AEFW experiments and study

[Diesel]

Is there any information on this as of yet, such as a start date? Its to bad that you could not have let the eggs "hatch" after the first test of how long they live without an host.

If you find an intact treatment and you will be a multi-billionaire

That's why I have almost 20% stake in it, LOL

 

[tektite]

Is there any information on this as of yet, such as a start date? Its to bad that you could not have let the eggs "hatch" after the first test of how long they live without an host.

For some reason the AEFW didn't seem to want to lay eggs on the ziplock bag. Left them in there for days, no eggs. Weird because they had no problem laying eggs in the acrylic container I built for the first experiment. Finding out how long the new hatched live with no food will be one of the experiments Dr. Rawlinson and I will be performing.

Right now, I'm letting the AEFW population get up to decent numbers in the AEFW system, so we have enough for our experiments. Its a slow process since I didn't move all the acros over to the system all at once, to make sure they'd be OK in the new system. Should also be getting the funding soon, so I can get some more corals for them.

I also picked up a bunch of corals from a local guy who's been fighting them for months with no success. His kind of AEFW are ridiculously strong, when I first encountered them some months ago I was amazed at what they lived through. A concentrated Bayer dip that killed my AEFW only stunned his, when returned to clean saltwater they came back to life and started cruising around like nothing happened. Very excited to have his AEFW now, I can compare results between his and my current colony.

 

[Shadow1]

Fantastic work so far following along also.

 

[MattL22]

Do these super aefw look any different size shape color or they identical to urs ??

 

[tektite]

They look the same, just seem to be hardier.

 

[MattL22]

Anything new?

 

[Chris155hp]

Thanks for all the research you guys are doing

 

[RedReefer]

Still following...

 

[Reefnjunkie]

This is key information IMO.

How long have you been watching them?

 

[tektite]

The eggs are 5 days old now, will continue watching them to see when they hatch. The larvae are already defined and swimming around inside.

 

[Genesis Corals]

I don't know if you know this answer, but how many eggs does one AEFW lay at a time? I know on my colonies that were effected there were patches of 10 to 50+ eggs in one spot, but since I had multiple AEFW on each coral, I wasn't sure if they laid their eggs together in groups. I am mostly interested because I went through several weeks of Bayer dips and want to know if I should be on the look out for just one egg or a patch of them. Maybe a question to add to the study.

 

[tektite]

It ranges depending on the size of the AEFW. I've seen a cluster of 2 eggs, and clusters of 10-15 eggs. The massive clusters are from separate AEFW laying eggs close to each other. The small AEFW can sneak eggs in ridiculously small areas since they don't lay many at one time.

 

[Genesis Corals]

It ranges depending on the size of the AEFW. I've seen a cluster of 2 eggs, and clusters of 10-15 eggs. The massive clusters are from separate AEFW laying eggs close to each other. The small AEFW can sneak eggs in ridiculously small areas since they don't lay many at one time.

Thanks for the answer. I was just debating doing another round of bayer before gluing them down, but the corals were losing tissue after the last round, so I didn't want to have to unless needed. Now I am not sure, I was hoping you would say they always lay large groups of eggs, but I figured that would not be the case.

 

[MattL22]

R u currently testing any type of new dips on them ?

 

[tektite]

No, right now I'm concentrating on studying their life cycle.

 

[FF337]

Any idea on how long a tank should remain acro-less to disrupt the cycle?

Due to a power outage, I lost all of my acros and many other things. Rather than give up and sell everything, I am using the opportunity to revamp my puddle of water.

I am removing rocks and using a oscillating tool with a diamond bit to remove the dead corals.

 

[tektite]

I don't yet have a definitive answer, but so far from what I've seen and read 3 months is a good time to shoot for. 100% acro free, no tiny frags or small areas of encrusted coral left that could be food for a few AEFW.

 

[tvoydan]

Tagging along. Very interesting study.

 

[FF337]

Any updates?

 

[tektite]

Yes, actually :)

Dr. Rawlinson is down here in Texas right now, we're beginning some more in-depth studies of the AEFW. Currently looking at answering how long it takes for eggs to hatch and how long it takes for newly hatched larvae to die with no access to food. Also whether or not early hatching AEFW are still in the larval stage or if they all hatch as juveniles (would affect how they might be able to travel once hatched, if they just crawl as juveniles or swim as larvae). Planning other experiments as well.