admit there was just no other way. I couldnt live with a band aid on my tank for any longer. I really hope you tell people that you trade frags with that your tank has active AEFW living in it. I got AEFW directly from a wholesaler. I asked her directly if I needed to dip the shipment. She said to my face... Dont worry about it! I just dipped them. Crap man.. Try asking a prostitue if you should use a condom. Lesson learned the hard way. = (

On that note. It is very possible to eradicate AEFW from a heavily stocked tank of acros. I did it! You can to! I had the worst AEFW known to man!! Trust me! I still have them in a control tank where I experiment with them. They are nasty little polyclads. Worst Ive ever seen or read about! My particular AEFW came from Indonesia. Extremely hardy and fecund specie. They eat all smooth skin acro, millepora, stag. Everything!!

 

[LifeAquatic]

Aefw

Aefw

Okay, just an update. I removed all acros from my display, setup a 240 gal tank tied into my main sump. I have all the acros in the new QT, they have been dipped, fragged, or both. I removed any eggs i found. Overall, not too bad, i caught it early, i may have only lost 1 colony. I have been adding oyster-feast into the tank each night, and the sps look really good. I dipped for 2-3 min in revive. I plan to dip again tomorrow night (its been one week). I took a cut off wheel and removed all acro bases from the LR. I re-scaped my display, raked the DT for any sps pieces, i even removed every LR in the display to make sure i caught everything. I plan to remount the sps onto rubble so i can peg it back into the display in 2-3 more weeks.

I never fed any sps before this, but a buddy recommended some oyster-feast, and the corals really opened up after 2 days of feeding. I believe the food is helping after the dip, i also kept the dip short.

Good job on the AEFW battle. Please keep us updated with news and pictures if possible. You are taking the correct route to rid your tank from AEFW. It wont take long to break the cycle once all eggs have hatched. Just remember some AEFW can stay in egg form for up to a month! I have documented this on my AEFW tank at home. Others would say just baste and wrasse. Dont go for the band aid approach. Make your tank all it can be and kill those AEFW!! :thumbsup:

 

[Stanley-Reefer]

Do keep basting after you think they're gone....it only takes 2 to start the process again.

 

[Rouselb]

the acros look good. I started to peg them back into the display. I plan to continue to dip them once a week even though they are back in the display. I'll probably do that for the next month or two. Most of the colonies look good. I have full PE on everything thats back in the tank. Revive seems to work well, it is harsh, and i found myself adding 3-4 caps per gallon of water when dipping. I just swish it around for less than 1 minute, inspect and place back into the QT. Just a side note. I had to feed the corals with Oysterfeast and keep the QT connected to the main system. I used a PH as the main return pump, this gave me a lower turnover rate, but worked well. I was getting roughly one tank turnover per 2 hrs. I did have to cut apart 10% of my colonies to make sure i removed all the eggs. Milles seemed to be the most affected. I lost 2-3 colonies in total, out of 80-90, which is really good in my opinion. Im happy with the outcome. I moved rock around and spaced the colonies out when i pegged them back into the tank. Theres 2 wrasse, 6 line and a melan.

 

[ReefBum]

Reefbum.... You have a very nice tank! But living with AEFW? Thats insane man. I fought ripping all my colonies out at first to. Took months for me to realize and admit there was just no other way. I couldnt live with a band aid on my tank for any longer. I really hope you tell people that you trade frags with that your tank has active AEFW living in it. I got AEFW directly from a wholesaler. I asked her directly if I needed to dip the shipment. She said to my face... Dont worry about it! I just dipped them. Crap man.. Try asking a prostitue if you should use a condom. Lesson learned the hard way. = (

On that note. It is very possible to eradicate AEFW from a heavily stocked tank of acros. I did it! You can to! I had the worst AEFW known to man!! Trust me! I still have them in a control tank where I experiment with them. They are nasty little polyclads. Worst Ive ever seen or read about! My particular AEFW came from Indonesia. Extremely hardy and fecund specie. They eat all smooth skin acro, millepora, stag. Everything!!

I always point out in my for sale threads that I have AEFW and monti eating nudies. I don't think they are a big deal but I am for all full disclosure.

