Change of season causing RTN?

[dowtish]

I have recently seen some posts from some very experienced reefers about how RTN seems to happen when the weather begins to get warmer. Has anyone heard of this theory? Or actually experienced this year after year? I have recently lost a few colonies, which I had thought was from a slight ALK swing, but the season change has got me thinking.

Also the talk has been around that the RTN is a bacterial issue. Anybody care to comment?

 

[watchguy123]

I seem to think that there is a seasonal component to sps. Since most of us are observers and not researchers are comments are empirical but nonetheless we are pretty keen observers. My best colors of some of my colonies was in November so I am looking forward in six months if those colonies colors peak once again. Lots of alternative reasons for the changes we observe--all of us are constantly tweaking our systems. We change lighting every which way, new fixtures, new light bulbs .from differing manufacturers ( radiums vs ushio) or (, 10k vs 20k ), swapping out mh for t5s or LEDs, etc, new pumps like wp40 vs mp40 or whatever. New carbons or gfo, feeding schedule,,coral foods, it's a long list. But I feel intituively that there are most definitely seasonal changes. I just lost two of my two year old colonies,to,rtn'ing but maybe it was my new light fixture with better reflectors for the metal halides and I doubled up my t5s fro two to four bulbs. Oh and of course I removed the glass top and then swapped,out my Tunze 6105s for two wp40s and then rearranged the direction of flow throughout the tank nonetheless, I still feel like there are seasonal alterations

 

[epicurus84]

It could be number of reasons why warmer weather could have influence.

1. Higher temperatures in house resulting in higher temps in the tank
2. More sunshine resulting in people skipping water changes etc etc.
3. Higher temperatures with cooling resulting in bigger swings.
4. More evaporation resulting in lesser light because it gets dirty on the glass more
5. More evaporation resulting in more adjetives (kalkwasser) which causes pH swings.

The weather could be a factor but imho it's just one of the tings.

 

[dowtish]

I hear you on all of the equipment tweaking. But I know there are folks out there that have had their tanks running on the same equipment year after year. All they do is change out media and add new bulbs. No changes, yet, they have experienced RTN at seasons change.

I did think there was something to the amount of evaporation going on in my tank as it seems to be much less when I quit running my heat in the house. The air is less dry so less evaporation. I do add kalk to my ATO, but have not noticed any swings in ph.

 

[rbp 4 135]

Im dealing with some tissue recession on some of my acros and millies.
- Chipps acro
- Unknow blue green acro
- Pink lemonade millie
- Red Planet

Parameters are mostly spot on, but my KH is a bit high. My MG is also unknown cause my kit seems to have walked off. Or more likely I left it out and my son walked off with it. However, I don't see MG commonly cited as a cause for tissue recession.

- KH ~ 8.2-8.5 I run zeo so this is a bit high, and I am blaming this for now.
- Po4 0.00 on hanna, but due to error its somewhere between there and .04 ppm
- Nitrate is undetectable last I checked.

 

[stevedola]

I was always told that issues can occur during season changes due to the CO2 levels in the house. When you close up your house and turn up heat the CO2 goes up and when you open the windows and doors and shut off heat you decrease CO2. Ambient CO2 levels can affect the PH in your tank and thus stress corals. SPS are more sensitive than other corals and more quickly show the signs of this change.

 

[Allmost]

oh for sure.

when summer comes, I check my tank alot less ... usually takes a day or so for me to realize the 2 part containers are empty and so on lol also other outdoor activities makes me busy, so the aquarium gets less love,

co2 is another great point, change of heater to A/C closed house to open windows and so on.

 

[Renton777]

If I had the means to, I would look into the effect of plant pollen on the reef tank. Not only are my allergies telling me it is heavily present but in my area of the country everything outside has been coated with a fine layer of yellow dust. I think it is worth considereing/looking into.

 

[dowtish]

If I had the means to, I would look into the effect of plant pollen on the reef tank. Not only are my allergies telling me it is heavily present but in my area of the country everything outside has been coated with a fine layer of yellow dust. I think it is worth considereing/looking into.

Very good point. These are the kind of things that dont fall under the obvious. I am sure that pollen could be an issue depending on the area where you live.

 

[mic209]

I hear you on all of the equipment tweaking. But I know there are folks out there that have had their tanks running on the same equipment year after year. All they do is change out media and add new bulbs. No changes, yet, they have experienced RTN at seasons change.

I did think there was something to the amount of evaporation going on in my tank as it seems to be much less when I quit running my heat in the house. The air is less dry so less evaporation. I do add kalk to my ATO, but have not noticed any swings in ph.

Kalk in ATO and season change is what I think caused all my SPS to RTN/STN. The transition from summer to autum lead to less evaporation in my tank causing my ALK to drop dramtically. Since then I have ditched Kalk and run straight RO/DI through my topoff. I rely strictly on dosing pumps ran every hour for ALK and CA. As for keeping my PH up, I built a co2 scrubber.

Since ditching Kalk, my levels have been consistent and I have no problem keeping any Acro. Would I ever run kalk again? I would, but never again through a ATO where you have no control over evaporation and the amount of kalk being added. In my opinion, Kalk in a constant drip or ran through a dosing pump on a set timer is the only way to go. Unless of course you have consistent evaporation all year long.

 

[reefsandrotts]

having the same issue,Im usually on top of my levels at this time of the year but work has been crazy busy and my tank is all out of whack.....