Carbon Dosing and SPS RTN/STN

[ksed]

How many believe there is a correlation between carbon dosing and SPS RTN/STN?

 

[carloriv]

I used to dose vinager and nopox for my nitrates and always the sour apple seem to begin with stn .so I stop using vinager and nopox.

 

[Rybren]

I've been carbon dosing for about 4 years over 3 different tanks, all of which have contained various amounts of SPS. I've seen no indication of RTN/STN.

Maybe the correlation is that you won't get either of those issues if you carbon dose.

 

[Sabellafella]

Carbon dosing could promote bad bacteria also witch could lead to rtn stm

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Carbon dosing could promote bad bacteria also witch could lead to rtn stm

I agree that may be the case, which makes it an issue that may happen to some tanks with the "wrong" type of bacteria ready to take off, and not in others without such species.

 

[jcdeng]

Dosing too much of anything can cause a problem. I generally always dose less than what is recommended on the box/bottle, and I always dose good bacteria in conjuction to the tank too.

 

[Cory]

Ive seen a article that indicated to me that rtn and stn are cause by a bacteria, or virus, so if bac love carbon sources it may fuel their growth on sps. Especially if stressed.

 

[Salty1962]

I believe the key is removing the bacteria asap after dosing. A good PS will do it for you.

 

[ksed]

This is quite interesting.
Also another possibility with carbon dosing is bacteria can survive at lower nutrients than algae which can pose problems for the zooxanthellae and possible cause of STN. Here is a quote from Wikipedia

"Recently, classic theories about the lack of nutrients in the NPSG have been disproven and new theories suggest that the ecosystem actually is dynamic and characterized by strong seasonal, interannual, and even decadal variability[9] It has also been deemed highly sensitive to climate change, scientists have observed increases in water column stratification and decreased inorganic nutrient availability. These changes are proposed as driving mechanisms that are changing the current trend in phytoplankton community structure from eukaryotic to prokaryotic populations, as these simpler organisms can withstand lower nutrient supply.[9]Zooplankton and phytoplankton represent less than 10% of living organisms in this region, and it is now well documented that the NPSG is a “microbial ecosystem”.[2]"

If I understand this correctly there is more microbial activity than eukaryotic activity.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

Yes, I certainly believe that with organic carbon dosing we could drive N or P so low that we starve almost everything that needs inorganic nutrients from the water except the bacteria.

In fact, if the levels stayed very low, we'd keep selecting for bacterial species that could take up nutrients from lower and lower levels.

 

[cb684]

In some systems with low NO3 and PO4 driven by carbon dosing, higher alk leads to STN of SPS corals.

 

[ksed]

What is also interesting is it mentions there is more microbial proeukaryotic activity than eukaryotic activity.
The trend appears to be reversing from the primary producers (phytoplankton) to microbial community.

Is this a newly discovered trend ?

 

[Cory]

What is also interesting is it mentions there is more microbial proeukaryotic activity than eukaryotic activity.
The trend appears to be reversing from the primary producers (phytoplankton) to microbial community.

Is this a newly discovered trend ?

Bacteria are not primary producers, but should be if you think about it.where would plants get nitrogen/phosphorus from without the aid of bacteria? Just a thought

 

[InactiveAcct]

How many believe there is a correlation between carbon dosing and SPS RTN/STN?

Few weeks prior to NoPox:


Week 5 of NoPox, first two weeks I dosed 2 mL, and 4 mL thereafter for 130g total system volume.



I started with low nitrates and they bottomed out, stressing everything out. Lesson learned - do not carbon dose unless both NO3 and PO4 are high.

 

[sean151]

You can carbon dose and dose nitrate. Carbon dosing requires a balance and knowing your parameters. There are those that dose carbon, phosphate and nitrogen.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I started with low nitrates and they bottomed out, stressing everything out. Lesson learned - do not carbon dose unless both NO3 and PO4 are high.

Or alternatively, dose it in an amount such that they do not bottom out.

 

[InactiveAcct]

Or alternatively, dose it in an amount such that they do not bottom out.

Well said, I am still concerned it could have fueled a coral pathogen, unclear how long low nitrate would take to cause the kind of stress I’m seeing