Hey everyone! First post but have been keeping sps and mixed reefs for about 15 years. I've been having bad STN with about 95% of my SPS. And decided to pull some of the pieces that were too far gone. I left them in a bag for a couple days and kept looking/finding pests in the bag. Decided to get out the macro lens and snap a few pics. Please ID if you can.
ID Pests found on SPS (pics of pests included)
- Thread starter lost1317
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Why would one label those as aefw vs any other good old flatworm. I thought the presumptive diagnosis of AEFW was by the bite marks left and the egg sacs.
Those may be AEFW (or not) but what’s so identifiable in those photos to be sure. SPS succumb for so many more reasons than AEFW.
He mentioned mixed reef but 95% of the SPS is loosing tissue. Sure there are many types of flatworms out there. I would suspect since the SPS pieces were left in bags or dipped these particular flatworms came off are AEFW. Maybe @lost1317 can confirm what type of SPS and verify with pics if there are bite marks/eggs present.
I've been chasing issues to try to figure out the problem. Pests would actually make for an easier answer. All params have been locked for months without a change besides slow STN. Some monti's were affected too which made me question AEFW because I thought they stuck with Acros.
Params:
Salinity : 1.025
Ca : 415
Alk: 7.8
Nitrate: 5
PO3: .18
There are different ways you could approach this. Since you have a mixed reef it might be best to pull out the SPS and QT/dip them periodically. Instead of restarting the tank leave it for several months as LPS only. Maybe add some wrasses to take care of any flatworms in-between the SPS break.
I dipped my Pink Lemonade Acro and that made a difference. Surprisingly it was only dipped in CoralRx. It'd be difficult to get all of the SPS out without cooking rock. I've got lots of montis that have encrusted all over the tank and rock.
I have and didn't see any. They are pretty easy to see right in terms of size? The crazy thing is that my reverse superman started to grow back and then started to die off again. I honestly started to think that the problem was bacterial or something because other than an ALK spike I had a few months ago, everything has been extremely stable.
Monti eating nudi's are easy to see when they come out at night. Usually on the underside of the monti's. As for a big swing in ALK you definitely could see significant tissue loss or burnt tips. Bacterial is another possible issue. Seems like you may have multiple issues going on. For the Acro's left in the tank if you take turkey baster and blow them off really good do you see any flatworms come loose? If so those are most likely AEFW.
I'll look again but doubt the monti eating nudi are there. Yea. I had some burnt tips that I had to trim but like I said that was like 3 months ago. I'd expect to see recovery from that by now with stable params. Right? The bacterial thing intrigues me but I have no clue how to control that. I did install a UV but if it's in the rockwork or coral, that won't help. I've blown them off and seen a bunch of stuff come off but it's hard for me to know if it's just debris coming off the rock or if its actually coming off the coral. Putting the butchered frags in the bag was my next move to see if I could get pics of them like i posted.
Whasmack
Active Member
FYI - you could try some Dr. Tim's Eco-balance. I've done this once & it stopped a STN event.
Mix with tank water for an hour, let it sit. Turn off all flow pumps in the tank and turkey baste it around the affected areas. Let it sit for an hour or so.
Mix with tank water for an hour, let it sit. Turn off all flow pumps in the tank and turkey baste it around the affected areas. Let it sit for an hour or so.
Whasmack
Active Member
Also, I've had this years ago. Slow STN, no bugs, spot on parameters (detectable nitrate, p04) and a few corals had this going on.
I HAVE to dose Red Sea Reef Energy A & B. It completely stopped it & within a couple days everything turned around.
I HAVE to dose Red Sea Reef Energy A & B. It completely stopped it & within a couple days everything turned around.
Thoes look more like red planaria than aefw. I would not say the issues pictured are from aefw that I can see. Anyways there are a few good ways to treat for them now. Alk spikes can weaken acros and future smaller spikes or fluctuations caN just make it worse. The acros look like they have been not growing right for a little while. No clue what the issue is but somethings off, will Uv sterilizer cause problems if thrown on and ran 24/7? Maybe the water got to clean to fast but that doesn’t explain the dying on the undersides. If you post details maybe someone can help.
Also, I've had this years ago. Slow STN, no bugs, spot on parameters (detectable nitrate, p04) and a few corals had this going on.
I HAVE to dose Red Sea Reef Energy A & B. It completely stopped it & within a couple days everything turned around.
Thanks for the help! I'll look into the Eco Balance. It's so frustrating to watch it happen and not know what to do to fix it.
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