RTN? when to frag?

[leeweber85]

It started a week ago when I tried the 'no light for 3 days'. It's slowly gotten worse and then last night I programmed my AC wrong and the lights stayed on all night (for like 20hrs) and it spread even more.

Do you think I should just wait it out a little longer or do I need to frag asap. It sucks, this is the only real sps colony I have. It was grown out from a frag I got from Bob at the scott michael presentation *my first sps*

and heres one from a couple months ago I believe:

 

[slovan]

I would frag it now, Lee. It doesn't look like you'll be able to save much of it anyway from the looks of it. Sorry man. Keep us updated on how it does for you.

I'd also keep an eye on your other corals and test your parameters to see if you can find a problem.

 

[leeweber85]

Im pretty sure the problem is the irregular lighting schedule it has had over the last week.

 

[Atticus]

Ah, sweet to see some of my old microthalma is still around... It was touchy when it came to heat. Good water flow and well maintained alk/cal levels and that thing will be huge again in no time!!! When it got a bad run of RTN in my tank I used a black light to see where the live tissue ended and just fragged everything down to the live parts. Zooantheal will glow under black light.

 

[bgreenlee]

I normally try to frag things at the first sign of RTN or STN to get some fo the colony to a different area of the tank, or to another tank, at the house.

Lighting is a tough one. I had a timer stick on me and had my actinics on for 2 days. I had a couple colonies loose tissue in areas, but they all evenutally came back. They were brown for quite some time after though.

 

[jbrunken]

Dumb question I know, but what are RTN and STN?

-JB

 

[bgreenlee]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10845654#post10845654 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by jbrunken
Dumb question I know, but what are RTN and STN?

-JB

Hell on a reeftank.

Rapid tissue necrosis and slow tissue necrosis. The tissue sloughs off the coral until you have only a pretty white skeleton remainng.

 

[Fish2reef]

I think the colony is large enough to frag some now for insurance and then see what happens with the rest if parameter are normal and you see it progress then frag the whole thing.

 

[Atticus]

There is no reason to not frag the affected tips. Bust them off just below the live tissue line, so you know you are in live coral. Dead tips are just a great place for hair algae to start and cause more problems. It also seems easier for this coral to just regrow branches than to try to grow over old ones.

 

[leeweber85]

Actually its a green millie, it just lost it's color from the "no light" experiment. I do have some microthalema though...I think Bob spread a bunch of that around.

It doesn't look any worse today, I think I'm gonna give it another day and see what it looks like.

 

[leeweber85]

I should have taken your guys's advice. I thought I would have had more time though. Up till last night it appeared to have been the same as it had been....not worse not any better. Polyp extension was still good. Before I went to bed I dosed quite a bit of reef plus (aminio acids).. I didn't measure and probably dumped in way more than normal. This morning I heard the skimmer clicking (which means it overflowed and the water level was below the intake. I was running late so I unplugged it and left for school. I didn't notice anything different but i don't recall really looking in the tank.

Got back from school tonight and was about to go to bed when I decided I should feed the fish. To my surprise I found this:

 

[leeweber85]

Had I known it would go that quickly I would have fragged it. I guess I learned my lesson.

 

[bgreenlee]

Sorry for your loss, however, I am sure most of us were speaking from experience.

I don't have any of that ready right now, but will in the next few months or so. When I do I will figure out how to get a frag to you. I have that coral from both Bob and his brother Ed. You can take your pick on the source.

 

[dastratt]

Hi guys, could I ask you all a related question.

I have an LPS coral, a euphyllia "grape coral, that was like a ball when I got it about a year and a half ago. At first one polyp on the bottom was dead. Then another one gradually died off. I've tried moving it around and relocating other corals. Gradually the lowest ring of polyps has died and many on the second row are doing weak. The skin doesn't really peal off, more like the polyps die off.
I'm feeding it the last few months and I don't think that has helped.

Is this STN? I have not fragged off any of the dead polyps. Should I be doing this? Any thoughts about what it could be? I have weak PC lighting, I dose kalk and two part, though I've been learning to get my levels right they have not been extremely low. I seem to have a low nitrate level all the time about 3-5 ppm can't get it to zero and have had phosban for over a year now and never test any po3.

thanks for any thoughts