Kessil

So AEFW... what are the symptoms.

S

sfsuphysics

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This is one of those things that is going to drive me out if it's the case... but

I notice a few of my acropora colonies have some white marks near their base, I've looked on the smaller frags that I can still remove with a magnifying glass and I don't see any evidence of AEFW, no bite marks (the white skeleton has quite a regular shape to it), no eggs, nothing I can really think of, I've not quite gone so far as dipping it in betadine to see if anything comes off, but I don't know that I would see anything since the betadine will darken everything up.

Ok so here are other ideas, since I've noticed this pre-frag swap I'm not attributing it to anything that got past the dipping.

-Flow issues, my return pump died, so I went without my Ocean Motion squirting around the tank for a couple weeks, also my Seios seem to sporadically stop working *sigh*... so maybe it's a flow issue that's causing the flesh to die, either too much direct flow (unlikely) or too little.
-Asterina star fish, I've seen them on the white parts of the skeleton, however I'm unsure if they're there eating stuff that is now trying to grow on it (algae, etc) or if they are the actual cause.
-Other critters, I still got a few "emerald" crabs lurking around in my tank, and I know people have mentioned seeing them attack corals.
-Chemical/heat issues, there have been days I haven't dosed the 2-part, I noticed my calcium was reading upwards of 580 somehow before I managed to bring it back down to 440. Those sorts of things.

The last one is probably the least probable simple because I don't think only a part of the coral would die. The flow issue I'm also hesitant just because the places where I see the problems really do have different flow patterns, it might be something at night nibbling at it, and the fact it's occuring on the acropora only species on one side of the tank really worries me.
 
Allow the tissue to contract due to exposure to atmosphere, it is much easier to see the little *fill in the blank* flatworms. If you have algae in your tank, esp. Valonia, and corraline I don't know if the cleanup crew would be at fault. Unless there is some sort of overpopulation.

Take a few days off work and stare into the tank, I'm sure you'll figgure out who's the culprit.
 
The easy approach would be to do a light dip and blast with a turkey baster. If relatively opaque flatworms come off then you know you have AEFW...pods don't count :D

AEFW tend to lay eggs in the crotches of branches as they grow from the base. Hairy acros like millies, or noblis are generally affected first or anything that is smooth branched. Valida or any tri-colored acros also tend to get hit first - smooth skin makes it easier for them to munch and lay eggs on.

Salinity swings can cause tissue recession as well.
 
Could be almost any of the issues you listed. A close look at flow in the tank would tell you if that can be ruled out. The only way, IMO, that you could get the described effect from a flow issue would be if your tank is stratified horizontally in that area. Is all the flow in that area horizontally oriented only or do the corals also get hit with water from above/below?
I'd definitely do a dip on the most affected coral. the AEFW's are actually easy to see once they're loose in a tupperware or such. They're quite a bit larger than the other flatworms.
 
Sounds like how I discoverred my AEFW episode.

Eileen, none of the eggs I found where in the crotch of the acro :D They all were un the underside of branches and around the base, but none in the crotch.
 
[quote author=bookfish link=topic=2346.msg23817#msg23817 date=1188434073]
Yup, just one of the many reasons LPS are BETTER!!!
(just fooling around, don't get upset, your acros are very nice!)
[/quote] LPS are not better, they just have sweepers.
 
Well the problem with dipping is most of the affected corals are all encrusted onto the rock. One of them that was still attached to a plug, I did the dip, squirted, inspected, looked at residue in container, and didn't see anything resembling a flatworm, so I'm still on the lookout.
 
[quote author=tuberider link=topic=2346.msg23819#msg23819 date=1188434274]
[quote author=bookfish link=topic=2346.msg23817#msg23817 date=1188434073]
Yup, just one of the many reasons LPS are BETTER!!!
(just fooling around, don't get upset, your acros are very nice!)
[/quote] LPS are not better, they just have sweepers.
[/quote]
I'd like an acro salad and the monti entree and my chalice will have the same.
 
[quote author=Raddogz link=topic=2346.msg23804#msg23804 date=1188412594]
That's how I found them on a humilus and deep water acro - yegh...aefw are just sickening.
[/quote]

So wait... You found them on two acros and came to the conclusion that they "tend" to lay their eggs in that spot over others? Only two? Shoot, I found them on 40+ and I still won't say the tend to do anything other then infect all my acros. I have very little knowledge of their life habits, nor does anyone else really for that matter.
 
