[Twistedpro]

I have been battling with AEFW for ages now and i am getting rather pissed off with them, manually dipping each coral outside the tank does not appear to work overly well and does not remove them fully. I have been reading the Yanks forums and they have success with Levamasole as a dip so i am planning on getting some and working out a concentration i can dose the whole tank with.

I am planning on setting up some small test tanks at work and adding LPS corals, CLAMS, fish etc to test the effect on each type of coral and see what dose they can handle. I am considering removing the sandbed first incase this holds the chemical and then use plenty of carbon after the Dose. If the effect is adverse on the LPS and clams then i might remove these and rehome them while i carry out the dose. Maybe even the fish also.

I think this might be a better plan of action rather than remove the SPS into a new tank as i have 90% SPS which has encrusted onto the rocks also the flatworms can lay eggs and live on the rocks. so it should deal with them all. It may result in the total loss of all my SPS however this will probably occur due to the flatworms over a longer period

I was wondering what peoples opinions were and any suggestions??

[jasandjules]

Six line wrasse ?

[Tony B]

jasandjules, on May 13 2008, 05:45 PM, said:

Six line wrasse ?

Jas,

We're talking about AEFW, not FW.

Tony

[Tony B]

Hi Peter,

Sorry to hear about this.

I'm not sure what to say - like teaching my granny how to suck eggs - you know a fair bit about AEFW.

Many treatment methods are talked about on Reefcentral, here's a fairly good thread which details methods of treatment, although I think you've read this already:

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.p...mp;pagenumber=1

Imo the key is you must treat the corals frequently in a dip, with one of the following: fluke tabs, the pig wormer you mention, or TLF Revive Coral Cleaner, dip all acropora over 6 weeks, dipping once each week for 4 weeks then twice a week for the last two weeks. That's what I am doing. I also binned a couple of heavily infested corals. When I dip the corals, I use a turkey baster and blast the hell out of them for about 6-8 mins per coral, ensuring the dip works well into all the coral's brances.

Imo, all in tank treatments are too broad spectrum and you will likely kill everything.

The treatment is hard work, time consuming and there's no getting away from it and afaik there's no quick fix. Energy sapping it is!

How frequently were you dipping and how long did you dip for (a month, two months etc)?

Regards,

Tony

[jasandjules]

Tony B, on May 13 2008, 05:52 PM, said:

Jas,

We're talking about AEFW, not FW.

Tony

Ah, I'm not up on my acronisms, what is that then?

[Tony B]

jasandjules, on May 13 2008, 06:20 PM, said:

Ah, I'm not up on my acronisms, what is that then?

AEFW is like cancer, FW more like a cold sore.

AEFW = Acro eating flat worm

[jasandjules]

Ah, so is that then a totally different species which a six line won't eat?!?!

If there any natural predator!?!

[Tony B]

jasandjules, on May 13 2008, 06:39 PM, said:

If there any natural predator!?!

Yes there is - a camel shrimp works but they also eat the coral too. There's obviously some natural predator that is acropora safe, but 'we' don't yet know what this is.

AEFW are a H U G E pain in the bum.

[jasandjules]

B***er.

[Twistedpro]

Tony i have been dipping 2x per week for around 4-5 months now

[Tony B]

Twistedpro, on May 13 2008, 07:24 PM, said:

Tony i have been dipping 2x per week for around 4-5 months now

Fook! That is a worry, I might dip for another few weeks, three times a week for a month.

How about trying 3 times per week, mon-wed-fri for 2 months?

I take it, you're using TLF Revive Coral Cleaner? Why do you think this has not worked for you?

Tony

[Tony B]

This totm has had AEFW - in the write up he details his exp with the pest. http://reefkeeping.c.../totm/index.php

[Twistedpro]

Hi tony, i believe it has failed due to the fact the AEFW lay eggs on both the coral skeleton and the rock, so unless you remove all the rock as well as the corals for a dip you still have worms hatching. Also i am sure i have bits of acropora on the rock that i have not been able to dip. If you remove the corals into a separate tank with the presence of rock then this should be fine within 6 weeks