AEFW experiments and study

[tektite]

Experiment 1 has begun. 4 containers, each containing 10 AEFW, and 1 container with 6. They're sorted by size in each compartment: 1-2mm, 2-4mm, 4-6mm, 6-10mm, 8-12mm (container with 6).

Pics and data to follow.

[dadummy]

sweet!!! thank you

[AdamDeMamp]

Nobel reef prize?

[rizon25]

Subscribed! Very interesting.

[Outdrsyguy1]

You are so awesome! If you find you need more funding for your setup please post something or PM. I 'm currently battling AEFW now and just even the knowledge of how long it takes them to starve and how long the gestation period is would be a life saver. Maybe even if you could find out how long it takes them to become sexually mature enough to breed from egg stage too!
I really look forward to seeing more from you, thanks!

[trueblackpercula]

Looking forward to seeing your results. I had questions a long time ago and maybe you can let us know if acro crabs that most remove from the colonies if they will eat them or not. Do you think you could try placing a few aefw in a container with a Sps colony that has a host crab to see if the crab will allow them to thrive?

[CIGARSC351W]

Originally Posted by trueblackpercula

Looking forward to seeing your results. I had questions a long time ago and maybe you can let us know if acro crabs that most remove from the colonies if they will eat them or not. Do you think you could try placing a few aefw in a container with a Sps colony that has a host crab to see if the crab will allow them to thrive?

Greta idea!

[ormet]

Originally Posted by trueblackpercula

Looking forward to seeing your results. I had questions a long time ago and maybe you can let us know if acro crabs that most remove from the colonies if they will eat them or not. Do you think you could try placing a few aefw in a container with a Sps colony that has a host crab to see if the crab will allow them to thrive?

I have a Tetralia nigrolineata acro crab living in a A. Valida colony. I have had them together for 6 months. This valida was the most infested by AEFW when i treated all my acropora 3 months ago. So Tetralia does not seem to do anything about AEFW

[LuckyInker]

tektite, please let Kate Rawlinson (k.rawlinson@dal.ca) know what you are doing and see if she is interested in your findings. I reached out to her previously to help ID a possible AEFW and she responded with positive results.
She is currently studying AEFW and has published several papers on them. Do it for science!

[trueblackpercula]

Originally Posted by LuckyInker

tektite, please let Kate Rawlinson (k.rawlinson@dal.ca) know what you are doing and see if she is interested in your findings. I reached out to her previously to help ID a possible AEFW and she responded with positive results.
She is currently studying AEFW and has published several papers on them. Do it for science!

Do it for us All!!!! Lol

[tektite]

Originally Posted by LuckyInker

tektite, please let Kate Rawlinson (k.rawlinson@dal.ca) know what you are doing and see if she is interested in your findings. I reached out to her previously to help ID a possible AEFW and she responded with positive results.
She is currently studying AEFW and has published several papers on them. Do it for science!

It kinda got lost in my OP but I am in contact with her. We've been emailing back and forth for some time, we are working together on this. She is very interested in any of my findings, we may write some articles/papers on what we find, if we can get enough interest and funding in the future she would even like to come to me to continue some experiments in person.

Originally Posted by Outdrsyguy1

You are so awesome! If you find you need more funding for your setup please post something or PM. I 'm currently battling AEFW now and just even the knowledge of how long it takes them to starve and how long the gestation period is would be a life saver. Maybe even if you could find out how long it takes them to become sexually mature enough to breed from egg stage too!
I really look forward to seeing more from you, thanks!

Originally Posted by trueblackpercula

Looking forward to seeing your results. I had questions a long time ago and maybe you can let us know if acro crabs that most remove from the colonies if they will eat them or not. Do you think you could try placing a few aefw in a container with a Sps colony that has a host crab to see if the crab will allow them to thrive?

Originally Posted by ormet

I have a Tetralia nigrolineata acro crab living in a A. Valida colony. I have had them together for 6 months. This valida was the most infested by AEFW when i treated all my acropora 3 months ago. So Tetralia does not seem to do anything about AEFW

Thanks everyone! The more ideas I can get to experiment with the better!

