help with RTN Strawberry Shortcake Pink-line syndrome?

tripdad said:
I have had some luck battling STN, not RTN, by immediatly raising my alk level 1 point over 24 hrs. I know this seems risky but it is the only thing that has worked at all for me. I normally keep it at 8.5. The corals seem to be able to handle an up-spike fairly well but not a downward spike for me anyway. I dont dose anything other than 2-part and fish food. Then I lower it back down slowly over days as I watch for coral reaction.I have only saved a single RTN'ing coral by doing a super glue band above the necrosis line. Just my experience for what it's worth, good luck.
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I dont know why, but everytime I tries to raise KH above 8 it results in tissue burn, when Kh falls back to around 7 tissue burn stops. Does it have anything to do with zeo products I was using?
 
kittyworm said:
Sorry for the late reply. All I'm doing right now are water changes. Tanks seems stable at this movement, but its still too soon to tell. I used to run carbon and PO4X4, but replacing them seemed to have negative effects, so I have stopped both at this point. Also, I no longer add coral foods, just fish.
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Scratch what I said before, lost another stag right after my post. Parts of the skeleton turned green like the stag I lost just before... nasty.
 
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kittyworm said:
I dont know why, but everytime I tries to raise KH above 8 it results in tissue burn, when Kh falls back to around 7 tissue burn stops. Does it have anything to do with zeo products I was using?
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It is due to lack of nutrients, ulns tanks should be kept 7-8 dkh. I think zeo says 6.5-7.5.
 
I am also wondering what's up. I think the topic of bacterial infections needs to be talked about more. I will be upset if this thread fades away.

My coral is still slowly dying one by one at a pace of one a week also.

Still wondering if you really skim that much too.
 
My RTN issue has come to a stop. I removed my biopellet and ROX carbon reactors offline, I'm not sure if they played a role in my RTN issue.
 
LawmanRob said:
My RTN issue has come to a stop. I removed my biopellet and ROX carbon reactors offline, I'm not sure if they played a role in my RTN issue.
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They most likely did in my opinion. I see this often when bacteria and carbon dosing is discontinued in meltdown situations. Pellets are in the same category and manipulate bacteria and carbon also. It would make sense if you removed a nutrient source the bad bacteria needed and the disease reversed. RTN and STN rarely stop on there own but when action is taken, you at least have a chance.
 
Piper27 said:
Dan, thank you for sharing your experience. I was wondering, if there is a coral affected by this bad bacteria, is it a bad idea to introduce it to another separate system? Obviously there would be no carbon dosing or any other reasons for the corals problems in this new tank, so would that be a good idea? Is there a risk on passing on this bad bacteria?

I have had the same experience of rtn, (except without the pink lines, which I am not fimilar with...) but in my case it may have been a few other different issues that started the rtn. All were different than the original poster but same results.

Kittyworm, where do the corals start to rtn from and how long did they take to die completely?
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Yes, it is a bad idea unless you move suspected coral into a quarantine system until health is restored. Bacteria by the very nature of the organism lives to spread. Limiting factors are food and space so when you toss a few cells into a fresh system, if the nutrients are available and a substrate they like is available, they will spread. Some coral disease that is thought to be caused by bacteria is very species specific and this is true even in the wild. This is why you will see mass bleaching events on one species or genus and the rest of the reef in good health. Some are not very specific and will eat any fleshy coral tissue they land on. I am learning more about coral disease daily but not even the scientists that write the studies I read have definitive answers. many good theories though . The jelly and slime is a indicator but can be absent or only occur in the dark photoperiod and while light are off, invisible at times. The bare skeleton is what is usually first recognized.

One thing that I have found is that most of the diseases I have encountered with stoney corals do not like high ph and/or tanks that use limewater. I believe the bacteria has a harder time thriving if ph is kept in the 8.3 to 8.4 range and not allowed to fall very much. Elevated ph and/or the use of limewater seems to not nurture the environment for this to occur. The other common thread being liquid foods and pro biotics
 
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Allmost said:
quick side question. do you dose Organic carbon of any type at all ?

my Idea behind dosing bacteria strains once in a while is to basically make sure its them taking up C and N and P, and not some pest or flesh eating bacteria ... but I like your logic alot too, so just wanted to know if you dose organic carbon or not .

thanks
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No, I do not manipulate bacteria in any way anymore. I have several times for a year or less and then returned to my old standard that NEVER let me down. Each instance I experienced STN or RTN even following the strict zeo guidelines of proper mineral balance and lower then NSW alkalinity. (Brightwells,prodibo,and vodka were also used with no positive results in the long term)This is nothing new but more new for the US. The Germans have been playing roulette with bacteria and carbon for some time.As did a few other countries also.

Adding some REAL live rock to the system periodically would be my advise to keep the natural balance of bacteria in tact.There is nothing in a bottle that can do this as well in my experience. The sponges, microbial life and bacteria inoculation you receive is what I believe to be a better idea in your case .
 
Piper27 said:
You wet skim 10 gallons every week? On a 100 gallon tank?
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Sorry for the late reply, I've really been busy at work lately.

I do wet skim about 10 gallons of water every week. Skimmer's collection cup is collected to a bucket to see how much water is drained and I replace it with clean mixed salt water everyday. I also feed a lot before RTN started.
 
Well a little update on the current status:

RTN is still continuing...

I noticed that almost all of the effected corals are of "Australia" origin at least thats what the vendors told me when I bought them. Not sure if it has any relationship to RTN as they are collected at different time points and some of them has been with me for over a year.

Also I have discovered redbugs in the system which I got rid off with Milbemycin Oxime. But it did not stop RTN so I guess it might not be directly related.
 
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