New Fauna Marine AEFW X

[carmodpg]

Lord knows I am sick of dipping. Almost 3 hours a week I never get back.

Any updates?

 

[ScottB]

Any updates?

I did dip several of the most favored pieces and found no worms last weekend. It was not a complete treatment of every colony/frag but as I said several times, my worms seem very picky. So I am allowing some complacency to set it.

Visual inspection also confirms I seem to have the upper hand for now. As to what specifically turned the tide, I cannot be definitive. It could be the combination of everything I threw at them, in fact that is my best guess. The only previously used tool that is absent now is predators. Somebody keeps chasing them out of that frag tank. No sixlines, peppermints or cleaner shrimps.

AEFW-X was the second to last component deployed. I followed the regimen to completion. The final addition was Lanthanum chloride. Two doses about 2 weeks apart. If/when they return, I will limit my intervention to these two tools.

 

[Huskymaniac]

Does this look like AEFW damage? I dipped the worst looking peice in revive and no flatworms came off.

 

[carmodpg]

Does this look like AEFW damage? I dipped the worst looking peice in revive and no flatworms came off.

Oh yea, that is definitely AEFW. I would follow @ScottB's advice for his dipping regimen as he has it down cold (unfortunately for him). It was hard for me to be definitive, so I zoomed in on your pics and definitely found evidence of AEFW. I circled in blue below for your info. There is more there, but the point is made hopefully.

@

 

[Huskymaniac]

Oh yea, that is definitely AEFW. I would follow @ScottB's advice for his dipping regimen as he has it down cold (unfortunately for him). It was hard for me to be definitive, so I zoomed in on your pics and definitely found evidence of AEFW. I circled in blue below for your info. There is more there, but the point is made hopefully.

@

The areas that are circles are actually coralites that lost flesh. Do AEFW's attach the coralites? The colonies are too big to cut up and dip. Just not really worth going through it. Easier to see if this AEFW X works and if not toss the tank in the trash and start over. I dipped what I could in revive and nothing came off.

 

[ScottB]

Does this look like AEFW damage? I dipped the worst looking peice in revive and no flatworms came off.

Agree with @carmodpg those look fairly suspect. Kinda surprised nothing came off in the dip but not real familiar with Revive. I've been using potassium chloride with solid results.

I guess there is a chance that it is just irregular shading necrosis.

 

[Huskymaniac]

Agree with @carmodpg those look fairly suspect. Kinda surprised nothing came off in the dip but not real familiar with Revive. I've been using potassium chloride with solid results.

I guess there is a chance that it is just irregular shading necrosis.

Yea definitly agreed and it looks suspect. This is the peice I dipped. Revive should have dislodged them. Also can't find any eggs. Was looking with a magnifying glass.

 

[Huskymaniac]

Agree with @carmodpg those look fairly suspect. Kinda surprised nothing came off in the dip but not real familiar with Revive. I've been using potassium chloride with solid results.

I guess there is a chance that it is just irregular shading necrosis.

Did the AEFW X actually work for you?

 

[ScottB]

Yea definitly agreed and it looks suspect. This is the peice I dipped. Revive should have dislodged them. Also can't find any eggs. Was looking with a magnifying glass.

Hopefully you dodged a bullet then. These things are tough to manage. I had the kitchen sink approach going after these things for many weeks.

 

[Huskymaniac]

Hopefully you dodged a bullet then. These things are tough to manage. I had the kitchen sink approach going after these things for many weeks.

Yea, was hoping I can use this prophylacticly and if they are their it would knock them out.

 

[ScottB]

Did the AEFW X actually work for you?

In earlier posts I detailed my complete kitchen sink approach and gave some rather unscientific opinions on what tools I FELT like did the most work.

Of the in-tank treatments, AEFW-X seemed to be the most effective. But I was doing so many other things at the same time it is impossible to separate out the effects. @carmodpg was more unequivocal in support of AEFW-X effectiveness.

 

[ScottB]

Yea, was hoping I can use this prophylacticly and if they are their it would knock them out.

Money aside, I don't think there are any significant risks or trade-offs in doing this with AEFW-X.

Purge 2.0 has trade-offs for sure.

I would also consider the usual predator wrasses, peppermints, cleaner shrimp.

 

[Huskymaniac]

Money aside, I don't think there are any significant risks or trade-offs in doing this with AEFW-X.