Those are all things I'll be looking into, it'll just take a lot of time, corals, and equipment, so progress will be slow. I'm in this for the long haul though! This has needed to be done for a long time. Far too many incredible corals have been lost to this predator.

[tektite]

Questions I want to look into:

Top 3:
How long it takes adult AEFW to die with no host
How long it takes eggs to hatch
How long it takes AEFW to go from hatch to adults capable of egg-laying


More involved questions, that may be harder to experiment with so will take more time:
Natural length of life with full access to food
How frequently can an AEFW lay batches of eggs?
Does temperature affect any of the Top 3 time periods?
Is AEFW health/strength/capability to lay eggs affected by how sick their host coral is?
Which acropora are most likely to be heavily infested?
Are some species of acro capable of remaining healthy when heavily infested?
Does the species of host acro affect any of the Top 3 question results?
Natural predators of AEFW and effectiveness – acro crabs, wrasses, etc.
Is there more than one kind of AEFW, are some more hardier than others?

Control and eradication:
Different dip efficacy on AEFW, of ones hobbyists commonly use – Bayer Advanced insecticide, CoralRx, Revive, Lugol's, maybe RPS All Out (very curious to scientifically prove or disprove their claims it kills AEFW eggs, as they seem incapable of providing any of their own study's data).

If anyone has other questions they're interested in, please post them and I'll add them to my list!

[tektite]

Well, this is actually kinda cool...

Both compartments of AEFW had eggs laid in them this morning! It was definitely done overnight. I'll have to watch them at night now.

[Allmost]

Amazing thread, keep up the Great work

[tektite]

Day 1 of experiment, start 12pm:

Container used:


Adult AEFW harvested off of several various species of Acropora. Sorted by size, each compartment of the container holding different sizes. Each compartment is 4”x4”, water 3” deep. Container is hooked to the side of the aquarium the AEFW came from, giving them the same temperature, light cycle, and water conditions as they came from. Container is partially covered with a translucent white acrylic lid, to help cut down evaporation and a little light as they are closer to the light than they were on the corals.

Compartment 1: 6 AEFW, ranging from 8-12mm
Compartment 2: 10 AEFW, ranging from 6-10mm
Compartment 3: 10 AEFW, ranging from 4-6mm
Compartment 4: 10 AEFW, ranging from 2-4mm
Compartment 5: 10 AEFW, ranging from 1-2mm


AEFW may be more active at night. Many AEFW taken from corals were observed either underneath the branches of the corals, or tucked into forks of branches.

[MBMAX]

great work. if you answer only half of those questions it will be an amazing study. keep the good work.

[tektite]

Pics

Container in aquarium:


Top of container:


Compartments 1 and 2:


Compartments 4 and 5:

[sahin]

Now I will have nightmares after seeing those photos...

[animalkingdom]

Originally Posted by sahin

Now I will have nightmares after seeing those photos...

+1
are the containers getting adequate oxygenation? just dont want any lurking variables to nip your experiments in the butt

[tektite]

I think the water is shallow enough. That is a variable I had considered.

After the end of this experiment, when I can see if they shrink in size with no food, I'll be making a second test container, this time made of the biggest micron mesh I can use while still keeping them contained. Water will be constantly supplied to the container, to eliminate any need for water changes and keeping parameters even closer to the tank water they came from. Will also help keep them from crawling on the surface of the water.

[powderhound]

Would be more then happy to donate frags. look forward to your research.

[Allmost]

do you think a small Aqualifter pump sucking water from the tank and putting it in the container would allow the FWs to scape ?

[tektite]

In my current container, yes, they'd crawl out as soon as the container got full. That's why the second container will be made of micron mesh, the AEFW will still remain inside but the water being pumped in will run out through the mesh.

[animalkingdom]

be careful...mesh plus light = algae in my tank

[trueblackpercula]

Just for fun one thing I think may have been over looked. Will they eat another source of food if acros are not present. Like flake food pellets lysis shrimp etc? Hey ya never no things evolve or adapt.