Give Advice: Whole system pest-overhaul, planaria/aefw/redbugs/etc......

[Enjoy]

Recently I have noticed very little polyp extension on my Mike Paletta Turquoise Lovelli, and sadly I see some very small reddish colored bugs on this piece. I also have a Garf Bonsai, and an ORA Red Planet that I see the aefw "bite marks" appearing on.

I also have some small flatworms on my glass that are multiplying quickly. They don't have the brown-reddish color that I believe planaria's do, they are more tan. Either way they are pests and need to be dealt with.

So, basically I want to do an overhaul on my system while it is fallow, and treat for all unwanted pests.
What is the best way to accomplish this?

Interceptor for redbugs, Flatworm Exit for Flatworms, and a lot of water changes?

Anyone who has gone through this, please lend some advice. Im hoping to leave everything in this tank, and treat as an entire system rather than QT acros, etc... Is this possible?

For anyone who has purchased anything from me lately, please be sure to inspect frags as I did not know I had these pests until recently. I would hate to pass this on to someone else, so please keep your eyes open.

Thanks everyone. I feel like throwing in the towel after the last few months, but I gotta keep on, keepin on.;)

[firereef]

Man, I have the red flatworms too! I threw a sixline wrasse in there to eat them. I don't feed my tank any food. That way it forces the sixline to eat them.

Most of my Zoas stay closed for a while but now they're opening up. Goodluck bro

I also dipped my higher end stuff in coral Rx and it worked great. My flatworms are slowly disappearing.

[Enjoy]

I've dipped all that I can that is not attached to LR. I really don't want to break off colonies that have already encrusted (ie: Red Planet, SS, Garf bonsai).

I want to treat my entire system at once if possible.

I have a dog, so I plan on asking for Interceptor from the Vet, and I already have some Flatworm Exit. Im just curious what the best way to do it all is...

[gumbii]

sixline wrasse worked for my flatworms... or if you want a better pest controlling fish get a radiant wrasse... those guys will eat all kinds of moving stuff...

interceptor is a must for your case sadly... unless you want to try just dipping a colony or two, i would treat the entire tank...

i also hear that melafix marine works for flat worms safer than FWE... but i dunno for sure...

don't let this get you down... think of it as just a small bump in the road...

[Enjoy]

I have no fish in the tank at all, and plan to leave it this way for 2-3 months so adding a wrasse is outta the question.
Previously I had a mystery, 2 yellow corris, mccoskers flasher, and an orange back in this tank at the same time. I didnt notice any of these pests untill the fish were removed from the system. That being said, I don't want to find a fish to keep them "in check", I want them GONE!!! haha

I will talk to my vet and see about getting some interceptor.


Anyone attempted this? What were your results?

[gumbii]

i recently did the beef pill treatment...


i did a double dose, took off the collector cup off of the skimmer, and let it overflow back into the sump... waited two days, did a 10% waterchange and never saw them in my tank again... with one treatment... i still did another treatment after that just 'cause... my hermit crabs survived... weird... i've heard people doing a triple dose... they also told me that they treat every month just because it feeds the SPS or something... LOL... but yeah... good luck kid...

i've never used FWE...

[stephj03]

FWE will not work as well on AEFW's as it does on reglar flatworms. Levamisole is the drug of choice for AEFW's from what I've read. It is harsh though and losses can be expected.

[gumbii]

FWE will not work as well on AEFW's as it does on reglar flatworms. Levamisole is the drug of choice for AEFW's from what I've read. It is harsh though and losses can be expected.

no way...!!! i saw bites on my garf bonzai once, but never again... weird... i don't have any wrasses or anything that would eat they...

[Enjoy]

FWE will not work as well on AEFW's as it does on reglar flatworms. Levamisole is the drug of choice for AEFW's from what I've read. It is harsh though and losses can be expected.

Thanks I'll read up on it...

[stephj03]

no way...!!! i saw bites on my garf bonzai once, but never again... weird... i don't have any wrasses or anything that would eat they...

Do some searching on the boards and you will find that you are the exception not the rule.

[scrapz]

red bugs are easy. interceptor 2-3x 1.5 weeks apart.

AEFW are a *****! I've tried continous dips over several weeks and they still reappear somehow months later. I've just learned to live with it & baste on a daily basis, sometimes 2-3x a day. Basting really stressed out my corals initially but they got used to it, growth is still stunted. I hardly if ever see a FW in my system, everyone who has has seen my system can attest my corals are healthy with no signs of aefw damage.