[quote author=GreshamH link=topic=2346.msg23822#msg23822 date=1188436620]
[quote author=Raddogz link=topic=2346.msg23804#msg23804 date=1188412594]
That's how I found them on a humilus and deep water acro - yegh...aefw are just sickening.
[/quote]

So wait... You found them on two acros and came to the conclusion that they "tend" to lay their eggs in that spot over others? Only two? Shoot, I found them on 40+ and I still won't say the tend to do anything other then infect all my acros. I have very little knowledge of their life habits, nor does anyone else really for that matter.
[/quote]
I know what they eat!
 
And I know what they look like!

I also know what they can do. I suspect I had mine for a lot longer then I could have ever guessed back then. After talking to numerous people on this, I think that many people have these and have had these for years never noticing them. I had one acro that I noticed one or two marks on like nearly a year before I caught them on the same colony. It never looked worse for the ware. It grew, had strong color and good P.E.. It wasn't until I saw a fairly fresh LARGE patch of bite marks right after seeing them in some one elses tank that I caught on and pulled the colony. I allowed it to dry for a short period then BAM, there must have been a hundred on that one colony. I then pulled everything but two millis that lived on a rack away from everything else that was suspended into the tank and had no common surfaces. They also had the return blasting over them so not much in terms on tanks critters had much of a chance to get to these. I gambled and kept an eye on them. To this day they look perfect. Zero bite marks, no dead patches, great color, etc. For being Tongan, these millis have kept their color to the T. Nice deep pink with yellow tips and a bright green flesh with blue polyps. I've fragged both the colonys and got rid of the bases just in case. I let those dry to see if there was any AEFW and nothing was viasable :) Wow, lesson learned on the Q-tank!
 
How do these guys move from coral to coral, do they simply crawl on over? Is their a range before they get exhausted and die? Or do they simply detatch into the water column and land on whatever happens to be in their path?
 
I suspect both myself (crawling and getting blown off). Since many have reported they can go days with out a meal, I bet they could crawl to any coral they wanted to in our aquariums and still have a decent meal still in their tummies.
 
Negative. I found them after taking in fifty plus frags and like an idiot I was didn't dip and assumed they pest free. I had found them on millies, deep water acros, valida, nana, etc etc etc (and it still makes me absolutely sick and depressed thinking about it).

The second time I found them was on a humilus (sp?) colony that wasn't looking too hot, and bases of stags that had whitening bases.

The second time I found them and apparently contracted them was not from an sps frag it was from a zoa frag which came from a mixed reef tank that did have sps. I say zoa frag because I had not received any sps for four some odd months and they had been previously dipped in povidone. The zoa frag was not dipped; however it was inspected for zoa nudis and placed in softie/lps tank and then transferred to sps tank a week later(dumb move on my part)

Yes, I went through this not once but twice. The second time was most unexpected.

Mike, there is talk that the aefw do go through a free-swimming stage so it is not difficult to spread from one small colony to the next. Since none of my sps are glued to the rock I moved all the affected or potentially affected sps and soaked them in fluke tabs, and then followed up with povidone a few days later.
 
[quote author=Raddogz link=topic=2346.msg23804#msg23804 date=1188412594]
That's how I found them on a humilus and deep water acro - yegh...aefw are just sickening.
[/quote]

Can you see how I got confused you extrapulated from only TWO corals they lay thier eggs in that spot mostly?

LIke I said, IMO most people have them FAR before they ever see any signs. 4 months is not unheard of to not see any signs or symptoms.
 
LIke I said, IMO most people have them FAR before they ever see any signs. 4 months is not unheard of to not see any signs or symptoms.
Click to expand...
I agree... I didn't know I have them several months later. I knew who it came from too but I didn't dare to say anything because a lot of people will jump on me ;D. A lot of people bought from him. Talking about spreading the "fun" ..
 
Calling a spade a spade shouldn't get any one jumping down your throat, especially some one giving it to others :) Bam Bam was called on it (red bugs) and no one blasted the whistle blower then ;)
 
Talking about it early on might help some people save their animals. At least talk to the person and ask them if they would post or allow you to do it. Of course, everyone should be at least dipping their new arrivals but sometimes bugs slip through.
 
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