AEFW - please help me

[leandro1980]

Hello Guys,

Today I've found 3 - 4 strange animal over one of my acropora. Just send some water flow over it and it goes out. After that I remember to inspect some of my pics of the colony and found this:

Can anyone confirm if it is a Flatworm Brown or AEFW? My acro seems great, no marks, bleaching or any other indicative of AEFW.

Thanks for your help

Leandro

 

[leandro1980]

 

[leandro1980]

 

[sahin]

Those look suspect. But AEFW's arent visible in that way...most usually we see them off the coral. Its almost like the flatworms have been dyed. I would remove a coral for dipping. If you can find live flatworms, remove them right away and out in a container and photo them. Post up on this thread if possible. Also look out for eggs.

I would advise searching the SPS forum or use google image search to get an idea of what AEFW look like and the effect on acropora. That will give you a good base to determine if they are AEFW.

Another tip: after lights out in the night, get a strong torch and inspect all the sides and under branches of your acropora. Look out for bitemarks during this time. The marks will be VERY obvious if you looked at the bitemark photos beforehand.

Hope that helps...and I hope its not AEFW. I have battled them many times over the years and only nearly 2 years ago did I beat them.

 

[leandro1980]

Those look suspect. But AEFW's arent visible in that way...most usually we see them off the coral. Its almost like the flatworms have been dyed. I would remove a coral for dipping. If you can find live flatworms, remove them right away and out in a container and photo them. Post up on this thread if possible. Also look out for eggs.

I would advise searching the SPS forum or use google image search to get an idea of what AEFW look like and the effect on acropora. That will give you a good base to determine if they are AEFW.

Another tip: after lights out in the night, get a strong torch and inspect all the sides and under branches of your acropora. Look out for bitemarks during this time. The marks will be VERY obvious if you looked at the bitemark photos beforehand.

Hope that helps...and I hope its not AEFW. I have battled them many times over the years and only nearly 2 years ago did I beat them.

Thank you for your assistance. I will do as you said, and keep posting.

 

[joshky]

I also don't think those are AEFW. When FW populations get abundant it's not uncommon to see them on corals, I think you probably have a severe infestation and they may simply eat detritus. In this case a flatworm exit treatment might work, just be careful as once all of the flatworms die they will release toxins into the water column, have carbon and new saltwater on hand.