Anyways, only way to truly get rid of them are;

Run the display fallow for 8-12 weeks. We don't know how long the eggs survive after hatching.

Setup a QT tank for the corals, dip all corals in revive/coralrx. Visually inspect the base or damaged areas are eggs. If eggs are found, cut it off and chuck it away. I found it impossible to scrub off all the eggs when I tried. Be prepared for losses, pass a frag of each to a friend or me:D


When reintroducing. Dip each coral in it's own container, if you find a aefw, back into QT it goes. If it's clean, I would still chop away it's base and put into the display.

good luck!

[stephj03]

I've heard that there may be a few different strains of AEFW. Some can be controlled with wrasses and basting and some are more agressive. I'm sure this also depends on how large your sps colonies are. If you have big pieces, new growth will decrease the rate of demise.

With regards to FWE, the origional reefkeeping article on AEFW noted that FWE had to be used at 30x the reccomended dose to be highly effective.
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-09/mc/index.php

Some people have also had success with fluke tabs, but IDK if this can be done on the whole tank.

The person I'm thinking of that used Levamisole to successfully eradicate is SDguy a couple of years back. He had a big thread about it on sd reefs.

Personally, the few times I have seen them on frags after dipping I just got a magnifying glass out and superglued over any eggs/worms I could find in addition to any visible bite marks/dead skin. Might be a chore if you have large corals though.

[Reefer08]

Pour bleach in the tank and walk away!!!!!!


LOL j/k don't do that.

Planaria is nothing to get too worried about. They can grow into a huge population if you ignore them. Best thing is to just dose Flatworm Exit and keep a wrasse for any future bugs. If your bored you can siphon them into a filter sock and then replace the filter sock, theyre usually easy to find on the glass. They don't harm corals or livestock, they simply irritate everything and they eat algae only.

Red bugs are easily killed off with Interceptor, do 3 treatments of it. One treatment each week.

If you've confirmed you've got AEFW by seeing bite marks on the SPS. Then remove all SPS dip them several times and put them into a seperate tank until the AEFW starve to death. Their only food source is SPS so they will die without any sps in the tank.

Goodluck!

[SC Trojan]

sorry to hear that bro and definately know how ur feeling right about now as i was in your predicament a few mos back with AEFW! For the regular planaria and red bugs you can def do a in tank treatment with interceptor and flatworm exit but to be 100% aefw free you will need to remove all acros and acro bases from live rock to quarantine/dip.
I know it sucks, believe me i know, but i tried the" live with and baste approach" with the help of wrasses but it just became a bandaide fix and a hassle really. So i just said screw it and turned my display (75gl) into my quarantine (planned to upgrade tank anyways) ,removed bout 75lbs of live rock that had acro bases and began dipping all acros with coral RX. I dipped every 5 days or so for a mos and havent seen any signs of them since. Look for eggs too as theyre pretty easy to spot and scrape them off. I had a few singnificant losses (gc ulimate efflo, purple monster, ice-fire ech, few others) that had me in tears wanting to throw in the towel but i love this hobby too much i guess. Good Luck bro and if you need anyhelp or qustions just hit me up!
Paul.

[ROBONE20]

Did you check out these links:
http://www.melevsreef.com/flatworms.html
http://www.melevsreef.com/redbugs.html

I got flatworms in my 75 gallon that I'm trying to get rid of so I can transition everything into my newly set up 240 gallon. I'm taking some advice from this website, so hopefully it'll work out. I only have a few corals, but I'm more worried about my fish more so than the corals. From what I've been reading, carbon and water changes will be our best friend while performing this exercise. If you haven't read these articles, it might shed some light. If you did, good luck. I'm in the same boat.

[scrapz]

SC Trojan: Yup, I agree its a band-aid fix. I chose this route over full QT so I could enjoy my corals. Couldn't risk losing a bunch of my choice pieces and end up quitting. I know I'll upgrade someday, so at that I'll QT and transfer to the new tank slowly.


anyone hear about acro crabs eating AEFW. I remember reading a post that mentioned aefw started appearing when people started treating their tanks with interceptor. That killed the red bug but also all their acro crabs. Makes sense to me.

Also remember when aquacultured/maricultured/wild pieces came with a ton of acro crabs in them? Now you'll be glad to find a few of them in a whole box.

If I'm able to source about 15-20 acro crabs, this would be my next experiment. I saw the on sale at DD for $20 a piece a long time ago. Doesn't look like they've sold any for a while also.

