Aefw?
- Thread starter d2mini
- Start date
d2mini
Premium Member
All my acros are pretty much toast with no slime coat left, browned out or stn'd/stn'ing.
So it's hard to see if there are any of the typical bite marks.
You can see pics here if you are interested... and the first page describes what my tank went through.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2427730&page=5
I don't think it was a direct result of flatworms but now we found them.
Some of my montipora went dull/brown but some were unaffected. Mainly it was the acros.
The ones we can find seem to only be on the acros, unlike planaria which you would find all over.
So it's hard to see if there are any of the typical bite marks.
You can see pics here if you are interested... and the first page describes what my tank went through.
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2427730&page=5
I don't think it was a direct result of flatworms but now we found them.
Some of my montipora went dull/brown but some were unaffected. Mainly it was the acros.
The ones we can find seem to only be on the acros, unlike planaria which you would find all over.
Piper27
I love bengals
It doesn't look like the typical aefw to me either. Doesn't mean it's a different kind we don't see often, maybe it eats the slime on the coral or something. Aefw normally blend in very well with the acros, I haven't seen one stand out like that, nor have the clear look and split on its tail.
The efflo pic in your thread has two white dots on it that look like they resemble red bugs too. Could be something else but if it is red bugs eliminating them would be a huge help to the recovering acropora, especially since they are suffering with no slimecoat and such.
Look for bitemarks on everything, if there are adult aefw that,big there is bound to be evidence.
The efflo pic in your thread has two white dots on it that look like they resemble red bugs too. Could be something else but if it is red bugs eliminating them would be a huge help to the recovering acropora, especially since they are suffering with no slimecoat and such.
Look for bitemarks on everything, if there are adult aefw that,big there is bound to be evidence.
Reef Bass
colors and textures
Read some of that thread. Oh man my condolences. Those were some fine corals you had going. Best wishes for things turning around.
Your descriptions in the thread of tracks on your Red Planet and finding more flatworms not generally distributed but specifically just on acros does suggest AEFW.
I agree with Piper27 that if that is an AEFW, it's a big / mature one, so likely others, which you may have discovered.
Your descriptions in the thread of tracks on your Red Planet and finding more flatworms not generally distributed but specifically just on acros does suggest AEFW.
I agree with Piper27 that if that is an AEFW, it's a big / mature one, so likely others, which you may have discovered.
d2mini
Premium Member
Ya, they are very hard to see and i made sure there was enough contrast in the pic to make it stand out more. It's not quite that white in person. And that's the encrusting base of that acro. If you look down below towards the bottom of the pic on that same acro, you will see another white out of focus blob... that's another flatworm.
I'm particularly bummed about that acro. It's an aussie piece i nursed back to health for the past year and it was doing awesome. But looking at this pic from a month or two ago, looks like that could be a flatworm right in the center of the pic? Hard to tell if it's a pest or just the coral itself.
I'm particularly bummed about that acro. It's an aussie piece i nursed back to health for the past year and it was doing awesome. But looking at this pic from a month or two ago, looks like that could be a flatworm right in the center of the pic? Hard to tell if it's a pest or just the coral itself.
Reef Bass
colors and textures
Again with the nice coral.
I do see what look more like red bugs to me than flatworms at 4 and 5 o'clock from the nice polyp ring just left of dead center of the pic. And another on the axial coralite in the middle of the pic about half way between the center of the pic and the left edge.
I see the whitish blob at the base of the frag. I'm not convinced that isn't just some light sneaking in under there. There are similar highlights elsewhere. The AEFW I've encountered have all been more translucent fleshy to light brownish generally, and are very hard to see even with good focus. They wouldn't be visible out of focus and don't color contrast against their host. They'd be easy pickins for wrasses if they did. I guess I'm just saying that if that is an AEFW at the bottom of that last pic, it is unusually white compared to the AEFW I've experienced.
May the gods of happy corals smile upon you and your reef.
I do see what look more like red bugs to me than flatworms at 4 and 5 o'clock from the nice polyp ring just left of dead center of the pic. And another on the axial coralite in the middle of the pic about half way between the center of the pic and the left edge.
I see the whitish blob at the base of the frag. I'm not convinced that isn't just some light sneaking in under there. There are similar highlights elsewhere. The AEFW I've encountered have all been more translucent fleshy to light brownish generally, and are very hard to see even with good focus. They wouldn't be visible out of focus and don't color contrast against their host. They'd be easy pickins for wrasses if they did. I guess I'm just saying that if that is an AEFW at the bottom of that last pic, it is unusually white compared to the AEFW I've experienced.
May the gods of happy corals smile upon you and your reef.
Last edited:
ritter6788
Say no to clove polyps
Sorry about your Acros. Take a turkey baster and blow some of your Acros. If you have them they will blow off into the water column. I had them bad and could baste 2 or 3 large ones everyday off of my Acros. It's hard to see the smaller ones but my fish learned to follow the turkey baster and eat them out of the water column. Other than that if you can pull a colony out and check the base for eggs, they are fairly east to spot.
Piper27
I love bengals
I just noticed you only found one on the lps. Here is the link to a local who had lps eating flatworms, http://wamas.org/forums/topic/58001-euphyllia-eating-flatworms-and-treatment-eefw/
If they were all over the acros that's not good. Maybe try dipping what's still alive to get the flatworms off and see if it helps them gain health.
If they were all over the acros that's not good. Maybe try dipping what's still alive to get the flatworms off and see if it helps them gain health.
d2mini
Premium Member
Yeah, i actually came across that thread last night.
Those are definitely very different looking FW than the ones I have.
Tektite (another RC member) came over last night and took some home. She's the one who spotted the one on the LPS. She has a microscope so maybe a more detailed looked will help identify these buggers.
Thanks man, that's really generous of you.
There may be some major changes coming to the d2mini tank... some already put in motion before this catastrophe. lol
More like the CRAZINESS :uhoh3: that goes on with this hobby. haha
