AEFW...I think???

M

mcoomer

Rat Bastard!
I'm moving stuff into my new 180 and I looked at the back side of a Purple Nana that hasn't been looking too purple as of late. Found this...

003.jpg


I've been searching the forum and I believe they're flatworms but I'd like some confirmation of that. I can scrape them off the coral pretty easily with a toothpick. If they are flatworms, what is my best chance of killing them and ensuring that my system is free of them so that future additions don't become infected. I've only been seriously keeping SPS for about 9 months so most of my pieces are still pretty small and I'm thinking that I might do best to simply pull all my frags out of the main tank and treat in my QT. Another thought is that my other corals are very happy and healthy looking. Should I simply inspect everything and remove only the corals that have flatworms? Can I pull and dip everything and return it to the main tank?

Please let me know what my best course of action is. I want to get started on this right away.

Thanks,
Mike
 
Yes you can pull and dip! Use Tropic Marin it is a iodine base and will take care of flatworms and AEFW. make sure you scrape off the eggs before dipping and use a turkey baster to blow off any pests that are still attached. Then dip in in Revive. Good luck!
 
yep looking at that its definetly AEFW eggs on the acro, and alot of them. i would definetly check the other sps in your tank as well
 
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So, from what you're saying, and what I've been reading in searches, is that dipping and basting the corals but leaving them in the tank is the way to go. How does this sound then. My corals are small enough, and mounted on smallish rocks, that I can put them in a 5 gallon bucket. Any corals that appear to be infected go into the bucket for a good basting, get dipped, and then go back in the tank to minimize stress. Sound good?

Mike
 
just went through this....
ok so what I ended up doing is getting a 30gal (q tank) Not having it attached in any way to my main tanks water. I'm using Coral Rx. I would dip the acros in the mix for 2 mins with a mini power head. (shocked at how many came spaz'n off the acros when dipped) Than would check for any of the eggs I can see and cut/scrape off over the sink. Than would the acro in another container with main tank water for a reg bath/dip than add into the Q tank. From what I can tell going on week 2 I'm 100% looking GREAT! Now chatting with a few fellow reefers AEFW can be a really pain in the rear.
I going to keep them in the Q tank for 2 more weeks just to be safe.
Good luck to you!

The AEFW live off the slime from acros so if you have them in your tank and can remove the acros they should die off.... I was told this from 2 LFS owners. Even if you pull the rocks out and dip.. You will take a loss on pods and inverts but they can be replaced for cheap.

ps, To prevent toxic contamination due to the die'n pest make sure each acro being/planed on dipping gets their own container.
 
If you don't have a lot of Acros, and they're easy to move, this might help.

I recently found 3 AEFW in my QT, so instead of setting up a new QT, I tried the following.

Week 1: Pull out EVERY Acro and dip in Coral Rx for the prescribed length of time EVERY day.

Week 2: Same thing, but every other day

Week 3: Same thing, but every 3 days

Week 4: You get the idea.

Week 5: Skip this week

Week 6: Check once - you should've broken the life cycle a long time ago, so this is just a check-up

Week 7: Skip

Week 8: Check once just to be positive.

I never found an AEFW after the first week, but I'm sure there were some eggs or something. I've been AEFW free (knock on wood) in my QT for I think 3 months now. I still pull everything out to double check every now and then. I only lost 2 corals (one known to be sensitive to Coral Rx). But, this still seems to be a less harsh treatment to the coral (not to your time though) than levamisole.

Good luck!
 
Thank you for the replies. I think I've settled on dipping and basting the corals for now. The ones that are still on frag racks are going to stay there, as that will make them easier to work with, and the others will get dipped rock and all.

Another question if I may. I've been reading about flatworm treatment and prevention and I keep seeing references to wrasse's. Any recommendations on fish that are know to prey on these buggers? I've been thinking of getting a wrasse for the new tank now that I've got so much room because most are quite striking and very active and this seems like the perfect excuse to buy one. "Honey, I had to buy it to save my corals!" You get the picture.

Thanks,
Mike
 
i used coral rx last week for an acro that i bought with AEFW. the results were amazing. two seconds after the coral hit the water, the AEFWs were flying off. it doesnt kill eggs however. i had to scrape them off with a toothpick, redip and then rinse in fresh tank water. i will redip this weekend to see if i missed anything.
 
Sorry to see those pics. AEFW is the plauge for acropora. You have the worst possible pest you can get for SPS. Remove all acros from your system immediatley and put into QT. You are gonna want to keep your DT free from acropora for atleast 2 months. Treat all acros in QT weekley with dip until you can break the life cycle. Some of the AEFW can stay in eggs for up to a month. Dips do not kill the Eggs! It is very important to monitor your corals health while in QT. Its going to be hard to find every last egg. People say AEFW are picky to certain Acros. This is not true! They will eventually eat all your colonies. People say you can live with them by basting colonies and adding AEFW eating fish. Dont believe this either! If you ever want to have a successful SPS tank you have to get rid of these worms. The coral in your photo is covered in Eggs. That means you have some nasty adult AEFW in the tank. Do not dwell on this advice as you will only prolong the problem.
 
forgot to mention. You cant see flatworms. They are higlhy invisible and rely on camoflauge for defense. You can only tell they are present by looking for damage. Bite marks on coral, egg sacks, color loss are examples. You will be able to see them floating in the bowl after dipping coral. AEFW are very hardy. Some can even make it through dips. I know all this casue it took me a quite some time to beat AEFW!! Good luck. Need any other help PM me.
 