[pciscott]

I am dealing with AEFW in one of my growout systems and Flat Worm Exit does nothing and I have not herd of a full tank treatment. I started dipping all Acros every week for 6 weeks and the coral looks healthy and no sign of AEFW with my coral RX dips. Stopped for 2 weeks and just found more of the little bast****s. I am starting a system to quarantine my Acros and make my display Acro free for 3 months to break the cycle. I plan on dipping the corals every seven days that are in my display and then moving them to the new quarantine system. I will cut the bases off of any of the colonies where I cant get a good examination. The eggs are the problem as dipping does nothing.

I can say I have read about people living with AEFW, and my coral all looks pretty healthy even though my system has pest. I tried basting and my fish went crazy for the worms that popped off, but if I do not stay on top I can see how they can get out of hand fast. I am not willing to go this route.

They got my millies and prostadas first, but I have found them on almost every acro.

Good news is I had some colonies that looked wasted and had half the flesh eaten before I found the problem and I have nursed them back to looking top notch.

Quarantine is a must not only for fish, but coral as well. I have no idea where I picked up AEFW, but I know I will be smarter in the future.

I am growing out frags for my dream tank, and I am going to be very careful before anything goes into that tank.

The Dog medicine will get rid of Red Bugs, and Flat worm Exit works on Plunaria. The AEFW is the hard one. Good luck, Scott

p.s. I did listen to a seminar, the speaker Justin Credible talked how he rid a tank of AEFW with peroxide, but a little overdose and everything is toast? Maybe he will figure the dose out in the future and we will have a better way to rid our tanks of the dreaded AEFW with a full tank treatment.

[socalmiket]

How long do AEFW become evident, after reading this thread I realized that is what may be happening to my bonsai, blue tipped tenius and maybe my pearlberry (only the base or shaded parts are loosing color, other corals look great).

I haven't added any acro that hasn't first been dipped since last April. Could I have had them since before April 2010, and the damage is just becoming evident now?

- MikeT

[MicroSofty]

My only tip to you is:

DO ONLY ONE THING AT A TIME.

Your gonna stress your system enough.

BE PATIENT

My opinioned route is:

Treat with DOG pills first

Get a few wrasses to deal with the planaria (red scooter blenny works too)

Then create a QT and keep acros out of your system for atleast 2 months.
Dip every week, inspect for eggs and remove.

DONT BE DISCOURAGED.



FINAL TIP:

Frag your corals and give to someone (who has a healthy system / QT) just in case you start to lose some corals. This gives you a back up frag and your friend will benefit.

I myself frag every coral before it goes into my display and give to a friend for grow out and back up frag. Nothing better than getting stuff for free when your stuff dies.

[gumbii]

yeah... me and my friends "bank" our corals too... that's the best advice anyone could give... bank your corals...

[socalmiket]

well, a close look revealed red bugs in my system. Darn it, guess I need to find some dog pills too. no dog though :(

[firereef]

Yea man. To be completely honest, people don't realize all the pest that hitchhike from these club frag swaps and trade shows. It's up to us to qt!!!!!

I also will be setting up a coral qt tank and hope I can get things back in check.

[Enjoy]

Thanks for all of the great responses. I will be doing research before making any big changes, or doing any treatments.

Last night, I broke the Mike Paletta Turquoise Lovelli off of the LR column it was on and placed it into a styrofoam cup with a 1/4 capful of Revive, and a few drops of WM coral dip. Let it sit for about 5 mins, then I dunked, swished, and plopped it all around and transferred it to another cup filled with the same solution. Did this one more time, and then back into the tank it went. I could have easily counted 50+ redbugs that I could see with my naked eye (barely). I showed my wife, and she couldn't see anything, and thought I was crazy. :wildone:

Sadly I think I do have AEFW, because I have noticed 3+ colonies with bite marks towards the base. They seem to be more in the "shady" areas of the colonies. So, I will start to put a plan together on how I will eliminate these from my system.

The flatworms I have done some researching but come up with very few pictures that are of exactly what I have. I snapped a couple last night on my cell. There are hundreds!!! Some people say let them go, and they will slowly die off. Some say FWE.

Cell shots:
http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac20/EnjoyReefin/flatworm2.jpg
http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac20/EnjoyReefin/flatworm1.jpg

Close up of what it looks like....
(Not my picture)
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:LPkKUpBrEBen1M:http://www.discoveryaquatics.com/tc/flatworm.jpg&t=1

[BeanMachine]

Thanks for all of the great responses. I will be doing research before making any big changes, or doing any treatments.

