It CAN Happen to you

[Delphinus]

Any pictures of the damage? Have you seen any flatworms yourself? Just wondering what they look like, because I had a couple frags do well for about 2 months then all of a sudden bam, splotchy and patchy damage (and fairly severe although the impacted corals are not yet total losses - although they may be in time, I don't know). But I don't see flatworms. And I did dip new arrivals so not really sure what to make of things at the moment.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Any pictures of the damage? Have you seen any flatworms yourself? Just wondering what they look like, because I had a couple frags do well for about 2 months then all of a sudden bam, splotchy and patchy damage (and fairly severe although the impacted corals are not yet total losses - although they may be in time, I don't know). But I don't see flatworms. And I did dip new arrivals so not really sure what to make of things at the moment.

I don`t have pictures and the ones I found were too small to really see without a magnifying glass. I could see one of them without but most were tiny. They come off right away when you dip in Revive.

They are kind of a clear flat worm that takes on the color of the coral which makes them hard to see. I guess they have a slight tint to them but I dont know how to describe it.

[Delphinus]

Ok so you can't see them at all on the coral without redipping?

Hmmmmm. Ok, I'll redip and see what comes off. Unfortunately this mini colony has a really pretty acro crab so I guess I'll have to chase him out first before dipping.

Thanks.

And Mark, I know it sucks and I'm sorry, but could you still post a picture of your coral with the damage? It would be good to have a photographic record for reference..

Good luck..

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by Delphinus

Ok so you can't see them at all on the coral without redipping?

Hmmmmm. Ok, I'll redip and see what comes off. Unfortunately this mini colony has a really pretty acro crab so I guess I'll have to chase him out first before dipping.

Thanks.

And Mark, I know it sucks and I'm sorry, but could you still post a picture of your coral with the damage? It would be good to have a photographic record for reference..

Good luck..

In my experience you can only see them after dipping.

Yeah get that acro crab off! That`s kind of the pain of dipping...getting them out. I use a thin screw driver to chase them out.

[Drock169]

http://www.weatherson.com/photos/672_aefl_stretched.jpg

that should have a good picture
signs of infestation:
browning of the coral, little polyp extension, slow tissue death at the base, yellow egg mashes near the base, square bite marks around or near the base.

[Drock169]

they say that a lot of wrasse work, a lot of halichores wrasses are supposed to eat them. Although I dont really believe this information, there are a few isolated cases were they may have but usually they are referring to other flatworms and not acro eating flatworms. A good example is the blue velvet headshield, it only eats flatworms but wont touch acro eating flatworms.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Ontop of dipping new corals, I would recommend breaking the base off. I usually drill into the base and under the coral and just kind of pop it off. The reason is that the eggs are almost always at the base and are not killed by dipping. You can usually see the eggs but I have seen a some clutches that are TINY.

[my2rotties]

That is actually an awesome idea. I hate the bases on aqua cultured corals and they almost never fit where you want them to go. How long do you dip for afterwards?

I have reef epoxy and an entire evening of drilling and re dipping in my near future

Originally Posted by GreenSpottedPuffer

Ontop of dipping new corals, I would recommend breaking the base off. I usually drill into the base and under the coral and just kind of pop it off. The reason is that the eggs are almost always at the base and are not killed by dipping. You can usually see the eggs but I have seen a some clutches that are TINY.

[GreenSpottedPuffer]

Originally Posted by my2rotties

That is actually an awesome idea. I hate the bases on aqua cultured corals and they almost never fit where you want them to go. How long do you dip for afterwards?

I have reef epoxy and an entire evening of drilling and re dipping in my near future

Me too I hate the aquaculture bases!

I dip for a good 5-8 minutes in Revive. I wouldn`t dip as long in other dips though unless directed. I just know revive is very easy on the corals even though it smells like pine sol! I usually see polyp extension hours after dipping and no fading.

The nice thing about chopping off the base too is that you can superglue gel the coral to a piece of smaller rubble and then epoxy that to your LR. So much more natural looking.

What I actually do though is glue it to rubble and then glue an acrylic rod underneath. My LR has holes drilled all through out and I then just place the rods on the bottom of the corals in the holes. I can move stuff all over if needed. Can`t see the acrylic.

[my2rotties]

Wish I knew this prior to all the aqua scaping... next time around when we some day build the 400g, if I ever have the cash.

Originally Posted by GreenSpottedPuffer

Me too I hate the aquaculture bases!

I dip for a good 5-8 minutes in Revive. I wouldn`t dip as long in other dips though unless directed. I just know revive is very easy on the corals even though it smells like pine sol! I usually see polyp extension hours after dipping and no fading.

The nice thing about chopping off the base too is that you can superglue gel the coral to a piece of smaller rubble and then epoxy that to your LR. So much more natural looking.

What I actually do though is glue it to rubble and then glue an acrylic rod underneath. My LR has holes drilled all through out and I then just place the rods on the bottom of the corals in the holes. I can move stuff all over if needed. Can`t see the acrylic.