AEFW treatment question

hatfielj

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So, I have had a couple of corals with AEFW in my display. Fortunately my display is young and all of my corals are basically still frags so I can easily pull them all out and scrape off what little bit of encrusting they have. My question comes with the quarantine process...

SO, my plan is to use my frag tank as the holding tank for all of my acros while leaving the display acro free. My frag tank shares the same sump as my display. I know that in an ideal situation it should be an entirely seperate set up, but unfortunately right now I don't have the funds to set up a second system. So, my plan is to leave the acros in there and every 5-7 days take out all of the frag racks in the frag tank and dip them. My thinking is that if I consistently keep this up for at least 6 weeks, there will be no way for the AEFW to establish themselves again and they'll be eradicated.

What is everyone's thoughts on this? And if you don't think it would work please explain. Thanks!
 

ritter6788

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Why not disconnect the frag tank sump for a while? Treat the acros and let your display go completely fallow. Since the tanks are connected it's possible you already have aefw in the the frag tank as well.
 

pickupman66

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having the frag system tied onto the SUMP for use as a QT is the same as having them in the tank. you need to separate it to have logn term success. I beat AEFW. they call for drastic measures. I dipped mine in Bayer 5 times over 5 weeks. Unfortunately mine were lare colonies and very very encrusted so I dipped rocks and all.
 
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hatfielj

hatfielj

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Well, I suppose I could do that, but I worry about maintaining good water quality in the frag tank without a skimmer, ATO, or doser. If the frags are being dipped, they'll be super stressed already. I guess I could get a hang on back skimmer and use the 3rd channel on my doser as a RO/DI top off. Then, I could just dose manually.
Thanks for the suggestion. That's not a bad idea! Regardless, I'm determined to beat these. And as soon as they're gone, I'm going to start quarantine on all new corals!
 

footballdude2k3

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You can do it with them plumbed together, it is going to be a bigger pain though, but it is nice, especially with acros, because they need stable water parameters, and that comes easier with a bigger volume of water. If you are going to leave them connected, there can never be a moment when the water from the frag tank is not going into at least one filter sock, and two would be better since it is less likely there would be a hole big enough in two of them for something to slip through.

If you have an acro that looks like it is not going to make it, I would suggest cutting a very small amount off the top of one of the branches, and trying to let that one be isolated, you only need one polyp, and with enough time, they will grow into something large
 
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hatfielj

hatfielj

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you know the more I think about it, it would probably be better to just keep the systems seperate. Even if it means I lose more coral from poorer water quality. I want to be absolutely positive that my display remains AEFW free from this point on. That's really the only way to do it. Its gonna suck losing some of these corals, but if I'm lucky a lot of them will pull through as well. Just got to be patient and persistant I guess!
 

pickupman66

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Dude.. I HATE to hear anyone sufering from these pests. I lost several colonies but then most recovered. Sadly 1 year after eradicating the AEFW, something else killed every single SPS i had. LOST them all.

when I found the pests.
DSC_4187.jpg

1 year later
DSC_6071.jpg


another infested. noice the drab colors....
DSC_4148.jpg



1 year later
DSC_6083.jpg
 
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CoralHut

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Separate the systems and let the system run fallow. It's the only way to be sure. These things are tiny whenhey hatch and they can be anywhere. To help prevent it in the future dip all future SPS in Bayer and cut them off any rock/frag plug they are attached to. Then use the frag tank for observation for a couple of weeks. Good Luck!
 
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hatfielj

hatfielj

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Okay, so I'm about 3 weeks into having an AEFW free tank. I pulled all of my acros, mills, etc out of my display about 3 weeks ago. All that has been in my display are my zoos/palys, chalices, acans, and montis. I've lost a small number of frags of my acros, but I'm okay with it knowing that it had to be done. I've dipped all of the acros in revive twice now a week apart. I guess I'm going to get some bayer and dip them all in that too. How long does my display need to remain acro free?
 

jservedio

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Leave the tanks plumbed together as long as the drain from the frag tan is going into a properly sized filter sock. Fresh hatched AEFW are in the 0.5-1mm size range and eggs are slightly smaller (but still visible to the naked eye), so a 200 micron felt filter sock will have no problem catching them. Just make sure when you change the filter sock, there is absolutely no flow (which would allow them to get by).

