Why Do SPS RTN?

[Dtech07]

I believe that your positive bacteria can have a play on it also. A ALK or any type of chemical spike or stray voltage can have a effect on your tanks bacteria balance (this is my theory) I noticed a few months ago when I had both a ALK spoke and stray voltage that it was accompanied with a algae outbreak including a deep green film that I never have had in years on my glass as if my tanks was cycling again. I lost 18 colonies and 30 healthy frags over a course of two months from both RTN and STN So turned off the carbon/GFO left the bio-pellet running and trimmed out everything that had really died () and start a bak7 and Dr Tim Waste Away (I was getting no PE and my Ph was on a wide swing prior to starting this regiment) which helped greatly. Now some my say what I did has or can't work that way or this way but it did for my tank. I have lost only half of Encanata Ice Fire of lately while everything else is thriving again.

Oh I also realized that not to throw your coral out to fast I have some that I was positive had and were dead start new growth on itself like in the picture above on the far upper right that's new growth even though the rest has died. I'm letting these grow till they show healthy then frag off the new froth and remove dead.
Here's a picture of my TEC Twilight Dragon that has recovered (I Los most of the colony) and I have a new frag doing great.

It's was 6x8" now it's 2x1" and the little frag.
Oh and I did just the opposite I stopped doing water changes and haven't done one in 3-4 months. This allowed the allowed my build my Bactria strain back up faster without exporting out what was trying to build up.

 

[KoleTang]

This is my speculative theory: Anything that can cause stress (Stray Voltage, Parameter Spike, Pests, etc.) can leave the coral in a weakened state where it is prone to infection. If you are unlucky, there will be foreign bacterial strain (that your corals have not learned to fight yet) that can hit the corals hard when they are weak. Stress + Bacteria + Bad Timing = RTN.

 

[nlipner]

One good clue might be how one could start RTN intentionally. I know with a high degree of certainty that if I moved one of my more aggressive acro's so it touched a monti digi, they would both go white in a matter of hours where they touch. If I left them like that, the rtn would start in a day or two and could cascade to others. If I separate them quickly, I can usually save them but it takes months to get the color back. While I'm not in a position to actually try the experiment formally, my $%#@$ crabs have done it for me every few months with anything not seriously glued down. It's all fun and games in the tank until the chemical weapons start over some perceived threat, then it's just like war games.

So, I would have to conclude that the RTN spreads for the same reason the entire Phylum is named Cnidaria after the stinging cells filled with toxins. I see no reason why those toxins would not just enter the water column when the first coral goes RTN and then affect any others nearby that happen to line up in some toxicity chart somewhere.

Anyway, that's my two cents, I have lovely tanks but have killed more than a few frags by letting them touch things too dissimilar and I'm not very proud of it but at least I know how to make RTN happen.

 

[Dtech07]

I see it as a cold in this regard and like a person who susceptible to getting a cold or flu due to stress, poor eating, ect can be effected.

 

[Dtech07]

I have a question to ALL those who have experience this:
Did you notice a pattern or course that the RTN or STN followed? In my tank it was in a fan shape which seemed to start from the direction my return was directed in. Just I thought.

 

[EW_Fish]

I've lost over 30 high end frags due to this. None of which had a pattern. montis / birdsnest / acros you name it

 

[Dtech07]

I also lost a quarter of my high end chalices to delfreugo but I noticed in a certain areas there were more effected than in other areas.

 

[TinpanVA]

I'm going through a STN case right now, lost several piece's. I just chalked it up to my hand dosing of calc and alk. Bad thing is as of right now I can seem to stop it, even if I frag off the good stuff, it still starts to STN a few days later. So far digi's and monti's have been unaffected. If it wasn't for the fact I'm about to upgrade it all anyway, I would be even more bent.

 

[Reef Fever]

i just lost ALL my sps in my sps dominant tank this last weekend. brought in a new colony that had apparently been unhealthy at the supplier and it wiped out my entire tank (long story short).

 

[Genesis Corals]

i just lost ALL my sps in my sps dominant tank this last weekend. brought in a new colony that had apparently been unhealthy at the supplier and it wiped out my entire tank (long story short).

Wow...sorry to hear that. You are positive it was the new addition of could something else have happened. Not doubting just try to learn.

 

[Diesel]

Guys, this thread gives me the creeps!
Other than you sleep or leave the house knowing one day your APEX will alert you by email that your heater is out of whack or your sensors go off cause a leak.
But no warning at all and see your Sticks melting...............
Will follow closely.

 

[EW_Fish]

Guys, this thread gives me the creeps!
Other than you sleep or leave the house knowing one day your APEX will alert you by email that your heater is out of whack or your sensors go off cause a leak.
But no warning at all and see your Sticks melting...............
Will follow closely.

Lol, Try coming home to a white tank. I feed my fish everyday when I come home from work and thats the first thing I saw. That was about a year ago. Now i'm having issues with rtn on new sps frags.

 

[Dtech07]

That would suck big time.

 

[KoleTang]

CoralRX claims to treat RTN/STN bacteria. Rapid and Slow Tissue Necrosis - Treatment of STN|Treatment of RTN - CoralRX

 

[TinpanVA]

I wish I could nail down exactly what caused my STN but I had made too many changes in the weeks leading up that's it's nearly impossible. Only thing I can do is narrow it down to likely suspects and keep moving forward.

 

[Stoneyman]

I had a georgeous ora tricolor the size of a volleyball in a 65 gall reef. Took 2 years to grow from a small frag. Starting bleaching from the base. From all the forums and googling and lfs guy polls it made most sense to me that the colony atarved to death. The acros in this tank only exhibited rtn when the colony got big. Always died from the base up. Not enough nutrients or trace elements. Bacteria or parasites didnt make much sense because it always started at the base. Bugs will eat anywhere...

 

[Reefltx]

I'm at a lost too when this stuff happens, I know a few tanks that have more fluctuation in month than I do in a year, yet they are able to grow SPS like they're softies. One thing I have noticed though with my birds nest, they will STN if my nutrients get too low.

 

[Reef Fever]

Wow...sorry to hear that. You are positive it was the new addition of could something else have happened. Not doubting just try to learn.

Yea as sure as i can be,obviously not 100% but all the params were spot on and it was the ONLY thing that changed in my system, plus it was the first to be affected/go. it wasnt a typical bottom up necrosis. the entire colonies got blotchy and wasted away within hours

 

[Dml931]

Just a thought, but the 'starving to death' theory makes most sense. Maybe so wine with a current case of RTN or STN try running a slightly dirtier tank. I wouldn't let the nitrates go above 20 and phosphate above .1, but if you're after a 0/0 tank, that could be the cause. I'm sure there are many reasons that contribute to RTN and STN, but if the diet is weak, then any species would struggle to recover from even the slightest amount of stress. Think about it, in the oceans these corals come from, nitrate levels can be as high as 40 (from what I remember reading) and never 0. They NEED some nutrients in the water column to thrive. Just my $0.02

 

[Reef Fever]

I definitely think that plays a big role, wasn't a factor into system though, I've never considered a zero nutrient system a wise idea