New Fauna Marine AEFW X

ocncheffy

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I had a bad case of AEFW and I decided to buy a melanurus wrasse after trying so many different "miracle bottles". Been AWFW free for half a year now.

Get a wrasse.
 

ocncheffy

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I had a bad case of AEFW and I decided to buy a melanurus wrasse after trying so many different "miracle bottles". Been AWFW free for half a year now.

Get a wrasse.
 

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Based on emails back and forth with FM about AEFW-X... it is clear to me it does not actively target the worms directly. They started bringing up trace element shortages, wanted to see ICP tests, etc. If this was a true biocide / treatment, coral health and water parameters would be irrelevant with regards to the efficacy of targeting the flat worms directly. Add this to the long list of AEFW products that don't actually do what they say they do. I place this in the category of "boosting" (probably not) coral health and possibly a worm "irritant".

They also mentioned doing other treatments in parallel, dipping colonies in other products, basting them off, introducing natural predators, etc as keys to "success"... So they are relying on a kitchen sink approach, which again, clear to me it doesn't work directly on the worms.
They openly admit it does not kill the worms directly. What its meant to do is stop them reproducing so they eventually die out. It interrupts their life cycle. I would be happy to dose it for 6 months if that's what it really does. But that remains to be seen.
 

The Opinionated Reefer

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I am starting to think this stuff is nothing but snake oil now. 7 weeks on AEFW-X and I am still finding adult flatworms in some of my big colonies. I have even noticed that it takes a good 15 mins for these buggers to come off in certain dips. I tried Melafix at 5ml per Litre and they did not come off the coral. I had to add 0.5ml of Dettol before they eventually came off and they were still twitching. A quick dip is not enough to prevent these pests you need to dip aggressively and with a strong dip otherwise, these things will slip through.

I am going to try the potassium chloride spray method of eliminating these buggers. They are slowly destroying my reef and killing colonies that I have been growing out for two years plus.

Here is a video of the method:

 

ScottB

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I am starting to think this stuff is nothing but snake oil now. 7 weeks on AEFW-X and I am still finding adult flatworms in some of my big colonies. I have even noticed that it takes a good 15 mins for these buggers to come off in certain dips. I tried Melafix at 5ml per Litre and they did not come off the coral. I had to add 0.5ml of Dettol before they eventually came off and they were still twitching. A quick dip is not enough to prevent these pests you need to dip aggressively and with a strong dip otherwise, these things will slip through.

I am going to try the potassium chloride spray method of eliminating these buggers. They are slowly destroying my reef and killing colonies that I have been growing out for two years plus.

Here is a video of the method:


My worms are/were in my frag system only so remove & dip is/was relatively easy. Potassium chloride is SUPER effective on aefw. I have found it gentle on acropora. 3 grams / liter as the low end; more is OK.
 

Stormhaven

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I am starting to think this stuff is nothing but snake oil now. 7 weeks on AEFW-X and I am still finding adult flatworms in some of my big colonies. I have even noticed that it takes a good 15 mins for these buggers to come off in certain dips. I tried Melafix at 5ml per Litre and they did not come off the coral. I had to add 0.5ml of Dettol before they eventually came off and they were still twitching. A quick dip is not enough to prevent these pests you need to dip aggressively and with a strong dip otherwise, these things will slip through.

I am going to try the potassium chloride spray method of eliminating these buggers. They are slowly destroying my reef and killing colonies that I have been growing out for two years plus.

Here is a video of the method:


I'm on week four of potassium spray .
Zero worms found corals looking better .
 

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Did you see worms floating off the coral the first couple of times you did it?
Not the first time .
I was a little nervous about how much and how long to leave the spary on the corals for .
On the second round you bet .
They came off and floated around the tank .
Now i drench them and leave the corals exposed for 15 mins .
Using 1.5 grams per 500 ml of tank water .

 

The Opinionated Reefer

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Not the first time .
I was a little nervous about how much and how long to leave the spary on the corals for .
On the second round you bet .
They came off and floated around the tank .
Now i drench them and leave the corals exposed for 15 mins .
Using 1.5 grams per 500 ml of tank water .

Do you think reef primer would work for this? It's just potassium salts and I have it to hand?
 

Stormhaven

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Do you think reef primer would work for this? It's just potassium salts and I have it to hand?
I'm not sure to be honest.
I'd defer that to someone who knows more about chemistry than myself .
I personally used Brightwells Potassium P.
 

The Opinionated Reefer

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I made a comment on the Fauna marin facebook group because this stuff does not appear to work. This is the response i got from them. Seems like they are saying nothing will really work and that in fact it is just like Flatworm Stop.

