Purple style melting flesh

[ToddMcgraw]

Hi can anyone help me figure out what’s going on? My oriole style flesh just started melting off and turning white last night. Started near the back and seems to be spreading fairly quick. All other sps and a single acro I have are doing fine.

 

[ToddMcgraw]

Hi can anyone help me figure out what’s going on? My oriole style flesh just started melting off and turning white last night. Started near the back and seems to be spreading fairly quick. All other sps and a single acro I have are doing fine.

Video doesn’t appear to be working. Here’s a photo.

 

[Dburr1014]

Looks stn.
You really need to give all parameters for us to be able to look at anything.

 

[RedoubtReef]

pictures with white light would help also.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Its STN.
Stressors such as Temperature stress can increase chances of coral disease development in several ways by creating stress in the coral zooxanthellae and decreasing its resistance to infection, 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

 

[ToddMcgraw]

Hi,

Thanks for the responses. Here are my water parameters and a quick summary of the changes I've made recently. My tank is a 40 gal with about 50 gal total water volume.

Salinity: 1.026 SG
Temp: 78 degrees
Nitrate: 6.2 ppm (Hanna HR)
Phos: 0.22 ppm (Hanna ULR)
Alk: 8.3 dkh (Salifert) ; 8.28 dkl (Trident)
Cal: 370 ppm (Salifert) ; 382 (Trident)
Mag: 1540 (Salifert) ; 1603 (Trident)

I have an apex/trident/dos setup for maintaining my alk/cal/mag and these have been pretty stable for awhile. The most recent changes I can think of that could have sparked this is:

1. 20% Water change 3 days ago with water that had been mixed for about 2 weeks. (I hurt my foot and didn't do a water change for 3 weeks)
2. Rotated the rock that the stylo is on to keep a leather that is too big from touching all my corals. This may have put the stylo in more of a direct flow area from the powerhead.
3. Changed salt from Blue Fritz RPM to Instant Ocean 2 months ago in an attempt to find a salt that matched my desired params and to lower mag. I am aiming to keep alk at 8, cal at 400, and mag around 1300. Unfortunately it seems the bucket of IO I got has mag around 1500+ also

The only real parameter that swung after the water change was my calcium from 412 to 381. I should also say I have three emerald crabs that have been in there for about 3 months to try and get the bubble algae under control. I have not seen them eating any corals.

Thanks everyone for your input! I realize this coral may be a lost cause at this point as it seems to still be spreading. If anyone has any advice to try and save some of it let me know. I have never fragged a stylo before either

 

[92Miata]

2. Rotated the rock that the stylo is on to keep a leather that is too big from touching all my corals. This may have put the stylo in more of a direct flow area from the powerhead.

I'd suspect (and hope) this is your primary cause.

I disagree with calling this STN - STN in my mind is tissue recession over weeks - usually starting at the base. Losing roughly 1/4 of the flesh overnight is RTN.

If the direct flow is the primary cause, getting it out of that flow might help. If it's not, and its other stressors and the move just kind of kicked it over the edge, the coral is probably a goner.

That being said - much of the research on RTN seems to indicate that the cascade that occurs is a result of coral stress/damage/etc followed by rapid colonization of bacteria and flagellates that destroy the tissue - and some people have success taking small frags from the coral as far as you can get from the affected tissue. If stress/disease/etc is the primary driver (and not just flesh getting blown off by the powerhead) - I'd suspect the coral will be fleshless in like 24 hours.

 

[ToddMcgraw]

Update:

miata seemed right in that it was rtn as almost half of it was gone by tonight. I pulled it and fragged it as best I could as a last resort. We’ll see how it goes.

Thanks all for the help!

 

[Dburr1014]

I'd suspect (and hope) this is your primary cause.

I disagree with calling this STN - STN in my mind is tissue recession over weeks - usually starting at the base. Losing roughly 1/4 of the flesh overnight is RTN.

If the direct flow is the primary cause, getting it out of that flow might help. If it's not, and its other stressors and the move just kind of kicked it over the edge, the coral is probably a goner.

That being said - much of the research on RTN seems to indicate that the cascade that occurs is a result of coral stress/damage/etc followed by rapid colonization of bacteria and flagellates that destroy the tissue - and some people have success taking small frags from the coral as far as you can get from the affected tissue. If stress/disease/etc is the primary driver (and not just flesh getting blown off by the powerhead) - I'd suspect the coral will be fleshless in like 24 hours.

+1

 

[ToddMcgraw]

Posting an update to close out the thread:

I managed to save 5 small frags by breaking the coral off the rock and snapping off the end of the branches that were still healthy. I glued them all to plugs and dipped in revive. 36 hours have passed and they are all looking good I don’t see any issues or rtn.

Thanks everyone for your input! This was my first encounter with rtn and I learned a lot.