Could a rock flower anemone trigger stn?

[Reedc200177]

Hello all,

So I've noticed a piece of wild oculina robusta that's been in my tank for about 3 months has started what I'm afraid is stn or recession of some type at the base.

I noticed this is in areas that were very close to a large rock flower anemone that sometimes touched it. I know for a fact this one was big enough to sting as I had a rash on my hand after placing it in the tank.

I removed and rehomed it yesterday but I'm afraid the damage is done and this will progress. The rest of the coral seems perfectly happy. I will say this area does not receive good light due to the shading of the coral itself, but its been fine up until the past two weeks. You can see in the photo the lighter area on the rock where the tissue has pulled back.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello all,

So I've noticed a piece of wild oculina robusta that's been in my tank for about 3 months has started what I'm afraid is stn or recession of some type at the base.

I noticed this is in areas that were very close to a large rock flower anemone that sometimes touched it. I know for a fact this one was big enough to sting as I had a rash on my hand after placing it in the tank.

I removed and rehomed it yesterday but I'm afraid the damage is done and this will progress. The rest of the coral seems perfectly happy. I will say this area does not receive good light due to the shading of the coral itself, but its been fine up until the past two weeks. You can see in the photo the lighter area on the rock where the tissue has pulled back.

While its possible, STN is often triggered by temperature stress (high temp) which can increase chances of coral disease development in several ways by creating stress in the coral zooxanthellae and decreasing its resistance to infection, increasing growth and virulence of opportunistic coral pathogens, and decreasing the production of antimicrobials by symbiotic bacteria in the coral mucus, thereby facilitating the growth of opportunistic and potentially pathogenic bacteria.

Some possible triggers of infection are:
- Alkalinity spike
- Temperature spike
- Salinity spike
- Low dissolved oxygen
- Poor water quality related with phosphate levels up to 5 ppm
- Change in water flow
- Additions of sand
- Changes in brand of salt
- Bad test kits giving faulty results
- Levels of minor elements such as Iodine, Potassium, Strontium
- Light intensity
- - Changes in water flow
- Addition of new corals
- - Pesticides
- Airborne Contaminants or sprays

 

[Reedc200177]

Definitely no temp spikes, but my salinity did creep up to 1027, it's now at 1025 after a water change.

Alk stays between 7.3 and 7.7 typically, I dose twice daily with brs 2 part and test twice daily.
Calcium 410 to 420
Nitrates 15ppm
Phosphates 0.03 (I think, salifert test is hard to read. Less than 0.1 is all I can say for sure)
I haven't made any other changes to salt, sand, etc.

I did change my light to a fluval marine 3.0 about three weeks ago, but this is not a high output light and I'm only running it at 70 percent capacity, I've been slowly trying to acclimate. This recession is mostly in areas that are shaded too?

I don't have any way to measure dissolved o2 or trace elements unfortunately, but I have been dosing seachem fuel biweekly. Should I stop this? I don't run anything in the filter except a carbon pad.

Does any of this sound like a potential culprit?
I've heard you can put super glue over the affected area, should I do this now rather than risk it spreading? It still has great polyp extension and feeding response

Thank you for the detailed reply!

 

[Eagle_Steve]

Hello all,

So I've noticed a piece of wild oculina robusta that's been in my tank for about 3 months has started what I'm afraid is stn or recession of some type at the base.

I noticed this is in areas that were very close to a large rock flower anemone that sometimes touched it. I know for a fact this one was big enough to sting as I had a rash on my hand after placing it in the tank.

I removed and rehomed it yesterday but I'm afraid the damage is done and this will progress. The rest of the coral seems perfectly happy. I will say this area does not receive good light due to the shading of the coral itself, but its been fine up until the past two weeks. You can see in the photo the lighter area on the rock where the tissue has pulled back.

If the nem touched the sps, yes it can cause flesh to recede. The nem is basically stinging the sps. Being as that area is shaded, it may or may not recover. I would just watch the colony to make sure it does not move to areas with decent light.