AEFW??

[Husker]

I recently lost a bunch of Acropora frags. I thought it was due to an Apex programming issue that caused my ATO to turn off, leading to my display tank not circulating with my sump for a few days. The temp dropped to ~65 for a few days and alk dropped to around 6.4dKH (from ~8.0dKH). However, everything has been stable for a couple weeks now and some frags/colonies are seemingly just not taking a turn for the worse. I have a couple Stylo frags, a couple Monti, and a Cyphastraea that look perfectly fine. Some acros look perfectly fine as well. I just got rid of red bugs about a month ago.

Tank is 150g + 55 gallon display refugium containing macro algae, zoanthids, and RBTAs.

Parameters:
Alk: 7.4-8.7 the last month (has been fluctuating a bit lately because some deaths have caused my dosing to need to be changed pretty frequently); 8.1-8.7 the last week
Calcium: 400-410
Mg: 1230-1440
Nitrate: 0
Phosphate: 0.02

Fish:
Kole tang, Solorensis wrasse, H. chrysus wrasse, Meleagris leopard wrasse, Ocellaris clown

Here is a picture of my red planet that has just started to take a turn for the worse the last few days.

 

[CalhounM]

Possibly, likely from the fluctuations. Had a flat worm battle months ago, and I seen much more definantive bite marks.

 

[Scorpius]

That's stn/rtn, not aefw.

 

[Husker]

Okay... Now I'm starting to get a bit more concerned...This was a mille I cut out that has been suffering for a while...

Are these eggs and more bites?

 

[McMullen]

Hard to say. Break off what you can and dip. At least a you'll know.

 

[reefer4816]

Okay... Now I'm starting to get a bit more concerned...This was a mille I cut out that has been suffering for a while...

Are these eggs and more bites?

Sure look like aefw eggs

 

[Graffiti Spot]

Definitely aefw eggs from what I see. The rtn is likely from fluctuations though. Careful because aefw will take hold and infest when corals are stressed like this. Don't freak out and setup any temperary qt tanks, just dip affected pieces to keep numbers down until your corals recover. Also basting every couple days will help keep corals clean and less stressed.

 

[reef life]

Looks like sps flesh to me, But I'm happy to say I'm no aefw specialist.

 

[Husker]

After a bit more research, looking back at old pictures, and looking at other frags that don't look good currently, it is definitely AEFW. I have lost 75% of my Acro in the past month, so I should have suspected something more major than that one flux incident. That may have just been the stressor that really let the worms take over.

 

[BoomCorals]

Okay... Now I'm starting to get a bit more concerned...This was a mille I cut out that has been suffering for a while...

Are these eggs and more bites?

Yes that is aefw.

 

[Abhishek]

Really sorry to hear @Husker
Am quite doubtful that AEFW took out 75% acros so quickly . Think the fluctuations did and caused them to become weak and AEFW just pounced upon the situation .
As mentioned above , just dip them once - twice a week for atleast 2 months , if big enough tank - six line or Halichoeres wrasses will help along with melanarus , keep parameters very stable and increase flow if possible .. I mean crazy flow !!
Lastly I know some call it gimmick but my friends in Germany swear by KZ flatworm stop and coral booster - combo to make the acros unpalatable to AEFW and increase their immunity and make them heal faster .. try them if you want to .

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[Tahoe61]

That sucks! I have seen threads were after treatment for RBs AEFW for some reason just took over, like one kept the other in check.
Do you have a ton of Acropora?
There are some hobbyist that live with AEFW by teaching their fish to eat them, specifically Wrasses or Pipe Fish. A turkey baster was used to blow off the AEFW and the fish learned to eat them as they were blown off the corals.

 

[themcnertney]

The temp dropped to ~65 for a few days and alk dropped to around 6.4dKH (from ~8.0dKH).

This is most likely your issue. Sometimes with parameter swings, I don't see negative results right away. I have had alk drop very low, but only see my sps suffer weeks afterwards. I esp see the coral die off from the bottom up which is what appears to be shown from your pics

 

[Bryman]

If you really only have 25% of your acros left, now may be a good time to pull the rest out to a separate hospital tank where you can regularly dip and isolate. Let the main go without acros for 8 weeks and the rest left in the main should starve and die off. Once you are sure your corals are clean after 8 weeks put them back in main tank.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

If the corals you lost were colonies it was likely because of parameters. Aefw will take a long time to kill off 75% of a tank. Also flatworm stop does do a very good job at keeping the aefw from tearing up your coral but it won't rid the tank of them by any means. Lots of top reefers use it with success like stated above.
Unless the hospital tank has been running long enough to keep acropora happy it's just going to cause further stress. There is really no need to use a separate tank. Dip every acro in the display and put them back when your done. Much less stressed is caused by doing it this way and you shouldn't loose anything from it. There is no need to isolate the coral because all the corals need to be treated.