AEFW themselves aren't difficult to kill, it's their ****** eggs and we don't know all that much about their lifecycle. I would suggest your 6 weeks of dipping, but then leave your acros in QT for another month after that. This way, if any make it by your dipping process, you won't re-infest the tank. Plus, it'll give your acros a month of healing before they are moved again. Even though they will die in a few weeks with no acros to munch on, if you missed killing off any encrustation or you accidentally fragged something while chiseling them off the rock that you missed removing, it'll give them a few more weeks of life and possibly an additional lifecycle. If your QT is stable (and it should be), keep them in there for a month after dipping. They aren't going to be doing much growing in that month anyway, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Since the QT and DT are plumbed together, make sure you are double rinsing your acros after dipping them to ensure no dip is making its way into your system and run a little bit of extra carbon.

I went through AEFW last year and those little suckers didn't kill a single acro - everything I lost was due to the constant dipping and stress. Being able to alleviate some of that stress by keeping them in exactly the same conditions they currently have is a huge plus and will probably help keep your mortality rate lower than it would otherwise be.

I guess you will be using your frag tank as a QT system from now on for any new coral... I dipped everything before it went in my tank and still got AEFW. I now have a QT system.
 
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hatfielj

hatfielj

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Thanks for the info. I actually went ahead and set up a separate QT/Frag system from my display. So, the frag tank is no longer plumbed together with my display. I wanted to be 100% sure to kill off any remaining AEFW in my display by having it acro free. So, 6 weeks of dipping and 1 month of quarantine.

Anyone else have any input on the length of treatment? Just curious what other people have done and the success you've had.

Leave the tanks plumbed together as long as the drain from the frag tan is going into a properly sized filter sock. Fresh hatched AEFW are in the 0.5-1mm size range and eggs are slightly smaller (but still visible to the naked eye), so a 200 micron felt filter sock will have no problem catching them. Just make sure when you change the filter sock, there is absolutely no flow (which would allow them to get by).

AEFW themselves aren't difficult to kill, it's their ****** eggs and we don't know all that much about their lifecycle. I would suggest your 6 weeks of dipping, but then leave your acros in QT for another month after that. This way, if any make it by your dipping process, you won't re-infest the tank. Plus, it'll give your acros a month of healing before they are moved again. Even though they will die in a few weeks with no acros to munch on, if you missed killing off any encrustation or you accidentally fragged something while chiseling them off the rock that you missed removing, it'll give them a few more weeks of life and possibly an additional lifecycle. If your QT is stable (and it should be), keep them in there for a month after dipping. They aren't going to be doing much growing in that month anyway, so it shouldn't be a problem.

Since the QT and DT are plumbed together, make sure you are double rinsing your acros after dipping them to ensure no dip is making its way into your system and run a little bit of extra carbon.

I went through AEFW last year and those little suckers didn't kill a single acro - everything I lost was due to the constant dipping and stress. Being able to alleviate some of that stress by keeping them in exactly the same conditions they currently have is a huge plus and will probably help keep your mortality rate lower than it would otherwise be.
 
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hatfielj

hatfielj

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So, here's an update on my progress...

In summary, I found out I had AEFW shortly after adding a ton of frags to my relatively still young tank. I did not QT any of them before adding them, so its totally my fault I got AEFW. At first I thought I had caught them early enough to not have to treat the whole tank. But, after several months of poor colors and virtually no growth, I realized the problem was a lot worse than I thought. So, I decided to take all the acros out of my tank and place them in a separate quarantine system for treatment. Luckily this was fairly easy to do since the frags were still, for the most part, not even encrusting onto my rock work yet. I dipped them all weekly in Revive. Lost a few right off the bat. Later lost more. I also treated with Bayer once as well. I left them all in the QT for around 4-5 weeks. I had planned on keeping them in there longer, but the frags I had left were not doing well in QT because the conditions in that tank were not good and they were so stressed from all the dipping. I was convinced that I would lose them all if I left them in there any longer. So, about 3 weeks ago I decided to go ahead and place them all back in the tank along with a few new additions.

Today I am happy to report that it appears I have beat the AEFW! My corals colors are coming back beautifully. Better than they ever were before. They are all starting to grow again and have fully extended polyps and are getting better everyday. There are some frags that are showing beautiful colors and polyp extension that never did so before (I have a rainbow mili that was literally white and I almost threw it away, but gave it a chance and now its starting to look absolutely gorgeous!). I have a small frag of JF Flame Acro that I thought was completely dead while in QT. Again, almost threw it away, but when I was transferring everything I saw that there was still some live tissue so I thought "what the heck, I'll give it one last chance." Its encrusting again and regaining its colors!! I'm super super excited.

I still feel like its a little early to say I'm 100% sure I completely got them, but so far all signs are pointing towards total eradication. I figure if I had any AEFW left, my corals wouldn't be responding as well as they are right now. I'll keep my fingers crossed that the corals continue to thrive and the colors continue to get better.

