acro eating flat worm question SOS

[justindville]

will acro eating flat worms die off if there is no acros left in the tank, and if so how long does it take??? and good acro eating wrassses?

 

[iReefer]

yup if there are no more acro in the tank, they will eventually die off. Usually 6-8 weeks.

 

[justindville]

yup if there are no more acro in the tank, they will eventually die off. Usually 6-8 weeks.

would you know of some where i could gather more info?

 

[justindville]

has anyone tyied Salifert's Flatworm eXit

 

[Reef Goddess]

I don't think that will work on AEFW, at least it won't kill the eggs. Just look up AEFW in the search area, there are some pretty extensive threads about them/treatment on this and other forums.

 

[Sikryd]

Yes, they will die off, although I think the timing is up to the last eggs hatching. I would search wetwebmedia and other sites for more info on the life cycle.
Flatworm exit isn't strong enough to kill the largest AEFW's or the eggs. Your best bet would be to wait 2-3 months, then put a "test" acro in there and see if you see any on it a week later (ie. dip in revive).
Revive is one of the best dips out there and kills AEFW's.

 

[Troylee]

from what i have gathered on the subject you need to remove all acros, break them off the bases "this where the eggs will be layed" and check the rest of the acro if flesh is missing there is a good chance of eggs being there also..... toss the rock with the encrusted stuff, this is still a food source.... once the display has no signs of a acro anywhere leave it be for at least 6 weeks..... when placing the frags or colonies into a holding tank they must all be dipped first and inspected for eggs if there is dead parts it's better to just frag it and dip the healthy part and toss the rest.... once all frags or colonies have been dipped and placed into quarintine the new tank should be worm free for now but in one week you need to dip everything again to kill the first batch of worms hatching from the eggs you missed and repeat this for at least 4 weeks..... once everything has been dipped 4 times in a month the quartine should be aefw free and in 2 weeks after your display should be free also and your back to where you started..... a tank full of frags but it's a clean one....:( hth.... also flatworm exit has no effects onthem.... you need revive or coral rx as a dip... there is no in tank treatment to this day.....

 

[Reef Goddess]

Tropic Marin Pro Coral Cure also kills them.

 

[justindville]

thanks guys for all the info. i think i will take them all out for around 2 months. the bugs im seeing are long and stringy any ideas on that?

 

[Troylee]

Spaghetti worms maybe.... Post a pic if you could...
Aefw are normally clear or tan.. There is a few threads on here with great info and pics...Also check out melevs reef he has a great write up on the topic...

 

[Hammmerhead]

Quarrantine them for no less than 8 to 9 weeks. Dip all SPS every week...soak time and blasting them is a big part as well as what you dip with . TMPCC will brown the SPS out quickly over the repeated dips. Melafix will not brown out the SPS and will get the job done. I didnt take the base off of any of my SPS except for one and it didnt make a difference. As long as you stay on the weekly dips the hatchlings will removed with the dips. I ahve heard different time lines for hatching but it seems most have noted 15 days to hatch and an adult will die in one week without any SPS to feed on. I am skeptical on these numbers, but as long as you quarrantine and keep your dips consistent you cant get rid of them. I just went through this ordeal and its not fun at all. The uncertainty is what is so stressfull...not to mention having 5+ year old colonies and not knowing how they are going to handle it. After the whole process I can say that SPS are very, very strong. I was very rough with the blasting and swishing of my colonies in a 10 gallon dip tank. While I made it out without losing anything but two frags, I wouldnt want to go through this ever again.

BTW, dont bother with flatworm exit, it wont touch these evil guys.

Here is the thread with my AEFW episode
https://www.reef2reef.com/forums/general-sps-discussion/42474-pest-id-please.html