AEFW-Plan and Attack!

interesting, following along! Good luck

 

A few questions asked by a fellow 3reefer:
Do the FW only hang out exclusively on the acropora, no one had a issue with re-infestation after putting them back in the display? I know that is what they eat and where they lay their eggs.

Here is what info I have gathered from others who have gone this route for treatment.

AEFW only feed on acropora species of corals. Not all SPS. So I am not removing my birdsnests, setosa, monti caps, stylos etc. They do not like light, and that is why you typically see the bite marks and eggs at the base of the coral, or the underside. That is one of the reasons they are so hard to spot. Research has also shown that if the FW's dont have any acros to feed on they will starve in 5 days. But, the gestation period for the eggs is 2 weeks. So in theory, if you remove all acros from your DT, in 20 days your tank will be AEFW free.

Now there are different opinions on how and what to dip with, but the method and time is pretty much all the same. Once the corals have been placed in a QT, you will need to dip all acros once every 7 days for at least 6 weeks, and some say up to 9 weeks. Throughout this process you will look for any eggs on the corals, and you must score them, scrape them, remove them however necessary. Those that have been vigilant on removing the eggs, and dipping every week, say that you will see little to no FW's after the 3rd round of dipping. But you have to keep in mind that when a FW hatches from it's egg, they are so small and transluscent, that they are pretty much invisible. So that is where the next few weeks come in as insurance.

From what I have read, all those that have done the QT method and dipped with Revive, Coral Rx, or Bayer over 6 weeks, have not seen another FW since.

So for preventative measure, most of those that suffered major losses to their colonies from either the worms, or from moving them to QT and dipping, have basically been forced to their decision to QT all new corals. When they buy new frags(most wont buy colonies) they will snap them off the plug, because if there is any encrusting on the coral plug, the possibility that AEFW or the eggs could be on the base of the plug. They see this as the safest way to avoid any possibility of bringing them into the QT. They will of course dip the coral and observe it for any signs of pests over the next 4 weeks. Then and only then will they add it to their display tank.

 

Thanks for posting your experience. I've not had the pleasure of this misery, but I like to educate myself for when the day comes. I'm following along to see what your end result is. I'm finding it hard not to dip, inspect and cut all the base of all the corals/frags i acquire.

 

You should definitely always dip your corals no matter what. Now as far as Acros go, I would say that breaking them off the base is good practice to get used to.

 

I was correct in assuming that once i removed all my Acros from the main tank, that I would have to adjust my dosing pumps because of less demand on the system. I reduced them by half the night I removed them, and so far my numbers are holding steady.

At least that is one good thing....

 

I added a 6 line wrasse yesterday. Did another round of dipping tonight. I only saw about 5 very small worms out of 12 plus pieces and nothing else, which is a great sign. I did rinse them in clean saltwater after dipping and yet I am now seeing multiple dead copepods and amiphipods floating all over the QT. This stuff is highly toxic to inverts, even after rinsing them. I also believe it killed my cleaner shrimp in my DT before I moved everything over.

 

Keeping good levels so far. But I went ahead and added a reactor with some GFO, and added carbon too. I also hooked up an ATO to the tank. Trying to keep all levels as stable as possible.

 

Dipped all large colonies tonight. Found some eggs on the large blue tip stag, but nowhere else. Had about 10-12 AEFW fall off total on 6 colonies.

Also, I am kind of amazed on how much my skimmer is pulling out of the QT. Given there is only one small sixline wrasse, that I barely feed. I have also changed 12 gallons of water since setting the tank up.

 

Sorry so late but what is RB and the theory?

 

RB is Red Bugs, and the multiple reports of people treating their tanks for red bugs, and then a few weeks after having a AEFW outbreak. It has been reported on quite a few threads I have read, and the thought or theory is that maybe people had AEFW the whole time, but somehow the red bugs were keeping them at bay, so to speak. Either by just keeping them off the corals, or possibly feeding on them. This is all speculation, but I find it very interesting that I dipped a few corals for Red bugs a few months back, and no sign of AEFW on the coral, then those same corals that I dipped and saw red bugs fall off of, and not return, were the corals that were affected the most by AEFW.