However, at this point, if things continue to improve, I'm not adding anything else to this tank (if I can help it). I don't ever want to go through that again and I already have an AWESOME collection of corals, so as long as they grow out like they are now, I'll be totally pleased with this tank. If I want more, I'll just have to get another (and bigger tank!)

The moral of the story...Don't give up! Be patient and things can totally turn around! Also, use a QT tank! I'm going to keep my set up running all the time. Its a very simple 20 gal long with a HOB skimmer, heater, 4 bulb T5 fixture and I just add RO water to it using my doser. There's some LR in there and I plan on adding some more for better quality water.
 

SchnitzelReef

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I hope u beat them! All I know is that it took me a year to fully eradicate AEFW. And there were many many times that I thought I had gotten rid of all of them, only to find out a month or so later that they were still there. Looking back, I would have been better off throwing away all my acros and starting over. Would have saved me a ton of money, and headache. But there are a couple really nice acros that I saved and still have in my display.

I had no live rock in my acro qt tank, it was all in the sump. That way I could pull out every single acro, and dip them all at once and I also cleaned and scrubbed the frag racks they were on. AEFW suckkkkkk
 
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hatfielj

hatfielj

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Can you detail your treatment? How often did you dip? What did you use? How long did u leave your tank acro free? Any other details?

I hope u beat them! All I know is that it took me a year to fully eradicate AEFW. And there were many many times that I thought I had gotten rid of all of them, only to find out a month or so later that they were still there. Looking back, I would have been better off throwing away all my acros and starting over. Would have saved me a ton of money, and headache. But there are a couple really nice acros that I saved and still have in my display.

I had no live rock in my acro qt tank, it was all in the sump. That way I could pull out every single acro, and dip them all at once and I also cleaned and scrubbed the frag racks they were on. AEFW suckkkkkk
 

SchnitzelReef

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Can you detail your treatment? How often did you dip? What did you use? How long did u leave your tank acro free? Any other details?

I tried treating in my display, and it was impossible. I cut all acros off the rocks and got rid of the rocks they were attached to. I had frag racks in my display that I put them all on. While that was going on, I was working on building my frag tank. I got that setup and established, then I switched them all over. Had minimal loss. I only used Bayer to dip the acros. I tried revive, but it was too stressful for the acros, and didn't kill AEFW like Bayer did.

After 6-8 months of constant dipping multiple times a month, they were finally gone. I had no rocks in my frag tank, only acrylic racks. Every time I would dip, I would pull out the racks and scrub them to remove any potential eggs or worms. I have a sump on the frag tank with live sand and live rock in it. I wanted to keep it separate. Rocks are great places for AEFW to hide or plant eggs. They don't normally, but i didn't want to risk it. I also got really really good at spotting eggs and bite marks. Towards the end, if I found an acro with eggs on it, I would just toss it. Wasn't worth the headache. Luckily all my rarer acros made it.

I always laugh when I see someone recommend putting a wrasse in to treat AEFW. Wrasses didn't seem to have any affect on my AEFW. Yes certain wrasses might eat worms, but AEFW seem to multiply 10x faster then the wrasses eat em.
 
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hatfielj

hatfielj

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Thanks for the info. Yeah, there's no such thing as a easy treatment for these guys!

I tried treating in my display, and it was impossible. I cut all acros off the rocks and got rid of the rocks they were attached to. I had frag racks in my display that I put them all on. While that was going on, I was working on building my frag tank. I got that setup and established, then I switched them all over. Had minimal loss. I only used Bayer to dip the acros. I tried revive, but it was too stressful for the acros, and didn't kill AEFW like Bayer did.

After 6-8 months of constant dipping multiple times a month, they were finally gone. I had no rocks in my frag tank, only acrylic racks. Every time I would dip, I would pull out the racks and scrub them to remove any potential eggs or worms. I have a sump on the frag tank with live sand and live rock in it. I wanted to keep it separate. Rocks are great places for AEFW to hide or plant eggs. They don't normally, but i didn't want to risk it. I also got really really good at spotting eggs and bite marks. Towards the end, if I found an acro with eggs on it, I would just toss it. Wasn't worth the headache. Luckily all my rarer acros made it.

I always laugh when I see someone recommend putting a wrasse in to treat AEFW. Wrasses didn't seem to have any affect on my AEFW. Yes certain wrasses might eat worms, but AEFW seem to multiply 10x faster then the wrasses eat em.
 
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