Random overnight RTN?

[ccLansman]

I left for work lastnight and my 2" blue acropora frag was healthy and fine. I came home this morning and all its skin was gone! Every other sps in the tank including other acropora are 100% fine. Any ideas? I checked for stray voltage, found 0, checked for pests found 0, checked for nibblers found none.. do frags up and do this randomly?

All my params are in check.
Dkh 8
Ca 420
SG 1.025
Temp 80
phos 0.03
Nitrate: undetectable.

 

[fcmatt]

i think that a frag that small, only being 2 inches, is not exactly a stable specimen to begin
with... so it quickly going through RTN is not exactly surprising while everything else does
OK.

how long was it in your tank? a month? a week?

 

[ccLansman]

its been in there for less than a week.

 

[preef]

its been in there for less than a week.

It happens.

Did you dip it first? Perhaps the dip was too harsh.

 

[tamn3]

I had a coral RTN on me last night randomly too. It's been in my tank for 4months. Everything else seems fine. I did recently try to bring up Alk from 7dkh to 9. I did this over the course of 1 month so I don't know why it died.

Are your parameters stable?

 

[potterjon]

I think sometimes it can be the stress of going from your suppliers water to your water. Maybe the holding tank it was in had low alk or something like that.

 

[Bamm Bamm]

Just had one start STNing on me a few days ago all my params are fine too.. it's one of the most annoying aspects of this hobby

 

[tamn3]

I think sometimes it can be the stress of going from your suppliers water to your water. Maybe the holding tank it was in had low alk or something like that.

Actually I think the low Alk was my fault. I get lazy testing params and I thought I had my system dialed in. However, during that time I did my usual coral collecting and I never increased my two-part dosage. Stupid me.

So I'm relatively new to the hobby compared to some of te other peeps on here. Do corals just randomly RTN from time to time regardless of a good system?

 

[James983]

I read this after reading your post. i realize it offers no help, but I think we have all had similar events. Please read:

http://www.reefs.com/blog/2011/04/08/sudden-coral-death-in-a-thriving-tank/

 

[tamn3]

Wow that's a recent post too. Thanks for the link James983. They're starting to throw in lack of Blue Light in the comments. I dont have any blue light supplement. I just have one 400 watt halide 14,000k bulb. I don't think that's the cause. That'd be weird if it is.

 

[reefsic]

Had this happen to me several times in the past, and got similar answers. Very difficult to determine the cause, but in this hobby it happens.

My tank is mature and SPS dominant. Frags I've acquired in the past have grown to tables and colonies. Just last nite, I noticed 1/2 of a colony completely die off, but the other half is completely thriving. Didnt look like the typically RTN/STN symptoms but just completely brown, with no skin or PE!

GL!