I just rained Coral RX Pro death on those sons of whores! :uzi: It was glorious! When I was done, the first bucket with the dip in it was littered with little red bodies. Most of what washed off looked like very fine, reddish, pinkish sand. I took a toothpick tip to some stuff that was still attached to the base and then used a baster and fresh water from the tank to flush the coral thoroughly in another bucket. The directions say 5-10 minutes so I split the difference and went 7:30. I hope they like the baths because they're getting another one tomorrow, and the next day, and the next... My plan is to hit them hard and then back off as things improve.

I'll keep this thread updated and let you know how this turns out. The ORA Purple Nana doesn't look too good but I did frag one nice tip that doesn't appear to have been munched on so hopefully if I lose the colony I'll be able to grow out another. Another bit of good news is that I checked my other corals and I don't see any signs of them being eaten. I checked the bases very closely and don't see eggs either so maybe I'll get lucky and this is the only thing that gets infested. The Purple Nana is the only coral I bought from this one store and I've only got 13 frags so they're pretty well spread out. I don't know how far those things will travel to find food but I guess I'll just have to monitor all my corals for a bit. I did go ahead and break everything off the rocks and put them back on frag plugs. I figure that will make it easier to check them and treat if they do get infested.

Mike
 
LifeAquatic said:
People say you can live with them by basting colonies and adding AEFW eating fish. Dont believe this either! If you ever want to have a successful SPS tank you have to get rid of these worms.
Click to expand...

Hate to tell you but it is indeed true. Actually the opposite is more true in my opinion. Ripping out all of your colonies and subjecting them to big changes and aggressive dipping probably increases your chances of losses.

I know many very credible people who have not only very much controlled but even eliminated their AEFW problem with a regular basting regime. The fact of the matter is there is a lot more known about them then a couple of years ago where it was a death sentence to your tank.

This is by no means saying that a good dipping and quarantine regimen is not the right way to go, but moreso to say that the aggressive approach isn't always the right on depending on the circumstances.
 
Aefw

Aefw

seminolecpa said:
Hate to tell you but it is indeed true. Actually the opposite is more true in my opinion. Ripping out all of your colonies and subjecting them to big changes and aggressive dipping probably increases your chances of losses.

I know many very credible people who have not only very much controlled but even eliminated their AEFW problem with a regular basting regime. The fact of the matter is there is a lot more known about them then a couple of years ago where it was a death sentence to your tank.

This is by no means saying that a good dipping and quarantine regimen is not the right way to go, but moreso to say that the aggressive approach isn't always the right on depending on the circumstances.
Click to expand...

I agree that some people have probably beatin AEFW with the basting method. Thats what they want you to think so you still trade coral with them ; ). But there are lots of variables that factor into this. Not all AEFW strains are the same. They come from different parts of the world. If you have the starin that I did..Good luck! Any type of basting regimine and predatory fish will not cure the problem.It is only a band aid. I had battled AEFW for atleast 6 months. I picked them up from maricultured coral out of indonnesia. They were extremly fecund and not picky to certain acros. They attacked all types. Not pulling all colonies sooner only prolonged me from having a nice tank. Any other method besides QT is not worth the risk with AEFW. Today Im happy to say I beat AEFW! knock on wood. :uzi: AEFW
 
IMO, any coral you find that looks like the one pictured in the OP should just be thrown out. Save some tips if you like, but that body is toast.

As someone that did the whole rip everything out and QT, I can tell you it isn't fun, and I did have major losses. Not sure I would go that route again...
 
some say a melanurus works. pretty fish besides. from a vendors site here:

One of the best kept secrets in the hobby, the Melanurus Wrasse is one of the best problem solvers for Planaria flatworms in reef aquariums. Forget medications that can harm or damage your delicate motile invertebrates! The Melanurus Wrasse will consume flatworms and you will see the difference within a matter of a couple of days. Once the flatworms are gone you have an attractive, friendly fish that will readily adjust to a captive diet and frequent the water column with activity. There are definate differences in the sexes as the female has a spot on it's tail and the male lacks that spot.
 
Did another dip today and after pulling the coral out of the bucket I had a hard time finding anything to scrape off. I saw some specks in the bottom of the bucket and did scrape off a few that I saw and just gave the base a good going over. I basted all the other corals in the tank. I put the coral I'm treating on its own corner rack and I'm hoping that will keep the suckers from migrating to my other frags. Speaking of which, how far will these things move around to find food? Do the worms or eggs stay suspended in the water column and drift around?

Thanks,
Mike
 
I found some in my DT, i have roughly 75 colonies. I setup a 240 gal tank tied into my main sump and dipped with Revive. I caught them early, and still have some time to go before i can repopulate my DT with acros. If i can grow them in the DT, you can grow them in the QT. So far things are doing well. Im doing another dip tomorrow. I have been adding oyster-feast to feed, and that seems to be a big help.
 
LifeAquatic said:
I agree that some people have probably beatin AEFW with the basting method. Thats what they want you to think so you still trade coral with them ; ). But there are lots of variables that factor into this. Not all AEFW strains are the same. They come from different parts of the world. If you have the starin that I did..Good luck! Any type of basting regimine and predatory fish will not cure the problem.It is only a band aid. I had battled AEFW for atleast 6 months. I picked them up from maricultured coral out of indonnesia. They were extremly fecund and not picky to certain acros. They attacked all types. Not pulling all colonies sooner only prolonged me from having a nice tank. Any other method besides QT is not worth the risk with AEFW. Today Im happy to say I beat AEFW! knock on wood. :uzi: AEFW
Click to expand...

Do you have any info to back up your statements?
 
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