 

[BradR]

My hat's off to you for undertaking this. I have mostly corals less than 1-2 yrs old and still refuse to tear the tank down. I'm just doing the basting/wrasse thing with good results so far. If I ever go AEFW free my QT time will be triple what's recommended.

 

[cwegescheide]

Okay, got 90% of the acros moved. next question, should I dose AA or something to keep the SPS happy since there are no fish in the tank?

I have a 20H that I use for QT for new additions etc. What I do is 10 gallon water changes from my display every week. This way nutrients get in the QT. Its been working for me for almost a year now as I'm still collecting pieces from time to time. Only thing is your QT is a little bigger than mine!!

I will say most of the corals look like butt after 6weeks of dipping in my QT that has a 250W halide, sump and the whole nine yards.. Once they were in my display for a few months the color returned.

Good luck!
Chris

 

[Mike de Leon]

Okay, just an update. I removed all acros from my display, setup a 240 gal tank tied into my main sump. I have all the acros in the new QT, they have been dipped, fragged, or both. I removed any eggs i found. Overall, not too bad, i caught it early, i may have only lost 1 colony. I have been adding oyster-feast into the tank each night, and the sps look really good. I dipped for 2-3 min in revive. I plan to dip again tomorrow night (its been one week). I took a cut off wheel and removed all acro bases from the LR. I re-scaped my display, raked the DT for any sps pieces, i even removed every LR in the display to make sure i caught everything. I plan to remount the sps onto rubble so i can peg it back into the display in 2-3 more weeks.

I never fed any sps before this, but a buddy recommended some oyster-feast, and the corals really opened up after 2 days of feeding. I believe the food is helping after the dip, i also kept the dip short.

I have dipped in revive for ten minutes trying to kill redbugs to no avail. Tried it again and increased the time to 20 minutes and killed them all with no ill effects on the acros. Is two minutes enough to kill AEFW?

 

[rogerwilco357]

how many colonies do you have ? and hope it all works out. so you guys say revive dip 10 minutes minimum? and then qt them for another month before you put them in the main tank? If you are selling any of your elite sps let me know i am local and would love to get some from you so.. Just in case you loose any and mine live i can hook you up especially on those hard to replace items..let me know neighbor would not mind a bit..would love to see your tank if that would be ok with you lmk pm me your number i will call you ..
Roger
Dearborn Heights ,Mi.

 

[shenyong]

Add some green corris wrasses. Revive all the arcos if possible and turkey baster 3 times aday. U should see a good result within a month.
Good luck!

 

[Dave71]

I always point out in my for sale threads that I have AEFW and monti eating nudies. I don't think they are a big deal but I am for all full disclosure.

I am not clear why you do not think they are a big deal. How are you managing monti eating nudi populations?

I have not heard of a good method to prevent monti eating nudis from detroying your monti population.

 

[theSickness]

I will never understand how someone with a big tank and nice corals can take a coral and throw it in w/out a QT. Sucks to loose all that or have AEFW.

 

[ReefBum]

I am not clear why you do not think they are a big deal. How are you managing monti eating nudi populations?

I have not heard of a good method to prevent monti eating nudis from detroying your monti population.

Here is a shot of my tank.

Every week I baste and I might see a couple AEFW fly off a coral one week and then I might not see them for months. If I didn't baste then I believe they would overtake the SPS and I would see visible damage. Same goes for the monti eating nudis. I baste them when I see them since they are easier to spot. My point is that I have been able to manage pests without having to rip apart my reef....this will do more harm than good in my eyes. There is no way I would have achieved the colors and growth to date if I had removed corals to treat. I believe my much less invasive approach works best. Of course this is my opinion and I know others won't agree but it is based on my own experience. I absolutely advocate treating all corals before you put them in the tank but there are no guarantees when it comes to AEFW since eggs can hitch hike in. I treated everything before they went into the tank but I still got 'em.

 

[Dave71]

Every week I baste and I might see a couple AEFW fly off a coral one week and then I might not see them for months. If I didn't baste then I believe they would overtake the SPS and I would see visible damage. Same goes for the monti eating nudis. I baste them when I see them since they are easier to spot.

The proof is in the pudding so to speak.

By basting them, do you believe they are then caught in the filter, caught by a predator, moved from the coral so need to find their way back, or some combination of these?