[PITSTOP]

I fear the same in my 120 reef.

Let me know if this a workable procedure for identifying the presence of AEFWs...

1. Remove my A. Valida colony, placing it into a white bowl

2. Fill bowl with enough tank water to cover coral

3. Stir in 5 drops Lugols iodine solution

4. Use a pipette/baster to blast the coral with the seawater/iodine solution.

5. Perform a close (compound microscope) inspection of the detritus that collects at the bottom of the bowl.

IS THIS CORRECT?

There are now a small collection of established SPS systems subscribed to this thread concerning AEFWs; we could loosely coordinate our treatments to perhaps determine which one approach or combination produces best results.

Quasi-scientific at best, however so much of what we do in this hobby is quasi-scientific...

During the summertime I am away from my reef for 8-10 days stretches (my reef is in my classroom - pics in my galllery). Consequently, daily feedings are limited to several rounds of flakes delivered via an Eheim Feedair.

My observation is that my fish population is forced to feed off the reef to an extreme. The grazers feed off the reef structure and my opportunistic feeders (6-line wrasse for example) continually inspect the corals for any potential tid-bits of food.

Are AEFWs temperature sensitive? Could temperature change limit population growth/hasten stabilization. Or, do these devils exhibit J-curve growth eating themselves out of house and home only to perish in a devastating and cataclismic population crash?

AEFWs are mean; I do not like them very much at all.