Acropora flatworm?
- Thread starter Raphael Dalmeida
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billyocean
10K Club member
Yep!Just make sure you keep the qt tank stable or that will likely be the death of the corals. Some rock/biomedia and or sand from display will help. Keep your alk stable and your nutrients from bottoming out. IMO the shrimp thing is a waste of money. The series of dips will kill all of the worms, and rebasing everything will eliminate eggs.
I went through this over the summer.
I used a rolling cart and 2 flat Rubbermaid totes to dip into bio-advance for 20 minutes, then into clean water for a rinse, then back into the QT tank.
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Raphael Dalmeida
Active Member
At least I can keep the other SPS in the tank.
When i thought I was finally getting a good time keeping the Acroporas, to grow and color up, a new "mountain" is ahead just waiting for me to get to it.
I guess I'm glad I picked it up, not sure if early or not, but took the initiative to dip a dying frag and inspect closely. Only one came out and that was enough to raise th alarms.
This is my first and only reef tank, has been setup for almost 3 years, and went through a lot (ICH, different types of algae and pests). But this one might take the top as the worst pest to deal with, based on the sheer effort to rid the pest.
billyocean
10K Club member
Biggest advice is...it's gonna s uck...it takes time but just deal with it and get it done. If you don't have a way to qt before adding to your system grab a microscope and inspect really well before adding. No dip will kill the eggs so if they sneak in it is what it is. Once you get through it..it's just another notch in the reefing belt.
Something like this makes it easy to keep the coral in a container of water and thoroughly inspect.
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Something like this makes it easy to keep the coral in a container of water and thoroughly inspect.
TOMLOV DM9 Max 10.1" HD IPS HDMI Digital Microscope 1500X, 20MP Coin Microscope Magnifier for Error Coins with Screen, LCD Soldering Microscope for Adults, 10 LED Lights, PC/TV Compatible, 64GB https://a.co/d/iNjWdxQ
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jackson6745
Valuable Member
You’re not alone. It’s a real pain but in the big picture it only sets you back 6 weeks or so and your sps will make up for it in faster growth and better colors being pest free. Going forward it’s best to keep a small quarantine tank running for new arrivals. If that’s not possible remount everything before going into the tank. It’s the hidden eggs that create the issue later on.
Good luck. It’s honestly not that bad and gives you an opportunity tweak your aquascape should you want to
I agree with everything that has been said however, here is some food for thought. There was a guy I knew back in the day with one of the most beautiful acro tanks I have ever seen. Long story short he was moving and couldn’t bring all his acros with him so he texted me and said come pick up whatever you want. Well I was so excited to grab all kinds of huge gorgeous tank grown colonies, I filled buckets with corals. Got home and started dipping. They were COVERED with AEFW. Took them all back to him because I didn’t want to deal with it. Moral of the story, you CAN live with them and still have a beautiful tank. Must have been a fish or something that was keeping them in check in some way
billyocean
10K Club member
Could have been a recent thing he acquired...maybe not. The regular aefw is "mild" compared to the newer kind. The newer kind will eat a colony overnight. There's no round bite marks and tightly laid eggs to look for. Looks like rtn if you don't catch it. I've heard of some people that have managed the regular kind..which is still a bit of work as it would require basting consistency
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Raphael Dalmeida
Active Member
This is good to know, as I really won't be able to do the move straight away, so while it doesn't happen I will just try to do the reasonable management to keep it at bay.
Someone should research these pests more, if they develop a product that works well for Intank treatment it would be very profitable.
Even though there seems to be a lot of products out there, from all the research I've done seems like they are not really a "proven scientific method".
