My own AEFW (Acro Eating Flatworms) images

[gflat65]

Here was my ghetto sled at first. It has since morphed into a normal looking tank (built a canopy, working on a sump, etc.). It still serves as a treatment/QT, though.

In action

Breaking out all of the aros was hard. Then clipping the rocks to get the encrustation was fun. A masochist would love Levamisole treatments...

 

[Dejavu]

starrd27- sorry about the delayed repley. I have been using levamisole as a OT/dip on all 27 colonies that were removed from my display tank. the first dip was a trial at 50 ppm for 5hrs on 10 colonies, all of them made it through ok. the second dip was on all the acros at 50 ppm for 5hr with no losts.

i not sure why so many people are have death w/ this dip. the only thing i can think of is that i am in the early stages of AEFW (only 5 acro are infected) and the acro are still heathly. I also have been removing egg for 4 week prior to to treatment. also i dipped all acro in FWE at 10x the recomended amount after each egg removal. i know that people are saying the FWE dosn't work but it was the only treatment i had at the time. it seemed the freak tham out enough to get them off the acro and the AEFW died after 2 hr.

 

[Sparkss]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7961019#post7961019 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MSHUR
Very nice QT set up...I wish u good luck with it.
In my situation, i needa bigger tank. I have about 35 colonies and about 15 frags. I have a table acro about 15'' acros and birdnest about the same the are big...i need at least 25g tank...

I don't believe that birdsnest are acropora, but I could be mistaken. Can anyone else confirm or reject that statement ?

 

[fishdoc11]

You are correct sparkss birdsnest are Seriatopora not Acropora.

Chris

 

[melev]

It is not Acropora sp. It is Seriatopora hystrix

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_Display.cfm?pCatId=418

EDIT: Chris wins for posting first, but I get extra points for providing a link.

 

[Sparkss]

so the short answer Mike is that you don't need to size your treatment tank to fit your birdsnest

 

[fishdoc11]

EDIT: Chris wins for posting first, but I get extra points for providing a link

With the extra points awarded you win......

I bow to your DIY prowess and thorough documentationess :lol:

Chris

 

[MSHUR]

guys, i agree with all of u..but,,they still can laid eggs on the base of my birdnest.. Like the do on the Lr..no?
And its only one coral)
what about the rest of my corals?
So, u dont think its a good idea to just remove all my LR?

mike

 

[garvondavis14]

that's why you leave all your acros out of your tank for a while so they starve to death and then when the eggs hatch, the new aefws starve too

 

[Sparkss]

exactly.. that is the purpose behind the 1 month minimum treatment/QT

It has been anecdotally reported the following :

AEFWs starve after 5 days w/ acros
AEFW eggs hatch after approx 14 days
AEFWs can't lay eggs right away after hatching and also possibly won't lay eggs unless there is food nearby for their offspring

so, if an AEFW is in your tank, with no acros, it has 5 days to lay eggs before it dies (starves) (although likely won't lay any if there is no detectable food). Those eggs have 2 weeks to hatch. Those newly hatched have 5 days before they starve.

it all adds up to 28 days

Most people shoot for 5 weeks, roughly... we are going for 2 months, just to play it safe.

HTH

 

[Sullivmw]

For those of you that have a lot of SPS's, or large pieces and do not know a good QT tank, look into a Rubbermaid tank, or something equivalent. For about $70 you can pick up a 150g tank which should hold a good deal of your stock.

Rubbermaid also has 50g options, all the way to a 300g tank. The prices are much cheaper if you buy through a store like Tractor Supply, or someone like them.

Just in case someone is not familiar with the tank, here is a link :

Rubbermaid stock tanks

(PS. replace the stock bulkhead right when you get it, it will save you many headaches down the road)

 

[ikatobiko]

AEFWs

AEFWs

I don't think it is necessary to remove all your rock or even all the acropora tissue. If you remove 95% of the acro tissue from your tank the AEFWs may have some food for a little while longer but will eventually still starve, although it may take slightly longer.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7962426#post7962426 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MSHUR
guys, i agree with all of u..but,,they still can laid eggs on the base of my birdnest.. Like the do on the Lr..no?
And its only one coral)
what about the rest of my corals?
So, u dont think its a good idea to just remove all my LR?

mike

 

[ikatobiko]

AEFWs

AEFWs

I don't think it is necessary to remove all your rock or even all the acropora tissue. If you remove 95% of the acro tissue from your tank the AEFWs may have some food for a little while longer but will eventually still starve, although it may take slightly longer.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7962426#post7962426 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MSHUR
guys, i agree with all of u..but,,they still can laid eggs on the base of my birdnest.. Like the do on the Lr..no?
And its only one coral)
what about the rest of my corals?
So, u dont think its a good idea to just remove all my LR?

mike

 

[MSHUR]

Re: AEFWs

Re: AEFWs

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7965263#post7965263 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ikatobiko
I don't think it is necessary to remove all your rock or even all the acropora tissue. If you remove 95% of the acro tissue from your tank the AEFWs may have some food for a little while longer but will eventually still starve, although it may take slightly longer.