Dear *****, As first we are sorry that our product does not work as you maybe expected. Please let me explain a few things, As first there is no chemical or medicine possible to sell legally against worms. This is law and we also no other company can undercut these without getting massive issues, also we must find out a way which do only harm this kind of pests and not other worms or inverts or corals which are in the tank. This is really no easy thing and we spend many years to find ways which works against the pests. We write on the bottles that usually in 4-6 Weeks the worms are gone, No Treatment whatever it is will work to 100 % , Due to this we write a huge How to use what is to made to get success. A very important point is the right water quality and the check of important Elements which the corals also need to fight against the parasites, Withiut these the corals are not able to fight against and are not able to take the substances from our product to use against the worms. If you like send us your latest ICP and Informations about your tank and we will support you that it will work like you expect it.

So really if it does not work it must be down to your water parameters and not having enough wrasses because all that the so-called detailed guide says is lower your temperature to 24c, add lots of wrasses and baste the worms. Oh and of course keep using this product for many more months at double the dose. Sound more like those measure would be controlling the worms, not the product itself. Also as you can see he said the corals take the substances from our product to use against the worms. This means this stuff has no direct effects on them. It's just a coral conditioner like Flat worm stop?

He may be correct about the EU laws preventing the sale of actual drugs to use against pests. But as a reefer, i would not care about this. If someone can find a drug that will wipe these worms out without killing the tank Id pay top dollar illegally for it.
 
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The Opinionated Reefer

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So finally just ran out of AEFW-X and I still have the worms. It seems to slow them down but after 3 months of dosing, it and the worms are still present it clearly doesn't work, plain and simple. I have lost 3 massive acro colonies so far and my tank is but a shadow of its former self. I hadn't seen a worm in a while but my big valida colony was slowing stn'ing away so I gave up and chopped it up and low and behold I found a massive flatworm on it. I have some good footage of the worm and how long it took to die in reef primer for an up-and-coming youtube video.

So I think I am going to give up and break the tank down, another hobbyist bites the dust due to these stupid pest-type issues.

If you are in the reefing industry and reading this we need real solutions to these problems or your industry is going to die. It doesn't matter how much it costs, develop drugs or solutions to combat these types of issues.
 

ScottB

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So finally just ran out of AEFW-X and I still have the worms. It seems to slow them down but after 3 months of dosing, it and the worms are still present it clearly doesn't work, plain and simple. I have lost 3 massive acro colonies so far and my tank is but a shadow of its former self. I hadn't seen a worm in a while but my big valida colony was slowing stn'ing away so I gave up and chopped it up and low and behold I found a massive flatworm on it. I have some good footage of the worm and how long it took to die in reef primer for an up-and-coming youtube video.

So I think I am going to give up and break the tank down, another hobbyist bites the dust due to these stupid pest-type issues.

If you are in the reefing industry and reading this we need real solutions to these problems or your industry is going to die. It doesn't matter how much it costs, develop drugs or solutions to combat these types of issues.
Sorry to hear you are giving up. None of the three marketed in tank treatments worked for me either. As to killing AEFW with a dip, potassium chloride is the "go to" solution. 3 grams per liter and worms are completely dead within a couple minutes and melted within 5 minutes.

There are other ways to solve for AEFW though without breaking down the tank. People do this all the time:

 

The Opinionated Reefer

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Sorry to hear you are giving up. None of the three marketed in tank treatments worked for me either. As to killing AEFW with a dip, potassium chloride is the "go to" solution. 3 grams per liter and worms are completely dead within a couple minutes and melted within 5 minutes.

There are other ways to solve for AEFW though without breaking down the tank. People do this all the time:


I tried that to, it did not work. I did it three times and it actually caused more harm than good. far too much hassle having to empty a tank and refill it. There is no solution that works 100% for these pests and acro's were the main sps in my tank.
 

The Opinionated Reefer

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Having to watch your prized colonies slowly being eaten away by worms or stn is no fun. The reefing hobby is a sickening hobby for madmen. There are a list of pests and parasites a long as your arm and its so much work and expense maintain it. The hobby is madness IMO
 

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Having to watch your prized colonies slowly being eaten away by worms or stn is no fun. The reefing hobby is a sickening hobby for madmen. There are a list of pests and parasites a long as your arm and its so much work and expense maintain it. The hobby is madness IMO
Not trying to be rude but a lot of people have beaten aefw with a little bit of attrition.

My recommendation would be to remove the dying/infested colonies and toss them, just make sure to get the base off of the rock as well. I'd frag a piece of these if they are real expensive or hard to find. With the rest of the stuff I'd cut them up into smaller pieces. By getting rid of the bigger pieces it will be much easier to throw them on some frag rags and dip them once a week.
 

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