Just found AEFW

[atlorange]

...on a colony that was looking pale. Just got rid of redbugs now this. And red bugs was a peice of cake compared to aefw. I am not sure what I will do. A lot of my acros have encrused several inches all over the rock. Man this sucks!!!

 

[atlorange]

Any advice is welcome. Problem is I really dont have room for a qt/frag system. I have a feeling of where I caught these pests, about a month ago. I am gonna try a melanarus to keep them from going too crazy while I figure out what I will do.

 

[KrisDeitz]

Man there is a lot of people getting this .. Is everyone charging them from a sponsor or online?

 

[tonymission]

They're taking over :/

 

[hiimsean]

Melanurus wrasses usually go after the red flatworms not AEFWs. Seems like they're going around the club. I had some about 6mo back and just last week I found some eggs but haven't added anything in months. I have a feeling I know where my pests have come from.

 

[1mbrews8]

yikes! would also be interested if bought from same place???

 

[camellia]

+1

Me too!!
Cough it up guys!

 

[tbub1221]

Camellia;1033416 wrote: +1

Me too!!
Cough it up guys!

Me 3

 

[hzheng33]

Tbub1221;1033422 wrote: Me 3

Terry, with your best ability, where did you get the coral with infested with AEFW from?

 

[russ-iv]

"rps all out" and be done with it.

bayer is pretty ok as well but you will have to continually treat. wrasse is a lil late

 

[tbub1221]

hzheng33;1033535 wrote: Terry, with your best ability, where did you get the coral with infested with AEFW from?

Sorry guys I got a few messages today about flat worms , I only ment I was curious where they may have come from because I do swap a lot , but I have not seen aefw , I even dipped a few pieces because I was paranoid from these post.
Sorry to confuse you all

 

[declanisadog]

Someone please pm me where they think they got them from. I'm getting kinda of nervous...


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[hzheng33]

how do you tell the difference between regular flatworms that you can get rid of by using FWE VS AEFW?

 

[hiimsean]

I've never used FWE to treat and have read that it's not as effective as other methods of treating/dipping. Red flatworms are the type that won't munch on corals, just irritate them and not just acros. A lot of wrasses will eat the red ones. AEFW are usually harder to see because they will match the color of the coral they are on, I think that's why, at least in my case, wrasses don't eat them unless blown off the coral.

Bayer will kill AEFW but it's not an in-tank method of treating them. I posted in the other AEFW thread a post from ReefCentral where a member used a cattle dewormer as an intank method of treating AEFW. He did have some complications in the tank after treating that could have been a caused by using this treatment, I believe from the flatworm die off since they can release toxins.

 

[outdrsyguy1]

I bought some frags from a reefer about 3/12/15. Got home dipped and got 2 large aefw. Threw the frag in the trash, no way in HEII i'm risking missing an egg hidden in a crack. I've read they can contain 15+ babies in one egg and also that they are able to reproduce solo. I kicked AEFW once and lost 40% of my corals in the process (total NIGHTMARE). Not sure there's any frag on the planet i'd put in my tank if aefw came off it.

I notified reefer that i got AEFW on my dip and didn't get any offer of a refund nor did they tell anyone else who bought frags. I pm'd most folks I saw in the for sale thread and warned them to check. Most didn't find anything in their dips.

If you bought frags during that time frame pm me and i'll share who it was so you can check your corals but i'm not going to plaster it on the intrawebs.

My heart goes out to you tony, seriously, good luck. If you want advice from someone who's kicked them i'll be glad to insert my 2 cents. I spent about 5+ hours every saturday dipping for 7 weeks straight and also maintained a qt so my DT could go fallow of aefw. Also covered any encrusted acro in the DT with the purple epoxy (didn't have that much, maybe 1/3 stick got it all). I used bayer for all dips but the last in which i used revive since it's much easier to see what comes off the coral. didn't really see any aefw after about week 5.

 

[outdrsyguy1]

hzheng33;1033661 wrote: how do you tell the difference between regular flatworms that you can get rid of by using FWE VS AEFW?

best way is to google AEFW pics and look at them. Specifically, also turn off all your lights at night, get a flashlight and shine it up at the underside of acros (especially tri-colors and smooth skinned). Look for the tell tale bite marks. Once you see the pics on line of bite marks it'll be super clear when you have them.

Also don't expect to actually see them on the coral, buggers are almost completely invisible as they ingest the corals coloring and are nearly transparent to begin with. If you take a frag out and let it dry a bit for a few minutes you might see the larger ones, but doubt the smaller ones till you dip them off. Seriously, spotting red bugs is like spotting the moon at night compared to actually seeing a flatworm eating your coral.

Also, you can take a turkey baster and blast your coral to see if anything pops off. A lot of fish will eat them (especially anthias) but you'll never eradicate that way, just helps slow them a little and see if you have them.