All of a sudden RTN

hkgar

hkgar

Active member
It was doing so well and now all of a sudden - this:



What causes RTN? Cure? Prevention?

I dip all new coral in Seachem Coral Dip for 8-10 minutes per the instructions
Tank params are:

ALK 9.0 went up over the last 3 days from 8.0
Ca 440
PH 8.0
temp 78.7
po4 .04
NO3 4
SG 1.029

Charts of temp and ph

http://www.reeftronics.net/ga/gary-k/apex-history
 
Last edited:
natural seawater is 1026 ... ish ... reduce yours to match ... you made an osmotic pressure force which has stopped the natural passing of nutrients and waste ... like trying to blow manually into a car tyre

i keep mine 1024 in the reef tank and ever since an ich outbreak the fowlr tank is down at 1016
 
As other have said your salinity's higher than recommended, when's the last time you calibrated your refractometer ?
 
Sorry but that is a typo. Salinity is actually 1.026.

I calibrate the refractometer with 35 fluid often.
 
Why the rude responses?

It might have been the Alk swing, though 8 to 9 over 3 days is .33 a day and usually not horrible. I know some expert keepers lament about sudden loss of acros and sometimes the answer remains unknown.

Edit: You also had a drop in PH below 7.8 in the last 7 days? Calcium reactor issues? Could a spike have been bigger than you realized?
 
markalot said:
Why the rude responses?

It might have been the Alk swing, though 8 to 9 over 3 days is .33 a day and usually not horrible. I know some expert keepers lament about sudden loss of acros and sometimes the answer remains unknown.

Edit: You also had a drop in PH below 7.8 in the last 7 days? Calcium reactor issues? Could a spike have been bigger than you realized?
Click to expand...

Actually the ph drop that you see over the last 7 days occurred when I went lights out for 3 days to try to wipe out Cyano.

I wish I could understand the responses I get when I post a question in this forum. I get better responses from posting the same questions on the Reef Discussions forum. I think that the folks on this forum are primarily here to show off there SPS tanks and hear (read) the compliments they get. Very few people seem to be interested in helping others succeed.

I is not my intention to insult those who are truly interested in providing advise and help. To those that do, I thank you for your support in this hobby, that at time can be quite frustrating.
 
That's an odd way to lose tissue. My bet is on an alkalinity swing which burnt the tips, but in this case ended up being a large spot in the middle.

I think that the lights out period reduced coral growth, and therefore use of alkalinity, so that your normal dosing ended up causing the level to rise.

How long have you had that piece? Was anything else affected?
 
I have had it quite awhile, at least 6 months. It actually started out as an acropora frag, but after starting to encrust it spread more like an montipora and was now (before rtn) starting to send up more typical branches which you can see along the bottom edge. Right in the middle is a start up branch about 1/2 inch high, that today is tissue less.
 
Hi there, my guess would also have to be on the alk swing. Although it doesn't look like much consumption rate, maybe it could have been the lights out for the few days and when they kicked back on it had a bad effect on some pieces. :hmm2: This is just some idea I'm tossing up.

On a side note I experience the same thing with this section. Mostly show & no help. Good luck
 
Okay ladies and gentlemen, if you look at the Zeovit chart they recommend salinity
34 to 35 PPT I don't know what meter you're using but you should get a Refractometer:bounce1:
 
porsche908 said:
Okay ladies and gentlemen, if you look at the Zeovit chart they recommend salinity
34 to 35 PPT I don't know what meter you're using but you should get a Refractometer:bounce1:
Click to expand...

What the hell is that response all about. Do you understand the difference between sg and PPT? Most of us know that a 35 ppt is generally about 1.026 sg depending on water temp. And why introduce zeovit into the conversation.
OMG
 
Saying to myself "where does it say zeovit?". *as I reread all the posts in the thread*

That's a little random.
Also seen that you do in fact use a refractometer and that you calibrate it often ;)
 
Man there is a few stupid responses here lol. I've noticed that a lot of newer members don't know WTH they are talking about sometimes and have no idea what advice to give yet they post just for the post count and make themselves look like ignorant..

Like others have said I'd say it's going to be a guessing game but imo it could very well be from the 3 days lights out causing the corals to slow down on consumption in turn spiking your alk, along with other things that happen during lights out (oxygen depletion etc..) . Or could very well be the die off of cyano if there was enough left over during the lights out. I would probably add some carbon, chart the alk more regularly and wait it out.. If it's a prized piece I always frag some of it just in case.

You my friend have literally asked the million dollar question, best advice I can give is don't do anything drastic due to one or two corals ..
 
Last edited:
Dapg8gt said:
You my friend have literally asked the million dollar question, best advice I can give is don't do anything drastic due to one or two corals ..
Click to expand...

And the answer seems to be

Corals don't like to have their living conditions altered and if it is altered some of them may elect commit suicide. Don't pis off your acropora or they might just kill themselves.
 
I came back from a 2 day business trip recently to find that a few corals in my frag tank (sharing sump with my main display) had gone RTN on me and was a white ragged mess. None of the SPS in the connected display have been affected so far. I'm not sure what precipitated the event, frankly. My experience in the past is that RTN can result from SPS being 'on then edge' and one of them goes over. Trouble is it's very tricky to really know where the problem is and making random changes can simply make things worse. None of your original parameters seem particularly problematic. I've had swings in alk far worse with no adverse reactions ..... But back to them being on the edge, perhaps. Not very helpful. I know.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

B
Sudden changes in corals, may be dying, need chem advice please.
Replies
11
Views
2K
bartlettjw
B
M
Candy Cane Coral Dying - Help
Replies
5
Views
3K
mute246
M
A
Faded Greens
Replies
3
Views
786
azsoccerpop
A
R
Algae Issues - Help Needed
Replies
2
Views
779
Uncle99
Uncle99
W
Why is my hammer dieing?!!!
Replies
8
Views
1K
Ncord
Ncord
Back
Top