Radical new treatment for AEFW

[bknapp]

Getting AEFW sounds like pain in the butt. What is the best way to prevent from getting then in your DT ?

Strict QT, dipping and close observation. Or like @FarmerTy said no acros. Lol. But, what fun is no acros?

 

[Hawain_Rob]

Extacly..no fun at all! Do you guys think when you get a new acro one dip of coral rx will do it?

 

[bknapp]

Extacly..no fun at all! Do you guys think when you get a new acro one dip of coral rx will do it?

No, I wouldn't use Coral Rx. Bayer Advance insecticide is the better option. My plan for future purchases is keeping them on a frag rack and dipping once a week for a month and removing them from the frag plugs.

 

[FarmerTy]

Strict QT, dipping and close observation. Or like @FarmerTy said no acros. Lol. But, what fun is no acros?

It's almost sadistic.. Keeping acros.

But yes, strict QT procedures and Bayer or potassium chloride is your best friend.

 

[Squamosa]

I ran a few tests a while back with Bayer. The AEFW I had in my system were pretty resilient. The AEFW would come off in the Bayer dip and curl up into almost a ball, when removed from the dip and placed back in fresh salt water they would uncurl and start moving again. I was not convinced that Bayer would kill AEFW. I have read other threads were people were successfully killing AEFW with Bayer, which leaves me and others to believe that there are different types of AEFW. One of the things I do not like about Bayer, besides being poison is it mixes up cloudy, and I cannot see the AEFW come off the coral which is why I prefer Revive. Since your Bayer mixes up clear you won't have the same issue.
I was told years ago that AEFW will only lay eggs on the base of a living coral, which has been proven to be a fallacy. I would find eggs on the underside of the coral mounts and in between branches. It wasn't until I removed all the Acro into a separate system that I was able to rid the pest. I bought a pair of 3X magnifying glasses from the dollar store and would use a bright flashlight with a direct beam to visually inspect for eggs.
As stated above once the eggs were manually removed the process became a lot easier. It was a drag spending 3-4 hrs weekly dipping and inspecting for eggs but in the end was well worth it

Be sure too that you don't have a cycle in your QT system, especially if there is any die off of bacteria from the coral dip

And here they all are in the clear solution

 

[evolved]

Do you guys think when you get a new acro one dip of coral rx will do it?

It may kill all the live ones, but would do nothing for any unhatched eggs - no dips do.

 

[Ginu]

The only way to avoid these nasty buggers is to follow a few routine techniques:

1. a qt tank is a must. place the frag in the dt and dip once every 5-7 days for 30 days and observe what comes off
2. I know it hurts, but its best to remove/cut off frag plug and discard some of the growth as you could easily have 100 eggs under the tissue which will only hatch in time.
3. staying away from acros will also do the trick, but where is the fun?

 

[Reefnjunkie]

Agree with the above but if you have a 10x loupe and can view ALL parts of the frag/acro I don't see the need for 4-6 separate dippings. The eggs act like acid and will kill any living acro tissue so if you frag is 100% living tissue, you can inspect the piece 100%, and there are ZERO bite marks, I for one am comfortable with 3 dips, and they don't need to be spread out over a 15-21 days.

AEFW actor a breeze, its the egss you need to be worried about and that's the reason to cut the frag off of a plug, cut that colony from the substrate it's on and make sure you leave some living tissue behind on whatever your cutting it off of.
Great advise has been shared in this thread, I'm sure some have experience in this matter

Good luck to the OP- win the battle and the war!!

 

[Ginu]

Agree with the above but if you have a 10x loupe and can view ALL parts of the frag/acro I don't see the need for 4-6 separate dippings. The eggs act like acid and will kill any living acro tissue so if you frag is 100% living tissue, you can inspect the piece 100%, and there are ZERO bite marks, I for one am comfortable with 3 dips, and they don't need to be spread out over a 15-21 days.

AEFW actor a breeze, its the egss you need to be worried about and that's the reason to cut the frag off of a plug, cut that colony from the substrate it's on and make sure you leave some living tissue behind on whatever your cutting it off of.
Great advise has been shared in this thread, I'm sure some have experience in this matter

Good luck to the OP- win the battle and the war!!

You are correct, however I believe in longer QT times and extra cautionary procedures since I don't think it would be fun to miss one egg which will hatch and multiply as the corals grown jut to have to battle the same plague 6months down the road.

Also it is much, much easier to treat a frag/mini colony than huge colonies, so my vote is to QT/treat/observe, also have some natural predators like wrasses/pipefish

 

[Reefnjunkie]

Agreed, emphasis to be noted on the 100% parts LOL

 

[Squamosa]

Well, my little QT set-up is at temperature and salinity, all ready to go for the big removal and dip this afternoon!

So, not looking forward to this

 

[Squamosa]

Removed all acros from the tank, what a battle.

Had to break rock work as acros were well and truly encrusted but got everything out, dipped in 40% Bayer and placed in QT.

Cut away large parts of colonies and in some cases only frags remain, but I'm confident I removed at least 95% of all eggs too.

There must be hundreds of flat worms in my dip containers!

Feeling a bit shattered now

 

[Squamosa]

Here they sit, for a month.

Will dip again in 5 days

 

[bknapp]

Good work.

 

[malira]

Wow. Those things are devastating.

 

[Diesel]

It will be a job on it self but long term it will pay off.
Just a note that only Acro's need to be treated not monti's.
Looks like I see some monti's in your QT or they can be table acro's

 

[Squamosa]

It will be a job on it self but long term it will pay off.
Just a note that only Acro's need to be treated not monti's.
Looks like I see some monti's in your QT or they can be table acro's

I couldn't separate the montis away from the acros, so I had to break everything up and thought might as well dip and place them in QT too

 

[Ginu]

Good way to fight those suckers. It truly sucks but well worth it in the end.

 

[bknapp]

It will be a job on it self but long term it will pay off.
Just a note that only Acro's need to be treated not monti's.
Looks like I see some monti's in your QT or they can be table acro's

The worms won't affect the montis but they will lay eggs on the bottom side.

 

[Diesel]

The worms won't affect the montis but they will lay eggs on the bottom side.

That I don't know.