My own AEFW (Acro Eating Flatworms) images

I am wondering about the AEFW and the red bug movement. Are these F^$%er move fast or they jsut stay in one place. Do they just like to hanging out around SPS or they can be found in sump/live rocks ?

I was looking into my tank yesterday and I saw:

-some bugs, looked brown in color, and it move super fast like other pods, So I caught a few out and I noticed that the bugs swim on top of the water surface, it has a V shape tail, tiny long oval shape.

Then I went to my fuge and I saw:

-similar to the above bug descriptions, but it's like silver/blue in color, the bugs are all over my acrylic front panel, it seem to stay in 1 place, but as soon as I move the magnet cleaner...those little bugs, move like a speedy bullet.

anyone here got a link or better picture of those SPS red bug and AEFW
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10394989#post10394989 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by kirsto71
I am interested in this topic and would like to get some opinions on the effects of UV sterilizers. I have a frag tank that is connected to my main system. The water actually goes through three water pumps to get to the frag tank and a De-Bary UV sterilizer. How likely is it that an infection in my main tank could end up in my frag tank. I assume the sterilizer would do a fair job of killing any FW. I would also think that the FW would be minced up a fair bit by the pumps.
Click to expand...

If the animal doesn't pass through the UV, it will survive. There are many ways to travel other than through the UV, including hitching a ride on equipment, LR, or corals. They also can travel back through a return line to get down to the sump and vice-versa.
 
chaffey, you might check my ID page and compare your bugs to those listed in the Pods section.
 
Marc - great site, I love it.

I did and nothing look similar, I will buy a magnify glass and see if I can take a few picture.

I see those Isopod but the one I saw is a little similar, but brown/red in color and a little smaller.
 
I am sure that the market for AEFW treatments is not that large so the research into control methods is probably limited but one thing i was thinking about was why the AEFW only target certain species. Is there a list of SPS corals that they have not been found to touch and if so i wonder if there is some reason why. Such as a chemical in the mucas or some other factor. It would make for a great PHD subject for someone who is also into the hobby. I know i would pay a reasonable amount to help deal with these bugs if i found them.
 
I noticed that you have listed the clown goby as a problem for SPS. I have started to try SPS in my tank and I wanted to know do you find those fish are really a problem, I have always liked them so much...
 
Definitely evil. I appropriately named mine "Fang" and he mowed down several pretty frags of mine. Finally one day I couldn't take it any more and siphoned him right out of the tank.

The green Clown Gobies seem to be safer. The Yellow are well known to be problematic.
 
Hey guys and gals!

I think I have these damn worms! I had a few corals start to die off at the base, I took them to my LFS and she looked at them under the microscope. We couldn't find anything, but I got rid of them just incase.

Well two more corals began to do the same thing. One is an ORA birds nest, the other an ORA blue bottle brush. I read this thread earlier today and since I couldn't think of anything else it could be, I decided to take the corals out and investigate.

I looked for signs of eggs on the birds nest, and didn't find anything nor anything that looked like a worm. But I decided to put it into the TMPCC just for giggles. I then examined the BB, I found what appeared to be a cluster of round eggs, probably 3-5 of them. I'm not sure if they are eggs because they resembled the color of the corals tissue, but were pretty symetrical. Anyway, I didn't see anymore than the one cluster but I tossed it into the dip as well.

After about 5 minutes I checked the corals and noticed a flat worm of some type falling off the BB, nothing at all on the birds nest. After 15 minutes I shook the corals and took them out of the dip. I didn't place the BB back in the tank, but I did place the birds nest back in.

The worm was around a 1/4" or so and almost clear. Well the color is hard to guage since it's floating in the dip water.

Sorry for the long post, it's just right now I feel like I've contracted some infectious disease...

Any help would be appreciated. I'm taking the coral to the LFS tomorrow to put under the microscope. Hopefully it's nothing more than a regular flat worm, but my guess is that I'm going be on a major erradication quest!!!
 
I think I have found a new dip that will rid you acros of flat worms within 2 mins and your acro will not slim.( or brown) I would like to send a few people some samples that have AEFW and see what they think of it. Any takers? PM me
 
Why not just let everyone know what it is and people can actually give it a try. That's what this thread was about in my opinion. The sharing of information in the event a cure can be found.

cstires, I thought I had them too because of base recession. I have some fluke tabs if you need a few. I tested several and didn't find a single one. I moved the coral (valida) to a different spot and it is coming back very strong. I would check your alkilinity and maybe have the LFS you go to verify your tests. If your coral keeps receeding, that piece should have the flatworms from what I understand. And there is an even higher chance of eggs on that piece too.
 
Well I took the piece to SITC and there was definitely some eggs on the coral. Not sure what type, but did look similiar to the ones shown on Melev's site. When I first dipped the coral I saw a single flatworm fall off. It didn't quite resemble the ones shown on here, but I assumed it was a bad one, as well as I'm assuming the eggs were its as well.

I discarded the coral to be safe. I've been looking at all my corals every since and haven't noticed a single thing. I have even took corals that looked healthy and dipped them, and nothing.

It can't be possible that only one coral was affected, but I honestly can't find a single trace of them anywhere else. My Valida is doing great, nothing wrong with it at all. I'm worried that all of a sudden I'm going to see a crap load of these things everywhere...

I too agree, if you think you've found a reliable treatment, then please share with everyone! Even if I don't have them, helping others save god only knows how many thousands of dollars would be awesome!!!!
 
Giving us the ingredients of the dip isn't enough? I can understand being hesitant if your planning on marketing your dip, but if not, then just post it.
 
Giving away what it is made of is giving away too much at this point. The people who get the samples will---- think ----that they know what it is when the open the bottle. I may market it or I may share it, I don't know yet but I am not ready to give away what it is.
 
Well, I've done some more research since Cstires brought his piece in. I was able to get an acro with flatworms on it and placed it in a new product Julian Sprung is releasing called "Revive Coral Cleaner" that Julian was kind enough to forward me a sample of. Using the recommended dosage, the flatworms absolutely writhed off the piece and were dead in no time. I think this stuff has enormous potential! I've also used it, as he suggested, on some blastos that came in looking pretty "wilted" and after placing them back in the tank they looked amazing.

Here's some info from his website regarding the product:

ReVive Coral Cleanerâ"žÂ¢

Two Little Fishies ReVive Coral Cleanerâ"žÂ¢ is a new product developed by Julian Sprung for cleansing live stony corals. It is a surface cleaning formula based on plant extracts. Use for all general purpose live coral cleansing, as a part of acclimation to aquariums when corals are first received, for rinsing prior to shipping, and for rinsing newly fragmented corals, such as at coral farming facilities. 500 ml (16.8 fl oz) bottle.

Here's a link to more info:

http://www.twolittlefishies.com/documents/1162048240.pdf
 
Last edited:
If anyone else in the Orlando area has some of these I can experiment with, please get in touch as I'd like to do some more tests to see how it does. I have not seen the product on my wholesale sheets as of yet, but understand it should be available very soon.
 
That sounds promising. Thanks for posting about it! Hopefully others will try it out and report success.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

K
SPS Pest?!
Replies
10
Views
746
griss
griss
K
Help: SPS peeling strangely.
Replies
5
Views
646
griss
griss
P
HELP!! Bristle worm harrassing my clown goby
Replies
9
Views
737
Paul B
Paul B
M
Leather coral pest or disease
Replies
5
Views
692
kfisc
kfisc
A
Aquarium Temperature Control: How I Hacked My Air Conditioner to control my tanks temperatures
Replies
6
Views
1K
Naso180
N
Back
Top