List your "proven" solutions to your STN problem.

[dg3147]

Attempting to get a comprehensive list of people's solution to there STN issues.
Please list the following:

1) How old tank was up during the problem?
2) Things you tried that didn't work?
3) Things you tried that worked? Partially/temporarily or fully?
4) How long have you been STN free?
5) additional comments?

 

[dg3147]

I will go first:
1) How old tank was up during the problem? set-up until present
2) Things you tried that didn't work? stop GFO/carbon
3) Things you tried that worked? Partially/temporarily or fully? water changes always helped, the larger to water change, the better and longer it lasted.
4) How long have you been STN free? Getting better all the time with tank age. some corals now grow --though slwoly. Some still STN and die off.
5) additional comments? I have a theory that I am missing some trace element; otherwise, a 10% water change would not help so much. I did a 40% water change and STN reversed 100% for about 2 months.

 

[dg3147]

bump...

 

[Allmost]

the sure way to stop STN, RTN, and other coral Issues, is to find the source of the problem and eliminate it .

if STN is caused by KH instability for example, doesnt matter how much GFO you add or remove, it wont make any difference ...

your last part sais : " I have a theory that I am missing some trace element; otherwise, a 10% water change would not help so much. I did a 40% water change and STN reversed 100% for about 2 months. "
if 40% water change stops STN ... then it could be lack or too much trace elements. it could also be KH, CA++ and mg, and the total ionic imbalance. or it can be nutrient ISsues.

there are just tooooooo many variables to make it general.

 

[johnvu713]

Correct me if I'm wrong but there's no sure fire way to know if alk swing is the culprit? Is it scientifically proven? What about sps that are fully exposed to low tides and only to be submerged again when the tide rises so that in itself is a huge swing yet they thrived.

 

[dg3147]

I think we are getting off topic. looking for the anectdotal evidence of people who have successfully beaten STN.

 

[cugly]

Stability and maturity of a tank I think makes a big difference. .

 

[ormet]

Stability & patience. Or rather the lack of Alk/nutrition swings helps me.

 

[MHG]

No need for a list... Alk was my issue. Low or high. In both cases keeping it in check fixed it.

Two year old tank. No STN as long as alk is in check...

 

[jcarbone61]

Alk and stability is key !

 

[dg3147]

No need for a list... Alk was my issue. Low or high. In both cases keeping it in check fixed it.

Two year old tank. No STN as long as alk is in check...

What were your alk swings? What are they now?

 

[MammothReefer]

There isn't a single cause for STN. Allmost was correct in his post. There can be an infinite number of reasons your corals can start to STN or RTN for that matter you need to find the cause and resolve it.

 

[jackson6745]

There are many reasons (which I don't fully understand) that cause STN. Remedies in the past for me include removing GFO, adding GFO, adding carbon, removing carbon, raising alk, lowering alk, raising salinity, lowering salinity, lowering nutrient level, feeding more etc.
Some methods were as arbitrary as scratching my left butt cheek and shaking my phosban reactor simultaneously

IMO, as Cugly pointed out, I think maturity makes a big difference. Bacterial populations have everything to do with keeping things stable. This comes in time (unless you start with some very established rock)

 

[doosiec]

For me it's alk instability.

What I normally do when I see STN or RTN is dose kalk in a larger dosage.
Usually occurs when my water changes have fluctuations in alk and salinity.

As long as the parameters are verbatim, you really have nothing to worry about.
With the minimal signs, you may need to up your dosage as soon as you see any signs.

 

[MHG]

What were your alk swings? What are they now?

When I had zero nitrates any alk over 9 was sure to STN/RTN... Now with detectable nitrates I can go higher but if It drops below 6, I get STN/RTN...

Currently I keep it between 7.5 and 9...

I have had the occasional new frag melt for reasons unknown... But rarely...

 

[Allmost]

Correct me if I'm wrong but there's no sure fire way to know if alk swing is the culprit? Is it scientifically proven? What about sps that are fully exposed to low tides and only to be submerged again when the tide rises so that in itself is a huge swing yet they thrived.

lol alk swing and playground swing are different things, you need to re-read my post more carefully this time.

 

[mos90]

i have beaten stn many times. i also have lost many times.

last issue was caused by vinegar. i lost a few corals but saved some too.

last issue was not enough light. normally if your not dosing anything unusual and keeping on regular w/c's . then ive found that light or alk is usually the culprit.

 

[Dog boy Dave]

STN is a symptom, not a disease. There are many causes. Anything that stresses your coral, sometimes a combination of things that stress an already stressed coral will cause the coral to show symptoms of stress. STN is one of these symptoms. To stop STN, fix your water, remove the stress. Your corals will grow. To imply that there is any specific action you can take to "fix" tissue loss is misleading.

 

[Dog boy Dave]

Correct me if I'm wrong but there's no sure fire way to know if alk swing is the culprit? Is it scientifically proven? What about sps that are fully exposed to low tides and only to be submerged again when the tide rises so that in itself is a huge swing yet they thrived.

Yes, even though there is a sure fire way to tell if low alkalinity will cause tissue loss, you still cant say low Alkalinity is the culprit. Control all the other conditions and let you alk drop. Record the alk levels and document the results. If you see tissue loss try to reverse it by bringing alkalinity levels back up to your target levels . Document the results. Repeat the experiment. Try to control all other variables. if you think you have seen something document and publish. See if others can duplicate. When your finished, you can say with some level of authority that alkalinity swings can cause STN. They can but honestly in my experience, tissue loss from lo Alk is always been faster than what you guys call STN.

However, you cannot say that if Alkalinity levels are normal then STN cant happen. You cant say that if you see STN you have lo Alk. You can say that low Alk can cause STN but you still cant say if you have STN you must have lo alk.
STN can be caused by a variety of things. It is a symptom of stress. There are an uncounted ways to stress and kill your corals. I personally have only discovered half of them. I have a lot of work left to do .

 

[MammothReefer]

How does Tide cause alk swings? Coral is at X alk tide goes out it slimes up, tides comes back in that the same alk.. where is the swing. Also not every coral is tidal and or exposed to tides. It's only a select number of corals and as you can tell from species to species each coral has adapted to survive in a different condition. Just because you can expose a Humilis to a tidal situation doesn't mean every acropora will be as forgiving and the same can be said in reverse. I couldn't put my Humilis in the same low light or flow conditions I could get away with for say a lokani.