Weird markings on acro what is it?

[X30D]

 

[X30D]

It doesn’t seem like flatworms i tried to get it off but its impossible

 

[Chrisv.]

Take another photo tomorrow and see if they have moved.

These do look a bit like aefw bites to me.

Since it's a huge colony you could always cut a branch off and dip it and see what comes off.

 

[ReneReef]

Definitely AEFW.
Egg clusters at the base and lots of bite marks (light spots on the underside of the branches).

 

[X30D]

Definitely AEFW.
Egg clusters at the base and lots of bite marks (light spots on the underside of the branches).

So the dark patches are eggs?

 

[ReneReef]

So the dark patches are eggs?

Yes, if you look closely (no need for a microscope) you will clearly see the clusters consist of individual orange-brown spheres like tiny caviar.

The egg clusters you want to remove. You can easily scrape them off.
Bare coral skeleton you can cover with superglue to minimise the "breading ground".

 

[X30D]

Yes, if you look closely (no need for a microscope) you will clearly see the clusters consist of individual orange-brown spheres like tiny caviar.

Oh yeah should i just get rid of it since it’s already this bad i have other colonies on the other side of my tank

 

[VintageReefer]

Use your phone and take a zoomed in photo you will see they are tiny balls. These are egg clusters. Brush them off and dip the coral in kcl. You have 8-10 weeks of weekly dips ahead, and manual inspection for new egg clusters / removal

 

[VintageReefer]

Oh yeah should i just get rid of it since it’s already this bad i have other colonies on the other side of my tank

Your tank is already infected. All acros will need to be dipped for 8-10 weeks and be inspected weekly for eggs

 

[ReneReef]

Oh yeah should i just get rid of it since it’s already this bad i have other colonies on the other side of my tank

Check them all, they will have spread.

If you have a colony out of the tank, then you might as well dip it. DipX or other wormwood like dips work well against AEFW.

 

[X30D]

Check them all, they will have spread.

If you have a colony out of the tank, then you might as well dip it. DipX or other wormwood like dips work well against AEFW.

Will this work?

 

[Chrisv.]

I'll add: skip ahead to the big guns on this one. There isn't a fish that will wipe this out. Your options are either to treat the tank aggressively by pulling and dipping each acro routinely for months (some people do kcl spray), or pulling all acropora and going fallow on acropora for a few months. These are obligate acropora (and perhaps anacropora) eaters, so when the acropora are gone they will eventually starve.

 

[VintageReefer]

I’m on week 3 of treatment. You need to disrupt the life cycle. You’ll dip and kill aefw but eggs survive the dip so they need to be removed. You could be clean by week 4 or 5 but there’s possibility some get missed and are on shelves or traveling around. 8 dips a week apart is what was reccomended to me from a pro here. And he said do 10 weeks if you want to be extra safe

 

[Chrisv.]

Revive will work but it does expire, so make sure it's not a decade old.

Also, don't sell or trade frags from this system until you are aefw free.

 

[VintageReefer]

Yes revive works also

But you need to make a routine and dip every acro weekly for 8-10 weeks
And manually carefully looks over everyt bit of the coral, plug, whatever for eggs, and brush them off. I use a 1” nylon bristle brush for cleaning things

Goes without saying don’t add more acro during this process unless you want to be dipping them also

 

[X30D]

Other acros don’t seem to be infected yet(they are pretty far apart from this one) and don’t worry i dont trade or sell corals