Looking past the aefw tank crash...

[Mikuchar]

I've recently gone through just a horrible flatworm eating Acropora tank crash Which I've lost the battle only once survived the green slimmer.. My question is how soon after this tank tank crash would I be Ok to add Acropora frags?

 

[KrisReef]

I don't recall the life cycle of AEFW regarding them perishing by starvation. I have a theory that they go into aestivation/hybernation and remain in the tank until more food is added. Putting in one $5. frag will not trigger an outbreak. You have to add a few thousand dollars of new frags before they reappear to ravage the new additions.

A few other spots of information may help get a better answer<

Did you treat the tank for AEFW? How? How Long?
Did you have any wrasses or other potential natural predators?
How did you get the first infection, and have you changed your acro introduction protocols?

I hope you fair better with these creatures than I have.

Let's see if anyone else has a prognosis with more sunshine than I have provided.

.

 

[Mikuchar]

Well my real 1st and most devastating mistake was to not have a quarantine tank I felt like the 3 dealers I only purchased acros from were the most reputable companies so I felt there was no need I dipped every coral and clipped off the frag plugs etc. but somehow they managed to get in or the eggs did obviously so I do have a quarantine tank set up now but I used flatworm stop and coral booster And after watching numerous videos I doubled the dosage and was blowing off the rocks and coral every day and yes I have 2 wrasses 6 line and leopard but with the infastation I had it didn't really make a whole lot of difference. I took them all out even the crusting ones on a rock dip them all and Set them on a fragrant and continue doing the same procedure solely but surely just watching them just get eaten away and die in front of my eyes guys in the meantime I noticed after 4 or 5 days of Dulcin that my Elegance coral started spitting out guts and and a lot of my other lps We're closing up and we're looking like they were dying we're dying Is including my cleanershrimp so So after evaluating the coral I took them all out and got rid of them there was only 2 that may have survived maybe but the rest were all dead I figured better be safe than sorry and I had to do a quick 50% water change 2 times in a row and put on activated carbon immediately and I saved the rest in the tank which is accomplishment in itself

 

[brahm]

Huh, sounds like there is something else going on here. For AEFW if you pull out the ones you can dip them in bayer and baste your tank regularly with a maxijet or a turkey baster they are pretty straight forward to manage. Bonus if you want to try throwing random flatworm products like KZ stop etc. Seems like things got a little overcomplicated.

What is your tank currently supporting?

 

[Mikuchar]

Currently supporting?

 

[RMS18]

Agreed there is something else going on. Tanks don't crash from aefw, you just may lose some acros and Millis. I am at the end of a battle myself with great results. Blasting (with a pump, not a baster) was the number one key to winning.

 

[ying yang]

Currently supporting?

Think means what corals and/or livestock in tank maybe

 

[Mikuchar]

I lost all my acros except the green slimer. Almost identical to what happened to Adam from battlecorals

 

[Rex Laso]

That was due to flatworms, not AEFW. Different reason entirely.

 

[brahm]

Currently supporting?

What do you have in your tank now that is doing well and growing?

 

[brahm]

I lost all my acros except the green slimer. Almost identical to what happened to Adam from battlecorals

The hardest part with AEFW is learning to recognize them, and even if you have the tiniest hunch to blast with a baster or a pump to check. I don't quite see anything in Adam's post that talks about what actually happened. I do know back in '07 we were still kinda figuring out the whole flatworm thing along with a lot of other stuff. TBH it wasn't until I got flatworms way back then, figured out how to recognize them I was able to experiment and figure out how to deal with them. Once you're aware they are in the tank are treat the tank according (basically all you have to do is blast them with a pump or turkey baster a couple times a week) you can live with them. At first you might blow some skin off the corals or they won't have PE for hours after, but they get used to the routine, get thicker skin and open up right away over time.

If you want to get rid of them then you have to start dipping trying all the other fun things.

This is my old tank, everything in here grew from frags with AEFW. The nice thing about it is I could get corals from any where and anyone because I already had AEFW and treated all pieces like they did. The downside was I totally missed out on a fun part of the hobby which is trading/selling corals so things went a little wild

TLDR I guess my point is AEFW isn't a death sentence it shouldn't "crash your tank". Recognizing AEFW and how we react to it is where things can get messy.

 

[Mikuchar]

That was due to flatworms, not AEFW.

 

[Mikuchar]

Aefw is the abbreviation for acro eating flatworms

 

[Mikuchar]

The hardest part with AEFW is learning to recognize them, and even if you have the tiniest hunch to blast with a baster or a pump to check. I don't quite see anything in Adam's post that talks about what actually happened. I do know back in '07 we were still kinda figuring out the whole flatworm thing along with a lot of other stuff. TBH it wasn't until I got flatworms way back then, figured out how to recognize them I was able to experiment and figure out how to deal with them. Once you're aware they are in the tank are treat the tank according (basically all you have to do is blast them with a pump or turkey baster a couple times a week) you can live with them. At first you might blow some skin off the corals or they won't have PE for hours after, but they get used to the routine, get thicker skin and open up right away over time.

If you want to get rid of them then you have to start dipping trying all the other fun things.

This is my old tank, everything in here grew from frags with AEFW. The nice thing about it is I could get corals from any where and anyone because I already had AEFW and treated all pieces like they did. The downside was I totally missed out on a fun part of the hobby which is trading/selling corals so things went a little wild

TLDR I guess my point is AEFW isn't a death sentence it shouldn't "crash your tank". Recognizing AEFW and how we react to it is where things can get mes

 

[Mikuchar]

Tank looks amazing..after researching I did recognize them and my problem and I immediately started treatment turkey baster siphoning them out etc. But in the end I lost the battle only acro that survived was the green slimer

 

[brahm]

Are you sure there wasn't something else going on, parameter/ stability wise as well. AEFW alone shouldn't be enough to wipe your tank if you are activity blowing them off the corals.

Above you said your LPS were having issues too. Tell us about your tank? How long as it been running, what equipment, how are you tracking your parameters, water changes schedule, bio load, etc etc

Also other things you tried to do in your tank, dosing, additives, any "methods".

Tank looks amazing..after researching I did recognize them and my problem and I immediately started treatment turkey baster siphoning them out etc. But in the end I lost the battle only acro that survived was the green slimer

 

[pirate2876]

Aefw is the abbreviation for acro eating flatworms

AEFW are not the only type of flatworms. Planaria are flatworms as well, and large outbreak of those are more likely to wipe your tank out than AEFW.

I've had AEFW in various tanks and various stages of infestation and never had a crash due to the AEFW. How long has the tank being running with livestock? What are you water params? How is your temperature controlled?

 

[The Opinionated Reefer]

They won't crash your tank but they will slowly spread through all your Acros and eat away at them one by one like cancer. I currently have them and trying to control them but not sure if the battle will eventually be lost!

 

[sdreef]

I've recently gone through just a horrible flatworm eating Acropora tank crash Which I've lost the battle only once survived the green slimmer.. My question is how soon after this tank tank crash would I be Ok to add Acropora frags?

Sorry to hear about your experience. I am attaching a study on the life cycle of the AEFW Prosthiostomum acroporae. The findings of the study showed the hatching time varies by temperature. At 24 degrees celsius ,16 days to hatch and 9 days to starve the hatchlings. The authors recommend a 25 day fallow period to disrupt the lifecycle for this species of flat worm based on their findings. Perhaps you could transfer your remaining acro to your quarantine system and go fallow in the display?

What were you using for dipping your corals?