Topic: Acropora Eating Flatworms

[GraffitiSpotCorals]

I hope by starting this thread we can help inform people and educate people about this pest. I am not sure how to start it off really but I am hoping to have everyone who has dealt with them personally chime in and give their experience and method of eradication. Imagine if everyone who has acropora but doesn't know what aefw's look like or what damage they do go and check the underside of their corals, I bet there would be a good number of folks that discover they have them. It seems mostly everyone learns the hard way with this pest and it would be nice to save a few from that by making this thread a good one and not an argument.

 

I guess for starters we should post links to some informative websites so people can get some standard info and pictures. This thread won't help anyone if people don't share and participate either. For starters there is a sticky about pests that have some pictures of aefw and red bugs. Which in a lot of cases come hand in hand. If you have one its a good chance you have the other.

[zygote2k]

Did you ever get rid of your flatworms? I'm guessing so, since you sell lots of frags....

Tell us how you got rid of them.

[zygote2k]

I had AEFW in one of my service tanks. I let all of the acropora die off and then I didn't have an AEFW issue. I dipped numerous times to no avail- they died off but came back within a few months.

[GraffitiSpotCorals]

" They aren't some mythical creature which can only be killed with a certain magic sword"

Someone said this recently and it's pretty true. I had very good luck with a STRICT dipping routine. Haven't seen one or any evidence in about a year and a half. (I will post my dipping process later)

Although I haven't read anything to where someone has eradicated them through wrasses alone. Even basting them off corals with a powerhead there are places in acros where wrasses can't get so its not something I contemplated because I wanted them gone for good. Although living with them this way is very possible.

 

Other members have said that once you have them it's impossible to get rid of them... ...NOT TRUE. Lots of people have done it with dips or a qt method.

[YHSublime]

Turns out I diagnosed wrong on my fresh tank. Dipped the few SPS I had 3 times, and inspected with a magnafine glass every day, only thing I found was amphipods. Here is a link Coral Hind shared with me while I was trying to figure out what I was dealing with:

 

Read the pdf in this thread to help you ID them.

http://wamas.org/for.../page__hl__aefw

[GraffitiSpotCorals]

I had AEFW in one of my service tanks. I let all of the acropora die off and then I didn't have an AEFW issue. I dipped numerous times to no avail- they died off but came back within a few months.

 

You were not dipping correctly then. Because you couldn't do it doesn't mean others can't.

Having them in a service tank and in your home are two different things. It's much easier to give up and tell your customer that they need to throw away all their acros instead of taking action to dip properly. How about you tell us your dipping process that you failed with?

 

I would NEVER sell any acros if I had seen any evidence of them still being in my system. If you have noticed what I started with two years ago when I had them is basically all gone. That's because I grew them to the size where they wouldn't fit in my 210 gallon tank anymore. And no one has told me of ANY evidence of aefw.

 

Also telling people they are impossible to kill keeps that horrible stigma associated with them alive.

[GraffitiSpotCorals]

Yea YHsublime I never saw any in your pics... That's why I posted this. Even the experienced veterans need to learn this stuff.

 

Someone who has been in the hobby for a long time was weary of buying from me a while ago, and never did. He got flatworms. Sometimes it's better to buy from people who have a clue as to what to look for.

 

You can see bite marks and redbugs with your naked eyes. Distinct circles, and after a dip they become more visible ime. No need for a magnifying glass. The actual flatworm can be tough to spot without pulling the coral out of the water.

[rocko918]

My experience is it was just a huge pain in the ass. I really just threw away most of my acros. Kept 4 and dipped them once a week in coralrx. that stuff was harsh on them. Bought a magnifying head lamp and checked them out. Recently added the acros back to the main tank. Tank does look empty. My $500 efflo is gone. did not keep any of that. tried a small frag but it did not like my dipping much.

[overklok]

it seems the Bayer pesticide method is the best right now.

[Coral Hind]

Piper27, I think this was a good idea to start this thread as a reminder and to hopefully help some of the new members.

 

For AEFW I just use CoralRX and dip all acros once a week for three weeks. Inspect for eggs and remove them or cover with super glue during each weekly dip. Soak them for ten minutes in the dip solution and swish them or blast with a turkey baster to blow off the stunned flatworms. It's a pretty simple method that was passed on to me from "ctenophore".

 

Dip all new frags when first brought home as well as one week after bringing them home in case eggs hatched. If any flatworms are found then start the three week dip cycle.

 

Knowing the tell tale sign of the bite marks is key to catching them early. If you don't know what the eggs, flatworms, or bite marks look like you need to research that now before you have a problem.

[Coral Hind]

Turns out I diagnosed wrong on my fresh tank. Dipped the few SPS I had 3 times, and inspected with a magnafine glass every day, only thing I found was amphipods. Here is a link Coral Hind shared with me while I was trying to figure out what I was dealing with:

I didn't think you had AEFW's but several members insisted that you did. I'm really glad you didn't and hopefully you learned from the research what to look out for next time.

[basser9]

I think the single most important thing to keep in mine is a loose 1inch frag

is way better then a encrusted frag.

I have gotten to the point were i will clip any new frag off of its encrusted base

dip the fresh clipping and throw away the base.

Even with a quarantine for my SPS i feel this is the smart thing to do.

[zygote2k]

My process was this:

 

Remove all acros from the tank. All 4 of these corals were bigger than my hand.

