flatworms on an oregon tort??? :(

[jcw]

Before and after blasting with water...

I'm so paranoid now after the redbug treatment.

Then about an hour later, it looks exactly like the first pic. Looks like they retract and them come right back. I couldn't really blow them off.

 

[SDguy]

Polyps?

Honestly, when I had AEFW, my OT was conspicuously free of them the entire time.

 

[smokenax]

+ ^^^^^ polyps.

 

[Reefer1225]

Don't see any flatworms... are you trying to blast water on those white/bluish specks? Then +1 just the polyps...

 

[jcw]

Like I said, paranoid!

Thanks guys. I was really ready to throw in the towel this am.


I've never seen these on the tort before. MOST LIKELY due to the redbugs.

Not quite celebrating, yet. I only treated the corals with interceptor 4 days ago.

 

[sirreal63]

Relax, as hard as it is to do at times.

 

[Reef Bass]

It's hard to tell, but maybe there are bite marks a bit up from the center of the base of the right branch?

Are you saying redbugs gave you aefw? What are you asking? I've had aefw on torts before.

 

[jcw]

It's hard to tell, but maybe there are bite marks a bit up from the center of the base of the right branch?

Are you saying redbugs gave you aefw? What are you asking? I've had aefw on torts before.

There are many people that believe that redbugs or something else that is wiped out by the interceptor treatment keep the AEFW in check.

Wipe out the particular organism, the AEFW flourishes.

 

[maroun.c]

I say polyps.
Keep a close watch on it when/if they reappear a few days later take a pic and compare the positions and you'll be sure. basically when they start showing in a few days you'll see a very thick polyp emerge and you'll be more certain.

 

[Reef Bass]

I've heard that theory. It's plausible, given the competition for the same food resource.

Hopingfully, if one discovers simulataneous aefw and redbug infections, one might beef up one's dipping and quarantine procedures to prevent such unfortuante occurances.

 

[Reef Bass]

I've never seen these on the tort before.

So are you asking what it is you are seeing on your coral? And people are saying polyps? So then you've never seen polyps on your coral before??

I'm sorry for being so dense. Some sort of description of what concerns you in the picture visually or circles or arrows would really help to make it more clear what you are asking people's opinion on.

I just saw a request from a fellow reefer to assess the presence of aefw, so I'm scouring the flesh of the coral visually for bite marks.

If you're asking what the light colored circular areas are around the base, then yeah, tightly retracted polyps. They're even more puckered in shot 2 as one would expect after being blasted.

Again, sorry for the confusion.

 

[jcw]

Exactly, the question has been answered. Thank you.
And my paranoia has been temporarily allayed...

And, no. I have not seen polyps look like those light dots on my oregon tort before. I'm new to sps.

So are you asking what it is you are seeing on your coral? And people are saying polyps? So then you've never seen polyps on your coral before??

I'm sorry for being so dense. Some sort of description of what concerns you in the picture visually or circles or arrows would really help to make it more clear what you are asking people's opinion on.

I just saw a request from a fellow reefer to assess the presence of aefw, so I'm scouring the flesh of the coral visually for bite marks.

If you're asking what the light colored circular areas are around the base, then yeah, tightly retracted polyps. They're even more puckered in shot 2 as one would expect after being blasted.

Again, sorry for the confusion.

 

[jcw]

Found this on a different acro tonight...

What to do, what to do...
really feel like throwing in the towel.

 

[Zukizuri]

If your acroporas can be detached out of the rock then take all out and placed then in a temporary QT. treat them with all medication for flatwork. What i did mine was separate all my acros and before placing it in QT i dip it in fresh water shaking it in water for 10-15 seconds. After it inspect the base for eggs then remove it by scraping it. For now all flatworm died. No acro died. Placed them back on DT.

 

[Nanighan]

I dont know what fish you have in you tank but get yourself a yellow wrasse, or what I have a yellow candy hogfish. They will hunt and voraciously eat these flatworms. I had them in a couple of acros that were doing poorly till I found some eggs. After a few days, polyps are out again but sadly the stress browned out the coral but it should come back.
BTW these fish are relatively cheap at your LFS so it is at least worth a try!

 

[eswgato]

If your acroporas can be detached out of the rock then take all out and placed then in a temporary QT. treat them with all medication for flatwork. What i did mine was separate all my acros and before placing it in QT i dip it in fresh water shaking it in water for 10-15 seconds. After it inspect the base for eggs then remove it by scraping it. For now all flatworm died. No acro died. Placed them back on DT.

Never ever dip corals with fresh water they will die they are not like fish use a dip like bayer coral rx etc

 

[jcw]

Never ever dip corals with fresh water they will die they are not like fish use a dip like bayer coral rx etc

bayer makes a coral dip now?

actually, i did dip the coral that i found this on in saltwater with bayer insect killer. didn't kill it. i didn't see it either.

as i was swishing it to clean it in a bucket of clean tank water, it fell off. the frag went back into the tank and i tried to kill it again adding the bayer into the bucket. It didn't die...

 

[jcw]

Found these and at least 3-4 more flatworms on three separate frags.

threw two out.

Found these at the base of one.

The third I broke off but the encrusted portion had more eggs...

I tested some kalk slurry and it instantly killed the flatworms so I coated the encrusted portion with the slurry including the likely eggs.

 

[jcw]

The bite marks are the easiest to see. The flatworms are well camoflaged and the eggs honestly I could only see up close.

 

[Reef Bass]

Nice job spotting bite marks and eggs. The eggs are very resistant to dips, etc., so scraping them off or tossing the frag is the best way to deal with those. If the infection is mostly confined to the base you can frag the top off and toss the base. Not a cure but helps to reduce numbers.

I went through this not too long ago. Fought aefw for a year with insufficient consistency. Wrasses will help keep the numbers down but generally won't get them all. I couldn't tolerate aefw chewing my acros so I took every acro out once a week and dipped them for six weeks straight. It was difficult and a pain but I finally got rid of all aefw and haven't seen a flatworm, bite mark or egg in months. I used Melafix Marine, which seemed harsh enough on the flatworms to cause them to fall off with agitation of the coral, yet not too harsh on the coral. I had A. surharsonoi and A. lokani survive the whole process. Best of luck. AEFW are the worst pest, imho.