AEFW infestation

kevinpratt823

Non-member
I sincerely regret to announce that I found out that I have an AEFW infestation. It appears that I have caught it somewhat early, as only a few corals have shown signs, but nonetheless, they're there. I apologize if you recieved anything from me that may have brought them in, and hopefully it was dipped and inspected etc., but considering that nobody has pointed it out to me until yesterday I doubt anybody has detected them. I dip all my corals when I get them, and after investigating and discussing this with a few knowlegeable/experienced reefers this morning, the eggs must have been on something and came in undetected, as no known dip kills the worms, let alone the eggs. Fortunately I just finished a 73 gal cube quarantine sustem for incoming corals, and I am thinking of setting up a large tank in my living rm for quarantine, as every bit of acro is coming out of the system for QT/repeated dips, and the DT's will be acro free for at least a few mos to ensure starvation/eradication. From my research thus far, this is the only way to surely get rid of them. If you recievd anything from me, again, I'm sorry, and hopefully you're protocols prevented anything from getting in. If you have any experience in this area, I could use all the input I can get. I'm trying to stay positive in this but it is discouraging. I've got a busy couple weeks ahead of me, but I am not going to let this stop me. I will erradicate these little f#%*&@rs. If anybody wants to learn about these or see for themselves I'm open to that, visitors are welcome.
 
FWIW, if you sold me corals, you probably ought to be on the lookout as well, these things came from somebody. Evidence points to a large blue mille I got a couple mos. ago, but really can't be sure, as I've gotten things from various places.
 
Wow Kevin. Sorry to hear that. I am glad I didn't get that watermelon mille after all. No offence. I suggest you use Levamisole when you treat the colonies. I actualy dip using the Levamisole powder. the pure levamisole. That does kill the worms, not the eggs. If you need some and cant find it. I have some. I think its no longer legal or something and people have a hard time finding it. Good luck man. That sucks.
 
I sincerely regret to announce that I found out that I have an AEFW infestation. It appears that I have caught it somewhat early, as only a few corals have shown signs, but nonetheless, they're there. I apologize if you recieved anything from me that may have brought them in, and hopefully it was dipped and inspected etc., but considering that nobody has pointed it out to me until yesterday I doubt anybody has detected them. I dip all my corals when I get them, and after investigating and discussing this with a few knowlegeable/experienced reefers this morning, the eggs must have been on something and came in undetected, as no known dip kills the worms, let alone the eggs. Fortunately I just finished a 73 gal cube quarantine sustem for incoming corals, and I am thinking of setting up a large tank in my living rm for quarantine, as every bit of acro is coming out of the system for QT/repeated dips, and the DT's will be acro free for at least a few mos to ensure starvation/eradication. From my research thus far, this is the only way to surely get rid of them. If you recievd anything from me, again, I'm sorry, and hopefully you're protocols prevented anything from getting in. If you have any experience in this area, I could use all the input I can get. I'm trying to stay positive in this but it is discouraging. I've got a busy couple weeks ahead of me, but I am not going to let this stop me. I will erradicate these little f#%*&@rs. If anybody wants to learn about these or see for themselves I'm open to that, visitors are welcome.



Thats a class act right there. Kevin I wish I lived near you I would love to give you a hand/learn the proper way to handle these things. If more people had the same class you have shown this club would be much better off.

I know that it is not always known, and these things do happen, but I think its great you are stepping up, and being honest, and dealing with it.

Good Luck Derek
 
FWIW, iodine/betadine will kill them just as good as levamisole with much less of a chance that you will lose the coral. You are going to have to rid the tank of any acropora and let it go fallow for a few months minimum. Be prepared to lose most of your acros in the process. I went through this 4-5 years back when lavamisole was the only known chemical to kill aefw. I qt'd all the acros to a separate tank with no live sand or live rock. Then, I covered any acros flesh that remained on the rocks with epoxy putty. I lost 90% of my acros in the process, but at least I know they are gone. It's very difficult to maintain water quality without live rock and/or live sand. It's going to be a tough few months, but they can be beat. Kudos to you for letting members know they the possibility instead of burying your head in the sand and not saying anything. If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me pm.
 
A fellow reefer had these things in a levamisole solution for over 5 hours and they were still very much alive a few years back. I had them sitting in seachem coral disinfectant quadruple dose that looked like gasoline, 4 hours later I went back to the bucket and they were alive and well. What I did so far today is mix up 2 buckets of this "gasoline" solution. Soak them in the first for 20 min, then vigorously shake them to loosen the worms, then shake it in the second bucket to get any potential cliffhangers off. I then inspected the piece out of the water with a magnifying glass looking for eggs and cut away anything that was not living tissue, rinsed in tank water and put in quarantine. From my research thus far, it appears the eggs take approx 2 weeks to hatch, and the hatchlings take 5 days to starve without food. I plan to repeat the dips after a week, then another 10 days, and maybe even again. Then I will closely monitor this stuff over the course of a few mos(in QT), and maybe some dips in between to see if anything comes off. I think I will keep some rock in the QT, as they seem to only lay eggs on dead skeleton or adjacent rock(my rock will be at least a few inches below the eggcrate. I will bleach the rock when I am done). Or maybe I'll just take the rock out and do regular water changes with tank water, probably a safer bet.
I think to sooth the emotional pain I going to take my credit card out and go buy the biggest baddest acan I can find(but not at $1k) to fill the void.
 
Yes, Acropora Eating Flatworms, the dips will kill the common nuiscance flatworms, which have kind of a forked tail, these do not. I took a few pics, but I'm on a borrowed laptop(mine crashed) so I don't have the ability to put them up yet. There are a couple threads from a few years back under the "useful thread" sticky here, and also on RC. I've been forced into a crash course in the last 24 hrs.
 
here's the little culprit on my pokerstar i found....

monti nudi.jpg.

i can't believe i ven found this thing.he was on a colony of Spongodes and he got an all nighter with some Levamisol.. needless to say they must be in my tank if i have one on my Pokerstar now..hey i thought that madarin's eat acro flatworms or is that the other one and they won't touch the acro eating ones huh?lmk i u need the Levamisol because i see somebody said that it will kill them...i have alot left so i don't mind helping if u need it...i think i might know where to get more from...
 
oops i didn't think of that.yeah it was not from u.who's knows where he came from..not the 1st time i saw them b4 and i honestly never had an issue with them...
 
oops i didn't think of that.yeah it was not from u.who's knows where he came from..not the 1st time i saw them b4 and i honestly never had an issue with them...

so you're selling frags while you know you have predatory nudi's in your system?
 
Good luck with the battle, Kevin. If you have any large acro colonies you may want to consider breaking them apart so you can inspect all the nooks and crannies for exposed dead skeleton where they may have laid eggs.
 
Upcoming Events

April 21, 2024
Paul B
Club Meeting

Back
Top