Last night, I broke the Mike Paletta Turquoise Lovelli off of the LR column it was on and placed it into a styrofoam cup with a 1/4 capful of Revive, and a few drops of WM coral dip. Let it sit for about 5 mins, then I dunked, swished, and plopped it all around and transferred it to another cup filled with the same solution. Did this one more time, and then back into the tank it went. I could have easily counted 50+ redbugs that I could see with my naked eye (barely). I showed my wife, and she couldn't see anything, and thought I was crazy. :wildone:

Sadly I think I do have AEFW, because I have noticed 3+ colonies with bite marks towards the base. They seem to be more in the "shady" areas of the colonies. So, I will start to put a plan together on how I will eliminate these from my system.

The flatworms I have done some researching but come up with very few pictures that are of exactly what I have. I snapped a couple last night on my cell. There are hundreds!!! Some people say let them go, and they will slowly die off. Some say FWE.

Cell shots:
http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac20/EnjoyReefin/flatworm2.jpg
http://i881.photobucket.com/albums/ac20/EnjoyReefin/flatworm1.jpg

Close up of what it looks like....
(Not my picture)
http://t2.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:LPkKUpBrEBen1M:http://www.discoveryaquatics.com/tc/flatworm.jpg&t=1


I've got little flatworms similar to the ones you have. Super small the size of pods. I don't think they're a problem.

So you haven't seen the AEFWs? Just evidence of biting? The pics I've found searching don't look like those.

[Enjoy]

No I have not seen the AEFW, only the "bite marks". I have read that they are nearly invisible.
Those pictures are of a different type of "clear" flatworm. I plan to let them be for awhile, and see what happens. They have really exploded since I removed all my fish. They have very few, if any predetors right now.

[jefathome]

I would think that anything you do to get rid of the AEFW's will also kill off the Planaria FW's.


Aside from using a wrasse that is...

[lowbudget]

Dip the coral you will see the aefw. I had a few friend who where hit this is why when people ask to trade I rather not.
This is what I do to stay pest free. I don't trade with people who trade a lot. It's like sex. I rather give or sell the coral to someone. I will not trade with strangers. If I have not seen the person tank a few time. I will not trade. If I do get a piece I dump it in my friends qt system. When I do bring it home I still dip. Good luck bro there is no full tank treatment for aefw. I think if you catch it early and corals still good health I dint think dipping will kill it

[BeanMachine]

Dip the coral you will see the aefw. I had a few friend who where hit this is why when people ask to trade I rather not.
This is what I do to stay pest free. I don't trade with people who trade a lot. It's like sex. I rather give or sell the coral to someone. I will not trade with strangers. If I have not seen the person tank a few time. I will not trade. If I do get a piece I dump it in my friends qt system. When I do bring it home I still dip. Good luck bro there is no full tank treatment for aefw. I think if you catch it early and corals still good health I dint think dipping will kill it

Love the analogy Sanh! LMFAO

[firereef]

Dip the coral you will see the aefw. I had a few friend who where hit this is why when people ask to trade I rather not.
This is what I do to stay pest free. I don't trade with people who trade a lot. It's like sex. I rather give or sell the coral to someone. I will not trade with strangers. If I have not seen the person tank a few time. I will not trade. If I do get a piece I dump it in my friends qt system. When I do bring it home I still dip. Good luck bro there is no full tank treatment for aefw. I think if you catch it early and corals still good health I dint think dipping will kill it


My ank must be a whore cuz I trade alot:)

[laverda]

Your photos are of planaria, which are harmless for the most part, just ugly. Fresh water dips will get rid of them easily. Just dip and shake them off. There are lots of fish that will eat them, including many wrasses, target manderins and scooter blennys. Many other fish will eat then if the are in the water column.

[Enjoy]

I am planning on setting up a coral QT tank. Then take every single piece of coral out of the tank and dip/inspect before adding to frag tank. Treat with interceptor & flatworm exit in main display, and frag tank.

I will dip and inspect corals daily/every other day for pests of any kind. Will continue this for around 2 months, and if everything looks good. Back into the tank the corals will go.

Since the tank will be completely empty other than Live rock, live sand, pods, a few hermits, and snails. Can I do something to speed up the process to kill off the pests? Low sg, high sg, temp changes, etc....???