Keep all levels even and let the corals you have left recover. Hopefully you can save the rest. Good luck!

 

[Husker]

Thanks, all. The corals that were lost were all frags that had been growing for 6 months tops. I had been dipping corals with Bayer, but I had a couple batches that I was in too big of a hurry to do so.

I have a leopard wrasse and an H. chrysus wrasse, but I have only had these for a few weeks. The tank is a 150g with a 55gallon dispaly refugium and 75 gallon sump. There is a pretty ridiculous amount of flow with 2 Tunze 6105s and a Wav with a pretty open rock scape.

I agree that the big fluxation seems to have rendered them susceptible to the AEFW. The ones that got pale after the temp/alk flux that weekend are the ones on which I have seen AEFW bite marks. The healthy colors that have retained their color have no AEFW signs as of yet. I am assuming the two things really compounded the problem.

Here is the question... do I get rid of the remaining frags and leave the tank without acropora for a long enough time for the AEFW to die off? (this could be difficult to get encrusted portions totally off to ensure there is no food source)

OR

Should I get rid of the ones that look like they are heavily infested and try to manage the situation with my wrasses and perhaps treating the tank with flatworm stop? (if this is the case, I would be nervous to ever add any new frags as they could just get infected by low-grade AEFW due to the stress of tank transfer)

Thoughts?

 

[Abhishek]

@Husker ,

Thats a tough question mate!!!!
It all essentially boils down to how much of effort you are ready to put in the battles and how much the frags are worth to you .

If you decide to stick to the sticks, and dip them every week for 8-10 weeks, use Flatowrm stop and may be coral booster , have an army of halichoeres , leopards , may be pipe fishes , use turkey baster everyday to blast them once in a while - its a lot of effort . The frags will be stressed a lot and hence chemistry and other parameters need to be super stable to help them recover and strengthen their immunity to fight the AEFW .
They might start looking crappy , brown , no PE sticks with all the stress but if you decide to stick to fight, let their looks not dissapoint you !
In the end after 5-6 months, you might actually win over AEFW and the sticks will recover .
I know it can be done because I have seen it in person where you win over AEFW but it takes time and you have to be absolutely sure to be in the long haul for it .

On the other hand, if you do not want to take up so much of work , months of dissapointment to look at your acros with no PE and colors, and above all the frags are not so dear to you, I would remove all acros and go fallow for 10 weeks .

I know Adam had AEFW long long back in the past and he got rid of everything - I mean every equipment and started all over . Thats the absolutely best way to be sure you do not carry over any eggs even left but its extreme for many people including me .

Its your choice !!! If you decide to stick and fight , I and many people will be ready to help you in whatever way we can with suggestions.

I really really empathasize with your situation because it was AEFW that got me out of hobby 8 years back. I couldn't watch my 2-3 year old colonies of purple monster, oregon torts , sapphire millis and others slowly die away and anything I did wouldnt bring them back .
I didn't have access to internet that time or the knowledge to fight them till death and best I could do is just throw everything away ! Its the most heartbreaking thing that ever happened to me and I promised myself - never ever return to reefing .. But I still did now !!!

Regards,
Abhishek

 

[Husker]

As it is mostly just frags left, and most of the most valuable ones have died, I think I am going to try and get rid of all the remaining Acroproa and try to go acropora fallow for the 10 weeks. The difficulty though is how to get rid of the encrusted portions of the acro frags so that there is no longer any food for the flatworms. Any ideas in this regard?

There are some great locals that are willing to take frags while I work on cleansing the tank. I think we all need these lessons in order to learn better practices in the future. I'm just lucky this happened to frags, so I only lost money (not money + much more time).

 

[BoomCorals]

As it is mostly just frags left, and most of the most valuable ones have died, I think I am going to try and get rid of all the remaining Acroproa and try to go acropora fallow for the 10 weeks. The difficulty though is how to get rid of the encrusted portions of the acro frags so that there is no longer any food for the flatworms. Any ideas in this regard?

There are some great locals that are willing to take frags while I work on cleansing the tank. I think we all need these lessons in order to learn better practices in the future. I'm just lucky this happened to frags, so I only lost money (not money + much more time).

Use a screwdriver or chisel to chip off the rock bits with encrusting.

I just did a quick write up on how to rid yourself of AEFW, as this has come up on the forms a few times lately. It's a short, quick, and simple list.

https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/aefw-treatment-quick-step-by-step.345073/

 

[Husker]

Thanks! Now the trick is just how to chisel inside of the tank without shooting rocks into the glass. My rocks are not easy to remove. Maybe I will wrap the area in a towel or something while I chisel.