Dip in Revive for 15 minutes and agitate water with coral to shake all loose worms off.

Place back in system. Repeat next week and following week after.

 

4 months later, they were back. I think that somewhere in the tank was an egg bundle that didn't get dipped and they re-emerged given the right water conditions.

 

A different story to add-

I had a tank that was infested with Red Planaria and treated it with double strength FWE. It killed off the FW's and they weren't present for almost 6 months. Now they are back.

 

I think that FW's of both types are extremely hardy and can withstand harsh medicines. I also think that there's a chance that eggs can lie dormant for long periods of time and hatch when water conditions are right.

 

If you look at how ORA does their QT process, then that's really the way we should do it if we want to prevent outbreaks.

 

Another question is how long should you wait after you've treated for AEFW before you start selling frags?

[basser9]

I dont care is someone has or has had AEFW as you should assume

every SPS has them.

If you only add a 1 inch tip to a tank there is no way you cant see eggs

so its pretty easy to dip a small frag and be sure its pest free.

[YHSublime]

I didn't think you had AEFW's but several members insisted that you did. I'm really glad you didn't and hopefully you learned from the research what to look out for next time.

 

I certainly did, it was very helpful learning. I also learned about QT'ing and dipping my corals, something I never understood as important before. I think it's great that this thread is started, and hopefully others will learn from it. I never thought about the process of QT'ing corals, because I never thought about the consequences. I can't imagine losing all my corals, or the energy it would take to combat something like AEFW, and my tank is new.

[GraffitiSpotCorals]

I am on my lunch break and will try to sum up how I dipped.

First I think it's best to dip single infected colonies a few times and get them in check. Make sure water parameters are stable because they thrive on weak and sick acros. Once they were in check I decided to dip for 8 weeks straight. I tried 3 week dips, dipping once a week. And it's just to easy for one to slip by and have them come back 3 months later. Which happened to me at least twice because I was underestimating the aefw's. They will hide anywhere you can't get to or see. So after fighting with them for a long time I finally decided to clamp down and do an 7 or 8 week routine, with dipping every 6 days. I ran out of revive after week two and after 12 days saw eggs again on a stag. So I started over and dipped for 8 weeks straight. Before doing this I also took everything out of the tank and made SURE that there were no encrusted spots on the rocks of half dead frags under rock piles. Every acro i had was dipped in a 20 long with revive for 10 to 15 min depending on the coral. I had to do three separate rounds off dips in the 20 long because I had so many pieces. I made sure I rinsed the corals in the dip water and I also had a second tank full of dt water so I could Wash to corals off in clean water to make sure none were sticking behind. This is essential and being sure you check EVERY acro EVERY time you dip for any eggs is also a must. After week three I never saw any marks but kept dipping for the 8 weeks just to make sure. Since the last dip I have not basted any corals or seen any evidence of aefw thank god. I was not confident to trade or sell acros for around 9 months to a year. It's been almost a year and half since the dips now.

 

Rob if aefw layed eggs that stayed dormant for long periods of time then anyone buying mariculture corals is basically destined to have them in their system.

Someone also was talking about them mutating into something that will eat other species of corals also.

I think that this kind of thinking is doing more harm than good. It just increases the bad stigma associated with this pest.

 

All in all the only time I lost any acros was when I first discovered them and freaked out. I set up a quick horrible qt tank. Lost a few in 1 day from bad water conditions and put everything back into the display to try other options.

 

 

[OUsnakebyte]

Here is the link to my ppt that Tom posted:

 

http://wamas.org/for...aquarium-pests/

 

It is possible to rid the aquarium of these pests AND save all of your acropora corals. But, it takes patience and diligence. I dipped all acros once a week for 1.5 months in the prescribed treatment in that ppt. I also left the display devoid of acros for three months (just in case there were some still lurking...). To date, I have not had them - or red bugs - return. And note, I was not having success with Interceptor killing the red bugs.

 

If you cannot move the acros to a different tank, then just dip them and put them back in your display each week, but you might want to extend the treatments to more than 1-1.5 months - ya know, just to be sure.

 

Cheers

Mike

Edited March 18, 2013 by OUsnakebyte

[GraffitiSpotCorals]

Ok thanks for anyone who posted their experience. It's amazing that there are only 4 people who have had aefw in the DMV and were willing to share their experiences. No one else wants to help out with this thread? Rob posted a fair question that no one has answered. No one has any stories of living with them or anything?

[ArtFully Acrylic (Adam B)]

Awesomely educational thread guys. Thanks a bunch for keeping it all up. I, knock on wood, luckily have never had to deal with flatworms or red bugs yet...but it is nice to have such a great arsenal of information as I presume this pest to be not a question of "IF" for most, but a question of "WHEN".

[trockafella]

Ill share.. I had red bugs once, used interceptor (3 treatments) and they were gone. I had AEFW once, threw the corals away and moved on, never saw them again. Exciting story huh.

[GraffitiSpotCorals]

At least you posted your experience Travis, thanks.

 

To answer robs question. I think it's best to not sell or trade any acros until your positive they are gone. That will be different for every person taking in consideration the amount and size of acros they have. Like rob said, if you fail to dip correctly they will come back 3 or 4 months later. In my case I was paranoid so I have a few ziplock bags full of dead frags that i dried out. It took almost a year to feel confident that they were gone. I think checking every piece each month is a good idea if your goal is to be able to sell some frags every ow and then.