Possible Pathogen Based Acro Necrosis

i think i may have a hard time keeping my tank at less than 76*F... we will see

the chiller is a 1/3HP that was purchased originally for the system when it was less than 275gTSV... now the system has been expanded to 450gTSV... the chiller could keep up pretty well with a max of 82.... setting a max of 76 could prove troublesome (right now i am at a max of 78.. .been working it down day by day)
 
You might have seen my post on the prodibio incident. Well, i think it might be the same thing as you and just a prodi co-incidence. I have the same red algae. And some fuzzy clearish algae. Only the older corals are rtning. Im still seeing tissue loss and i havent dosed the prodi in 3 wks. I did have 3 wild colonys and the third one is on its way out now. What is white pox? And when you say sundried coral to see if flatworms. Where do you see the color change? Im following close also.
 
FWIW, I sent the following to Red Sea:

"There is a thread going on Reef Central regarding an unusual type of necrosis in several corals. I recently had a friend who switched to your salt that also experienced this problem. The url of the thread is http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1125686&perpage=25&pagenumber=1 I was writing you to bring this to your attention for further evaluation. I think it may be a good thing for someone on your end to chime in on the thread, and maybe to run some random tests on various batches of the salt that is being sold to hobbyists. I am not saying it is your salt, but that does seem to be a common denominator. After the massive pet food recall it may be good for you guys to check a few things and let the folks on Reef Central know the results (good or bad). It may save a lot of folks a lot of grief if a problem is caught early. Please read the thread in its entirety. Reef Central has 120,000+ members. I just know that if I were you guys I would want to know, and that is why I am writing. Take care."
 
if there are aefw's on a coral and you dry it... the aefws stay a little darker than the coral tissue... but there is a short window because they will completely dry up and waste away
 
Kip,
I'm really bummed about your troubles - your tank is such an inspiration. I admit to not reading the entire thread so these may have been suggested already:
1) has there been any utility work in your area recently? Particularly work on the water lines?
2) have you checked for stray voltage?
3) you mentioned addtion of a new substrate...how was it packaged? Prepared for addition to your tank?
4) have you considered sending off a water sample to a lab for testing? I'm sure someone on here can do it for you or suggest a suitable lab
5) have you looked at the affected corals under black light? maybe that might show something?
6) did you try levamasole on one of the affected colonies to see if any parasites come off in the dip?

HTH!
 
Oh, and just to follow the flow, I use reef crystals. And some of the corals necrosing recover at the end of the shed. Just the tips remain. I might be willing to try the melafix and primafix though. And if you have success with the doxy, I have some and will try that also.
 
prop-frags

1)... our neighborhood is relatively new and there are 2-3 houses going up at any given time. i can always tell when they rough one in for water because my RO/DI prefilters turn orange (clay soil here)... there isnt supposed to be any back-flow into the system but somehow there always is. This has been this way since 2002 when i moved here. I've never had a problem with it, just had to spend a little extra on prefilters for my RO/DI unit.

2)Yes... in fact i had some stray voltage in the part of my system that is out in the garage about a year ago. It was a pump that was forcing water in/thru a filter. Got a better pump, stray voltage gone. Stray in the in-house part of the system. Nope, never picked up any.

3)New substrate was pre-package/pre-washed (although i soaked and rinsed it again) Gen-x schuran style reactor media. And this was done about two months of initially seeing some random necrosis on a couple of new frags.

4)i have no idea what kinda lab i would send it to nor what i'd do when they treat me like an idiot for sending it there

5)not under blacklight... but i've taken them out in the full sun and had studied them over... .and as seen... i have looked under a low powered microscope

6) i dont have levamisol, but i do have TMProCC which seems to make any parasites, etc agitated and fall off like i think the levamisol would (i've immediately thrown out newly shipped frags after having aefw's fall off from the TMProCC bath)

thanks for your suggestions


wentreef.... i have been slow to point fingers at salt because i think if the chemistry in it was that bad, that some more delicate things like starfish, urchins, and clams in the tank would be adversely affected.

for those suggesting another brand name dkh kit... i placed an order (with some other items) for a lamotte kit to be overnited to me... i called to make sure the order would go out before the weekend and that everything was in stock. I get the shipment noti last nite that says i will get it today. Then an hour later i get an email saying "we shipped your order, but we are outta lamotte dkh kits" .................

........... the frustation swells. :(
 
I keep going back to salt and substrate and then remember that it affects ACROS ONLY...so I think and think and I am stumped. I am with you on doing the dip. Crank up the meds. Only other thing i can think of is something munching on them other than AEFW's which I really hope is not the case because that would mean something new. The recession looks quite clean though so one can almost rule that out.
 
the yongei that started receding pretty much overnite the other day... not much progression afterwards... maybe lowering the temp is slowing it down (lower still not less than 76*F yet)
 
just got the Salifert Boron test ... tested the work tank water (which uses red sea pro) .... test results are b/w 4.5-5.0ppm Boron (kinda tough to tell exactly when the two vials matched color... almost matched 4.5... then add 1 more drop and definitely matched at 5.0

NSW levels are 4.4ppm ... so this looks to be in-line... will test the tank water at home later.

i also have a new Cu test (just in case)... getting ready to run it now on the work tank
 
Ok, what is normal levels for boron and what is cu. I was just throwing in the salt mix just for s and g's. Ive used this salt for 5 years now. I know its not the salt. But im hitchin a ride anyway because im in the same boat. :rollface:
 
Freezing water... hmmm... and i just threw out about 6 empty 1gal plastic jugs :( .... will give it a try though


po4 reading on the display system with the hanna for anyone interested..... 0.00
i know and understand that living things need P and N... but unless i need to rethink po4... if i see a little film algae every 4-5 days... then there has to be plenty of po4 in the water


will work on NO3 and Cu/B tests on the display tonite

also... just did a 90g water change with 100% IO ... (saved a water sample from before the water change for further testing tonite on Cu/B


thanks again for all of the attention this thread and my problem are getting

hopefully i will find and end to all of this madness.... a happy ending.
 
more testing...

display system...

po4=0.00 - hanna - (again... and just to get a reading i took a sample of a rock curing tub and got 0.18)

no3=0 (salifert)

Cu = no reading (red sea < best i could do)

Boron= 4.0 (salifert) ... 8 drops even made the greens match

anything else you guys want me to test?

looks like it will be tuesday before my lamotte dkh test kit arrives
 
Kip,

I just saw this thread. Sorry to hear about the problems you are having.

I can't help you much other than what you are already doing, but can give you my experiences with something similar.

With my old 180g tank (had no chiller on that system) I would notice acro die off occuring in a manner similar to what you are seeing starting in Spring. it would happen almost every year as the water temps would start to increase, take out some acros and then the tank would go back into a stable state again. This led me to believe that as spring blooms, so does something in the tank that affected the acros.

With all the changes you are doing, you are never going to find out what "fixes" the problem. I know its hard to just sit back and not do anything, it may be best to ride it out. My suggestion would be to lower the temps since it does slow things a bit and may give the acros a better chance at surviving.

In the meantime start collecting some interesting montipora :-).

there are just too many unexplained situations in our aquarium, that are occuring well beyond just the water chemistry. The bio fauna (e.g. bacteria) that lives on the corals and its role is just not well understood.

sanjay.
 
thanks sanj... someone had mentioned to me consulting you as you'd gone thru a similar situation

talked to fergy the other nite... he went thru it about 3yrs ago as well if i remember correctly

temperature is lowered... gonna continue normal tank maintenance... and experiment w/ some doxycycline baths.

If this wont stop... i will dismantle the system
 
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