AEFW in my display 120 :(

[likefish]

well after lots of trouble keeping color in my acros i finally found the reason. AEFW!!!!

I pulled a colony and dipped it and a snow of the little bastards fell off. Now I have a 120 with 2 years of encrusted SPS that is in need of treatment.

The plan is to set up a 40 breeder with sump, skimmer, 150W MH light and bare bottom. Ill be putting some LR in the sump. GOing to move all of my acros into this system and Bayer dip them once a week for 2 months to make sure i wipe them out completely.

Setting up the new 40G system first. Then have to rip, tear and chisel as many of the acros out of my display as possible and move them to the new system. Then will be trying to epoxy over or chisel out the remaining encrusted bases in my display to make it acro free.

Any suggestions on what i might have missed or ideas on how to make sure this works? :sad2: I have no experience with MH lighting so i am hoping that the 150W (offered to me for free to borrow) will keep my acros healthy.

 

[rovster]

I think you have it covered. They can be beat. I battled them out of my 30 gallon. Most were frags and minicolonies, but should be no different for you just a larger scale. FWIW I dipped 6 times over the course of 8 weeks. I missed a couple of weeks towards the end. I noticed an improvement after about 3-4 weeks. Good luck, and a 150 should be fine for a 40 BR. Only issue may be spread or coverage depending on how many acros you have. If you have wall to wall acros in a 40, you may want to supplement. Otherwise, should be fine.

 

[elmafioso52988]

The 150 watt mh may not cover the whole spread of the tank. It may cause shadowing on the sides if the acros. You should really try to get 2 of them to vover the tank propely. If you hang the light too high it may not be powerful enough to provide the lighting the corals need. You wouldn't want to stress out the corals more than you have to as they will be stressed from treatment and from bwing remived in the first place.

 

[trueblackpercula]

So sorry to hear this as so many reef keepers are reporting AEFW these days. Can I ask did you dip your sps before adding them to the main display and if so what did you use?

 

[rogerwilco357]

Well I hope you win this battle I have had it wipe my tank out over the course of a year and never got back into the hobby Like I was...something about loosing colonies money and time that just knocks the wind out of your sails...That was 2 years ago ..you have more options and A better knowledge base than I had then ...good luck buddy hope you killem all...

 

[likefish]

So sorry to hear this as so many reef keepers are reporting AEFW these days. Can I ask did you dip your sps before adding them to the main display and if so what did you use?

I dip with revive and lugols. 2 dips for about 10 minutes each. I base and shake all frags during the dips as well. Having battled redbugs in the past (and winning) I ahve been very cautious with new additions. There has only been one acro introduced to my system in the past 6 months. It faded, bleached then died fairly quickly. This is what AEFW do to SPS. I believe this piece to be the culprit.

 

[likefish]

The 150 watt mh may not cover the whole spread of the tank. It may cause shadowing on the sides if the acros. You should really try to get 2 of them to vover the tank propely. If you hang the light too high it may not be powerful enough to provide the lighting the corals need. You wouldn't want to stress out the corals more than you have to as they will be stressed from treatment and from bwing remived in the first place.

TY for the advice. I have access to a second 150W pendant. Ill try em both out.

 

[MammothReefer]

Before going buck wild I would try to identify what corals have them and dip those and start up a basting schedule. You've been living with them this long before you destroy everything I'd take the less aggressive approach. I like RPS all out as well. I lived with them for 3 years and my tank did rather well. If you find you can't live with it, or it doesn't work then take the more drastic measure. I was able to finally beat mine by basting and dipping "known" suspects on a regular schedule until they were gone. For whatever reason they tend to gravitate towards specific corals.

 

[jda]

From what I can tell, you can treat them in-tank. I am about another 4 weeks away from totally making sure that they are not back, but if you want some info to try, them PM me. I WILL NOT post anything until I am sure that they are gone from my experiment. I am sure that the in-tank treatment was not harmful to anything but worms (bristleworms too), so it is low risk. The eggs that they laid during the treatment never hatched - I have photos and I waited, but this could be a false negative stemming from lack of control. I would like to experiment more, but I have no more AEFW around - these were never in my display and I ran out of locals who had them to give them to me.

 

[Allmost]

From what I can tell, you can treat them in-tank. I am about another 4 weeks away from totally making sure that they are not back, but if you want some info to try, them PM me. I WILL NOT post anything until I am sure that they are gone from my experiment. I am sure that the in-tank treatment was not harmful to anything but worms (bristleworms too), so it is low risk. The eggs that they laid during the treatment never hatched - I have photos and I waited, but this could be a false negative stemming from lack of control. I would like to experiment more, but I have no more AEFW around - these were never in my display and I ran out of locals who had them to give them to me.

okay what did u dose ?

doesnt have to kill the eggs, we have info on their life cycle so can break it by dosing again as the eggs hatch.

