Is afw a valid coral identification term

[fish_hawk]

I'm fairly certain I've got an AEFW issue on my hands. Would really appreciate it if any of the more experienced folks here could take a look and confirm for me.

Pic of coral in dip



Stuff that fell off the coral after the dip.



I've already got a frag tank set up, so I'm all ready to start the quarantining and dipping process.

Also, Dowtish, I know you've dealt with this before - any advice would be great. I'm trying to follow your lead on this one. How did you manage to keep phosphates and nitrates low in your quarantine setup? And how long did you keep your DT fallow of acropora?

Also, since only my acros are affected, do I need to dip my montis, millis, and stylos as well, or can I leave them be?

[Briko]

Honestly, I'm just not seeing it, not convinced it's AEFW. What's making you so certain that's what you're dealing with?

[fish_hawk]

Honestly, I'm not convinced those are AEFW either, Briko's got a point - what makes you so sure, fish_hawk?

[Briko]

I'm not seeing the bite marks you're talking about. The pale areas don't look like it to me. Maybe the tiny white dots, but they don't really resemble CF bite marks or trails.

[fish_hawk]

I guess I was wrong about the big marks then. Thought for sure they were AEFW bites.

[Briko]

AEFW bites are typically small, well-defined marks that usually appear in a line. Check out some of the threads on AEFW, there are plenty of pics that show this.

[VoyagerX]

Honestly, it looks like bite marks to me, that's just my take on it.

[Briko]

Which ones do you think are bite marks, VoyagerX

[VoyagerX]

The pale marks appear to resemble bite marks, given the scale is somewhat difficult to gauge. They seem slightly larger than typical, but still plausible. The pattern of marks does follow a consistent trend, which raises suspicions. I'm not aware of any alternative explanations for such markings. Thankfully, there's no sign of large worms in the dip container, but the smaller ones can be tricky to spot. Some of the bigger worms are quite visible, measuring up to 7-8mm, whereas the smaller ones are tiny, almost like a 1mm piece of translucent skin. Based on this, I'd err on the side of caution and assume those are indeed bite marks, treating them as such until proven otherwise. What's the background on this particular frag?

[fish_hawk]

The frag was browned out when it came in, about three inches tall. I do have some validas in the same tank, but no bite marks on them. Color and growth are off across all my SPS though.