i think they came in on a mail ordfer coral but hey big lesson lernt here too. I think im gonna start by treating the effected corals as ive just read this on melves reef
Acropora sp. can be plagued with red bugs, acropora-eating flatworms, and evil crabs. The worst of the three are the AEFW because they are virtually invisible. The dip in ReVive (or Fluke tabs, or TMPCC) are what we use to determine if they are even present. The flatworms bite into the coral tissue and leave bite marks that are visible, once you know what to look for. Many reef keepers have lost many corals to this one particular plague, and I'd have to say that those losses could have been prevented had they not been quite so zealous in their efforts. Once they find their tank is stricken with AEFW, the hobbyist immediately goes into panic mode, then into surgeon-mode. They remove each and every acropora, dip them and move them out of the main tank into a secondary set up that will house the corals for several weeks. The idea is to starve out any stragglers still in the display tank, but with that many stressors (handling, dip, new / different water, different flow, different lighting, different coral neighbors, different temperature swings, different water parameters...) corals go up in smoke and even wipe out other corals in a domino-effect. The best thing for you to do is deal with the infested corals individually, rather than to rip the system down with the lofty goal of erradicating AEFW completely. It just doesn't seem to work. Instead, look for the AEFW-candy in your reef, which tends to be smooth-skinned acropora, and most especially A. valida. That one coral is like a canary in a coal mine, and will be a great indicator if the tank has this pest.
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