Desalwii doing bad :Alk swing or AEFW

[aqua80]

I've discovered AEFW in my tank in the last month and saw some corals affected with bite marks. In about the same time (just before AEFW) I 've slowly begin to introduce a new salt in my tanks (from dd h20 to reef crystal, 50%-50% before mixing, automatic water change of 1 gallon per day) and got a alk elevation from 8.3 to about 9.3 in this period..

my desalwii went form this in september :

to this in the last 2 weeks :

with no polyps extension at all and colors fading...
no bite marks seen....

can AEFW make a coral look like this or the alk swing with the new salt is the more probable cause

thanks for help

 

[aqua80]

another before :

and after :

 

[bobssecrtsn]

1 gallon per day from 8.3 to 9.3 DKH is roughly about 2 weeks period? i wouldnt say it would be your alk.. but it may be from the nutrients that they put in the DD salt that RC does not have. i maybe wrong.

 

[Jonny Roks]

I personally don't see the alk being the problem. Give it a little time to adjust while keeping an eye on levels.

 

[karsseboom]

The 3 most common signs of Aefw.

1. Bites marks

2. No polyp extension

3. Pale colors/bleaching

I would dip and turkey baste to rule out pest.

 

[divewsharks]

^This.
Can you move the coral? Check underneath for dead spots and egg masses.

 

[aqua80]

1 gallon per day from 8.3 to 9.3 DKH is roughly about 2 weeks period? i wouldnt say it would be your alk.. but it may be from the nutrients that they put in the DD salt that RC does not have. i maybe wrong.

thanks for your thoughts, that is a possibility too... so I'm stopping salt change for now...

The 3 most common signs of Aefw.

1. Bites marks

2. No polyp extension

3. Pale colors/bleaching

I would dip and turkey baste to rule out pest.

blasting don't show anything, but same thing in some other corals that had bite marks and AEFW after dipping... It's the first affected coral that looks like this ; retracted polyps and color loss with no bite marks visible...
others only showed bite marks and still looked good :

awi :

tricolor :

bite marks and an adult AEFW in the right bottom corner (look closely !)

eggs :

bastard after dip :

^This.
Can you move the coral? Check underneath for dead spots and egg masses.

I would have to break the colony... that's probably my next move anyway...

 

[DNA]

Really good photographs of this awful menace.

 

[Allmost]

wow amazing pics, and sorry to see that ...

try to keep things as stable as possible, and feed the corals more and you might have to do more water changes too, gotta boost up the imunity of the corals. make their skin thicker.

they suck, but good luck of course, wrasses are a huge help too.

 

[aqua80]

Really good photographs of this awful menace.

wow amazing pics, and sorry to see that ...

try to keep things as stable as possible, and feed the corals more and you might have to do more water changes too, gotta boost up the imunity of the corals. make their skin thicker.

they suck, but good luck of course, wrasses are a huge help too.

thanks !
yes I already have a AEFW control unit : yellow wrasse, sixline and melanurus
on the positive side this episode will make me learn something new (for me) about reefkeeping

 

[Allmost]

that's a great attitude to fight them with I am sure you will beat them in no time. more than half of it is power of mind right ? I think so at least

and the before pics shows your great reefkeeping skills and dedication already

 

[aqua80]

update...

a friend gave me a bottle of FW stop that I have been dosing for 2 weeks with no visible impacts except I don't have new bite marks, no FW seen when I blast but that was already the case after dipping my afected colonies...

but I am beginning to loose many colonies/frag by STN...
colors are good, but still the STN creeps up from the base...
I've seen some other tanks with FW more than me and corals still looks good, so I'm not sure the FW are the main problem in my tank...

polyfilter returns brown, alk between 8.5-9
same carbon and gfo dosing/brand-bottle than for the last months...
I've redone my aquascape about 4 weeks ago and removed about 10lbs of rocks but that is about it...

some pics :

autera STN from the base/center :

another acro :

frag near the end of its life...

hoeksemai :

convexa frag:

tort :

and even a montipora confusa getting holes in its periphery...

I'm a little bit lost here !

 

[xcorallusx]

Why did you switch salts? I dont think you had an alk swing especially with doing such small water changes and increasing from 8 to 9. I would double check all your parameters because something is up.

 

[aqua80]

I had similar issue recently and for me I found my salinity had creeped up to like 37, once I pulled down, things took off. Also, my MG was low like 1250 and I bumped that to 1350. Tank is looking good again and STN has stopped on everything.

hope to have a similar fate !
My refractometer is calibrated with a standard solution at 35ppt but I will double check with a milwaukee refractometer coming soon...
same thing with alk, hanna checker is coming to double check my salifert test...

Why did you switch salts? I dont think you had an alk swing especially with doing such small water changes and increasing from 8 to 9. I would double check all your parameters because something is up.

I began salt change because my LFS closed and getting that DDH20 was harder...
I now don't think the alk swing was that bad too..,

thanks for trying to figure this out with me !!
I hate wathing my corals "ungrow" like this slowly...

 

[madkeenreefer]

Hey Mate ,
I was just thinking about your situation and started to wonder how you heat your house and or if you have started to use your fire place yet this winter.
Are you drawing air from outside your house for your skimmer?

 

[aqua80]

Hey Mate ,
I was just thinking about your situation and started to wonder how you heat your house and or if you have started to use your fire place yet this winter.
Are you drawing air from outside your house for your skimmer?

Steve,
I do have a fireplace but it is drawing air from the outside and is air tight on the inside..
plus I've done 2 winters like this with my tank with no problems...

skimmer is drawing air from the inside...

 

[aqua80]

I think mine told me to use RO water and calibrate to 0. I also checked it against my saltwater I buy from the fish store (actual ocean water) and I always check other fish stores water when I bring home a coral. I am around 34.5 ppt. Corals have all got their colors back and stn has stopped and I actually see new growth now. (at least what looks to be the start)

received the milwaukee refractometer today and it confirm the salinity being 35ppt

 

[Bandos reefer]

Hi aqua80. Any updates?
I seem to have the same problem as you. Can't figure out what's the problem here. My deslawii just stopped having polyp extensio

 

[aqua80]

Hi aqua80. Any updates?
I seem to have the same problem as you. Can't figure out what's the problem here. My deslawii just stopped having polyp extensio

thanks for asking !
Still not sure about the cause of all this, but Desalwii is still alive, a little more polyp extension but bad color...

almost all my other acroporas are STN'ing from the base and I fear I might lose most of them... even with 3 weeks with flatworms stop...

2 days time lapse showing new bite marks :

I'm waiting for an analysis of my water to see if there is something else wrong apart form the AEFW...

 

[Acronic]

Damn those blood sucking vampire worms!! I hope you find the silver bullet quick, or at least a wooden stake! Good luck