acro STN

[mbbuna]

im starting to get some STN on some of my acros. the only changes I've made was a new skimmer about 3-4 weeks ago. i had NO3 levels of 2 to 5ppm before the skimmer change and over the 3-4 weeks this skimmer has been running it has dropped my NO3 to .2ppm. PO4 has been 0 (no color change, Salifert) for months. Alk is 9.6dkh(dosing pump, no swings),Ca 400ppm(dosing pump also)Ph 8.15(pinpoint)

whats going on?

what should i do?

 

[heartbreak7]

Sometimes STN results from not enough turbulent flow passing over the acro. Is it possible that as your acro colonies have grown, that some of the flow they were getting before is no longer there?

 

[twon8]

i would check for aefw, also might be limited flow as the above poster said.

 

[mbbuna]

flow is good. and i havent gotten any new corals in over six months or more. i dont think i have bug of any kind but i will look

 

[cwegescheide]

Welcome to the club...

I am sortof stumped as to why some of my acro's are affected as well. My 90 has great flow with 2 tunze's on a 7095 and I have not noticed any flatworms ever in my reef. Its started at the base of a couple corals and is going at about 1/8 of an inch / day.

I do know that my TDS is not perfect and I recently replaced my filters but I also think I need to replace my membrane now too because my TDS is still about 5. Not good. I run Phosban 24/7 + a very generous amount of Carbon. I did recently add more carbon than I normally do. I don't know if that shocked them. I've done 2 15% water changes in the past two days thinking I might have some sort of a problem there. Only time will tell but if it doesn't snap out of it soon I will have to break down and frag these affected corals.

Good luck
Chris

 

[Big Boy69]

What is STN?
Am I having a vapor lock?

 

[mbbuna]

slow tissue necrosis

 

[twon8]

i dont' think you could notice them if you had them, they are nearly impossible to see. Are all your acros affected? I have heard aefw's like mille's most, so if mille's are showing it, you might want to take the acro out for an exam.

 

[twon8]

and six months is about the standard time frame for them to be noticed in a tank. I have seen people not add anything to there tank for that amount of time and then notice stn, which led them to discover eggs, and thus the diagnosis of aefw

 

[mbbuna]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7759929#post7759929 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by twon8
. Are all your acros affected?

not all of them

my mille's look fine

 

[cwegescheide]

AEFW's look like little tiny tanish brown slug looking things right? I have had red bugs and I was able to detect those and of course I treated for them.. Would it hurt anything to treat the tank with Flatworm Exit just in case?

BTW.. I just decided to cut up my favorite stag this evening and throw away the base of the coral and about an inch above it. I mounted the remaining frags much closer to the light in hopes this is actually what it was missing and thus the reason for the recession on the base of the coral. I sure hope my stag makes it. Its a beautiful coral

 

[raddogz]

Take a turkey baster and blast a frag (not in the tank) in a bowl of water. The little flatworms will become visible as they are blasted off of the coral.

This seems to have started about roughly eight months ago. I am starting to think that red bugs is like a secondary infection to the acros ones that have started to stn or rtn from the base up.

Flatworm exit will do very little to the little turds.

We have heard all about quarentine for fish and for all corals specifically for sps. I for one will be starting one. I am doing some coral sitting for a friend and a Simplex that went rtn very quickly. I looked towards the base, and sure enough acro eating flatworm eggs. I fragged the tips, and as much of the overall structure is going into a treatment tank. I threw the base out.