Purge 2.0 has trade-offs for sure.

I would also consider the usual predator wrasses, peppermints, cleaner shrimp.

Yup on the predators. Ordered 8 acro crabs also.

 

[carmodpg]

Yea definitly agreed and it looks suspect. This is the peice I dipped. Revive should have dislodged them. Also can't find any eggs. Was looking with a magnifying glass.

Yea, I didn't highlight this piece because I wasn't 100% convinced that I saw evidence of AEFW's on that acro....

I am also hesitant to say that the areas that I circled are just "coralites that lost flesh." My AEFW antennas immediately went up given the number of oval shaped spots on the acro (oval marks = strong indicator of AEFW bite marks).
I had the same thoughts (and agree) with @ScottB in that its hard to tell if all of the damage is AEFW related or is predominately caused by shading (on the larger colony). However, I'm fairly confident that you have some bite marks.

That being said, I would take a turkey baster to all of those acros. Another strong indicator (aside for the bullet proof confirmation of seeing a flatworm blow off) is that the little ovals grow in size as you blow them off. Obviously, you cannot see all the AEFW as they are camouflaged on the coral. When you begin to baste, little AEFW dislodged and expose areas of damage that were previously unseen (trust me its a punch to the gut when it happens).

Further, I would definitely get some AEFW-X and begin treatment ASAP. I also would think about going the route of dosing a (very) little Lanthanum as well. In my opinion, its better to be safe than sorry. I don't think there are any stories of AEFW-X killing and/or nuking a tank like others have reported with Purge (and if there are those stories, I hope that others will post their experiences in this thread so we can all make informed decisions), so its worth a shot.

 

[Huskymaniac]

Yea, I didn't highlight this piece because I wasn't 100% convinced that I saw evidence of AEFW's on that acro....

I am also hesitant to say that the areas that I circled are just "coralites that lost flesh." My AEFW antennas immediately went up given the number of oval shaped spots on the acro (oval marks = strong indicator of AEFW bite marks).
I had the same thoughts (and agree) with @ScottB in that its hard to tell if all of the damage is AEFW related or is predominately caused by shading (on the larger colony). However, I'm fairly confident that you have some bite marks.

That being said, I would take a turkey baster to all of those acros. Another strong indicator (aside for the bullet proof confirmation of seeing a flatworm blow off) is that the little ovals grow in size as you blow them off. Obviously, you cannot see all the AEFW as they are camouflaged on the coral. When you begin to baste, little AEFW dislodged and expose areas of damage that were previously unseen (trust me its a punch to the gut when it happens).

Further, I would definitely get some AEFW-X and begin treatment ASAP. I also would think about going the route of dosing a (very) little Lanthanum as well. In my opinion, its better to be safe than sorry. I don't think there are any stories of AEFW-X killing and/or nuking a tank like others have reported with Purge (and if there are those stories, I hope that others will post their experiences in this thread so we can all make informed decisions), so its worth a shot.

Nothing comes off when I baste. Maybe I should hit them with a maxijet or something.

 

[Huskymaniac]

@ScottBB @carmosp first dose of AEFW X is in. I am not sure why the UV needs to be turned off but skimmer and carbon can all remain. Do you think it's safe to turn the UV back on after a few hours after dosing? Specifically I need to run it to limit bacteria in my water column.

 

[ScottB]

@ScottBB @carmosp first dose of AEFW X is in. I am not sure why the UV needs to be turned off but skimmer and carbon can all remain. Do you think it's safe to turn the UV back on after a few hours after dosing? Specifically I need to run it to limit bacteria in my water column.

Tough call to make on UV. Agree it is counterintuitive to be able to run carbon but not UV, but the instructions are fairly specific about it. Let us know.

Are you carbon dosing?

 

[Huskymaniac]

Tough call to make on UV. Agree it is counterintuitive to be able to run carbon but not UV, but the instructions are fairly specific about it. Let us know.

Are you carbon dosing?

Not not carbon dosing. I'll turn it off for a few hours after dosing and then kick it back on.

 

[carmodpg]

Typically, if it says don’t use UV I probably wouldn’t run it. But I think you should be fine turning it off a couple hours. I would message Fauna Marin on Facebook. They’re pretty responsive.

 

[WetSleeve]

Does anybody know if you can run UV periodically? I know it says to turn off UV when dosing, but can you turn it back on after a few hours or will this weaken the effectiveness of the product?