 

[jda]

One of the things around here that people know about, just with different exposure times and different pre-setup (sometimes significantly). I am not ready to release any of it yet since I am not 100% sure of anything long term - but the AEFW did die in my satellite reef (made it it's own system for this test and the only one system that I have with AEFW) and in holding tanks when I could fish some out for pictures and observation. PM me if you want and I can share some notes, pictures and months-long progress log, but I do not feel that this is ready for public release. I would love it if somebody else had an abundance of AEFW that could try this out and see if it works for them as well... I am out of them (which is a good thing, I guess).

 

[GroktheCube]

From what I can tell, you can treat them in-tank. I am about another 4 weeks away from totally making sure that they are not back, but if you want some info to try, them PM me. I WILL NOT post anything until I am sure that they are gone from my experiment. I am sure that the in-tank treatment was not harmful to anything but worms (bristleworms too), so it is low risk. The eggs that they laid during the treatment never hatched - I have photos and I waited, but this could be a false negative stemming from lack of control. I would like to experiment more, but I have no more AEFW around - these were never in my display and I ran out of locals who had them to give them to me.

Prazi? Levamisole? Fenbendazole? I'd guess something along those lines, though fenbendazole will kill soft corals too.

 

[trueblackpercula]

From what I can tell, you can treat them in-tank. I am about another 4 weeks away from totally making sure that they are not back, but if you want some info to try, them PM me. I WILL NOT post anything until I am sure that they are gone from my experiment. I am sure that the in-tank treatment was not harmful to anything but worms (bristleworms too), so it is low risk. The eggs that they laid during the treatment never hatched - I have photos and I waited, but this could be a false negative stemming from lack of control. I would like to experiment more, but I have no more AEFW around - these were never in my display and I ran out of locals who had them to give them to me.

PM sent

 

[jda]

I am not ready yet. It will be a few more weeks or a month. I sent my results to a few who currently have AEFW to see how it works for them, which still make me uncomfortable since I don't know them... but I hope that they are capable.

Here is one part of the equation that might be totally obvious to some and not so much to others... You will need to stop dosing organic carbon during the treatment. Then, wait for the bacteria bed to die off. Piles of active bacteria in the water column just waiting for a food source to quickly multiply combined with dying/decaying matter (worms with some significant amounts of slime) and turning off of an export removal (skimmer, GAC) is a recipe for oxygen starvation, dead fish & inverts.

I have gotten a lot of PM, but if you are currently infested and are willing to try a tested-once treatment, observe and record the results, then let me know. ...basically beta testers. If this works, then I will post everything soon.

 

[Oldude]

In my experience, if you add about 15 - 20 peppermint shrimps into your 120 they should eat the AEFW and their eggs. It will likely take several weeks but they should eradicate them. Worked for me.

 

[Piper27]

Peppermint shrimp? Really? First I have herd of this one. Camel shrimp I have heard off eating the worms and eggs.

 

[plyle02]

Before going buck wild I would try to identify what corals have them and dip those and start up a basting schedule. You've been living with them this long before you destroy everything I'd take the less aggressive approach. I like RPS all out as well. I lived with them for 3 years and my tank did rather well. If you find you can't live with it, or it doesn't work then take the more drastic measure. I was able to finally beat mine by basting and dipping "known" suspects on a regular schedule until they were gone. For whatever reason they tend to gravitate towards specific corals.

+1, or even learn to live with them, eradication is not always full proof, and sometimes very stressful, especially to creatures who thrive on stability, FWIW... Best of luck on your AEFW journey.
Regards,

 

[likefish]

I decided to take the drastic approach.

I have a 40 breeder plumbed into the main system right now. Installing 2 150W halides over it (I have always wanted to experiment with MH).

I am going to pull the known infected acros out of my display and start them on a dipping schedule in the 40. I will keep a close eye on the others in my main display.

Fingers crossed!

 

[Denadai]

My advice is : be patient and you will win the battle

Best Regards

 

[likefish]

Well i removed all of my rockwork, removed all encrusted corals, set up 40 breeder and started a weekly dipping in Bayer. I lost a deepwater acro and all of my valadia. other than that everything browned but handles the abuse well.

After several months of dipping and an Acro free tank I rescaped and recently finished replacing all of coral. Fingers crossed that I got them all!!!

here is the before the AEFW and a picture from yesterday. i would not wish this much work on anyone! It sucked a good bit!!!

Before:


During:


After:



Im pleased with the finished product. better coral placement and improved flow. This hobby is defiantly a learning experience!

I will be basting all acros with a MJ on a regular basis and hope to not be surprised. I have a nutrient spike to overcome due to all of the rock moving and sand disruption but that is manageable.

Looking forward to enjoying my tank again!

Thanks for all of the advice and words of encouragement!