I understand that,but i have to get a Qt tank for acros,
s, i fugure i can use my display tank and keep all acros there ,but take rock out.

mike

 

[gflat65]

Re: AEFWs

Re: AEFWs

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7965263#post7965263 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by ikatobiko
I don't think it is necessary to remove all your rock or even all the acropora tissue. If you remove 95% of the acro tissue from your tank the AEFWs may have some food for a little while longer but will eventually still starve, although it may take slightly longer.

To be sure they were all gone, you'd have to wait a bit longer than four-five weeks to reintroduce acros, though. You'd basically want to go four to five weeks from the time the last of the acro tissue was eaten. That could be a waiting game and a guessing game...

 

[Sparkss]

Re: Re: AEFWs

Re: Re: AEFWs

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7967042#post7967042 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by gflat65
To be sure they were all gone, you'd have to wait a bit longer than four-five weeks to reintroduce acros, though. You'd basically want to go four to five weeks from the time the last of the acro tissue was eaten. That could be a waiting game and a guessing game...

Agreed.. and even with trying to be sure that we got all acro flesh out, we still plan to let it sit for 2 months... just to be sure. I don't know about anyone else, but the whole "guessing" game about if the AEFWs are gone or not is just not worth it to think about having to go through all of this yet again

 

[ikatobiko]

Re: Re: Re: AEFWs

Re: Re: Re: AEFWs

Well, I too want to be more safe than sorry. I lost many colonies to these beasts so I am playing it really safe. I basically got rid of ALL of my corals. I tried to get as much coral tissue out as possible, although I am sure I left some behind although I don't see anything growing. My tank has been running without corals for over 4 months.

In the meantime, I changed m aquascaping, installed new lighting, set up a QT and also redesigned and built new overflows out of acrylic. I also am in the process of refinishing my cabinet and canopy.

Every coral will be treated with Levamisole or Betadine and interceptor in a 5 gallon bucket and then spend 6 to 8 weeks in the quarantine tank, with weekly dips. I do not plan to go through this again.

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7967467#post7967467 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sparkss
Agreed.. and even with trying to be sure that we got all acro flesh out, we still plan to let it sit for 2 months... just to be sure. I don't know about anyone else, but the whole "guessing" game about if the AEFWs are gone or not is just not worth it to think about having to go through all of this yet again

 

[ltelus]

i went over to one of our club members homes last night who just discovered the worms.We dipped corals with the betadine @3ml per liter and i can say that the worms seemed dead after 25 mins and pretty much turned to dust when touched at this point.
One thing to be aware of is there seems to be difference in various brands of betadine.We used cvs brand which was around $18,i picked up a bottle at Target which was only $5 and although the iodine povidone levels are the same the list of inactive ingredients is very different,just something to be aware of incase one of the inactive ingredients is actually relevent.

 

[david8956]

We used cvs brand which was around $18

I just picked up the CVS brand yesterday too, it was only $9.79 here for an 8 oz. bottle.

My experience was pretty much the same as everyone's...I used 20 ml in 6 liters of water, within about 5 min. all the AEFW started turning loose and falling off. Went the whole 25 min, then spent about another 15 - 20 min. trying to get all the eggs off. (I found a wooden toothpick with the sharp end broken off works best for this as the eggs are kind of sticky and will stick to the toothpick)

I only had two Acros that seem to be effected, both are small Tri-Colors, I only removed and treated those two so we'll see. They are very pale right now, so I put them low in a lot of flow.

 

[gflat65]

I know my fun with AEFW's has changed the way I treat all corals (SPS, LPS, or softie/zoa). Nothing goes in the displays without TMPCC dips and weeks of QT. I seem to have kicked the AEFW habit the first time, but I know they could pop up again without warning, so I'm not to content yet. It's been since around March that I started treatments and have seen no signs since, so I'm holding on to hope...