Rtn

[Echidna09]

I went on vacation for close to 2 weeks, and I come home and almost all of my LPS has signs of RTN. My duncan is dead, acan is about 1/2 gone, spots gone from my leptastrea, one of my candy corals is receding, torch is almost gone and "it was all open yesterday", lost a couple polyps on my dendro (not as suprising because it won't eat), a my ricordia (which I know isn't LPS) is no where to be found. Zoos show growth and so does the cispitularia and nepthea. SPS is fine which is weird since it was doing bad at first, and my encrusting monti that I gave up on acually came back with a nice orange rim. Frogspawn seems to be fine but it isn't open very much, which could be from something else. My lobo has some black spots on it; they were white 30 minutes ago. Fish, shrimp, snails, and hermits are all fine.

Water parameters aren't perfect but not too bad -

Ammonia .3
Nitrite .5
Nitrate 5
pH 7.9
Phosphate .25
Calcium 540
Alkalinity 15.4
Temp 78-80

I do water changes twice a week. 15% on Sundays and 10% on Wednesdays.

Let me know if you have an idea why they are RTNing.

 

[ct_vol]

In an established/cycled reef, I would think that both Ammonia and Nitrites would be at 0... You might consider running carbon to get those levels down... I run carbon whenever I have a damaged coral come in and have it start RTN'ing on me... Though I've only had that problem with SPS... I've had more problems with the brown jelly with LPS... Hope I helped some...

Oh, and what was the maintanence like while you were out of town??? Did you have someone watching the tank??? Do you have a water top off??? Irratic conditions can stress corals... Or I have a friend whose maid thought it would be a good idea if she windexed the aquarium... That turned out to be a disaster...

 

[Echidna09]

I don't know why the ammonia was so high, it hasn't been like that before. Nitrite is normal for my tank. I have Chemi-Pure Elite in there. I will throw some fresh carbon in though.

I had my mom and brother watch my tank while I was gone. They fed the duncan, and took care of the tank per my instructions. They topped off whenever they should have (hopefully) and did the same water changes I was doing. They didn't scrub algae off the glass, but I don't see how that could harm anything. They didn't windex it either; the glass was a mess.

I've had the tank for 2-3 months, and the person before me had it for ~3 months.

 

[tmz]

In my opinion your alkalinity and calcium are high. This can cause serious stress. Coupled with a ph of only7.9 indicates excess co2 probably from some of the necrotic tissue..You didn't mention salinity,

 

[RokleM]

Ammonia and such could be high due to dieoff. Your calcium is high, but your alkalinity is about 3 beyond what most would consider an extremely high danger level. 8-11 is about the norm in our aquariums. Yours is almost double typical natural sea water.

LFS employee? First, I would confirm your levels are actually that far off (take some water to work and have them test), then I would suggest starting some large water changes over the next few days to attempt to bring things back correct. I wouldn't do it all at once, as that might cause even further damage. If you're dosing kalk or have a calcium reactor, stop and/or turn those off as well.

 

[Echidna09]

Salinity is 1.026. The fish store is where I test. CA and ALK have always been high and I can't seem to get them down. The only thing that has changed recently is the ammonia. Some of these corals have been in my tank for 6+ weeks which is one reason why I am confused with the sudden die-off, and why only the LPS? I would think the SPS would be first to go. Could it be the sea salt? I am using Oceanic which I know is high in calcium, but if I start using something like instant ocean with less calcium wouldn't that just bring the alkalinity up?

Thanks for the help.

 

[airinhere]

Just to pose another option for analysis. What fish and inverts do you have in your tank? If you have SPS, LPS and softies and only the LPS and ricordeas are dying, I would think something is eating them, or at least sampling them.

I think your alk reading is right on, your elevated Ca makes that seem likely. Let your alk and Ca slowly lower naturally and maybe do a water change to dilute both. Try to stay at or below 11 dKH and 480 ca.

You do need to run some phosphate media to get that out of your tank. Elevated phosphates are bad for corals and promote algae growth which can smother your stony corals.

What time of day are you doing your PH test? Early morning ph readings can be very different from the reading at the end of the day. Perhaps the ph is dropping down below 7.5 during the night and only is climbing to 7.9 at the end of your light period. That would be very bad for your corals.

Again, I think you have a rogue fish (or maybe something else) eating your corals.

 

[Echidna09]

I have a Rainford Goby, Fire shrimp, ~7 astrea snails, and 3 hermit crabs. This pH reading was taken from my tank at 930 this morning and tested at 1230. Lights come on 12-1045.

 

[airinhere]

Well that robably explains your low ph reading. Try testing it again after the lights have been on for a while.

I reread your post and noticed you were gone two weeks, and some of your corals were only six weeks 'in your tank'. They might have still been aclimating to your tank (can take as long as 3 months or more) Going two weeks without food can be very dangerous for heavy feeding corals like acans, duncans, etc... And if your tank got over 84F your ricordea could have died (Yumas are notorious for this)

SPS feed from the zooplankton living in your tank and would have been able to better survive.

Light helps keep corals alive, but many LPS need considerable amounts of food to stay healthy.

 

[airinhere]

regardless, sucks having stuff die. Start the feeding again, and start your water changes again and things should perk up.

 

[Echidna09]

My mom was feeding my Duncan every other day while it was open; that's the only one I am feeding right now. I would feed my dendros if they would ever open. The acan I got had no polyps when I got it and was forming them when I left. I expected 4 to be done when I got back. Where I thought 2 of them would be there is now just skeleton, and the one closest to them seems to be receding as well. There is one full polyp that was there when I left that seems to be doing well and hopefully it stays alive if none of the others do. I saw the mother colony of this acan in my friend's tank... it's pretty cool.

Temperature is something that I thought could be a factor. The fan in my room was turned down from where I usually have it to keep the temp down. Hopefully they are done dying *sigh*.

Thanks

 

[airinhere]

If the tissue necrosis continues on any of your corals, give them a lugols (iodine) dip for a short period. The bacteria that are causing the tissue recession are very destructive and need to be cleaned off the coral. I had this happen to a duncan of mine and it did not stop until I did an iodine dip.

 

[Echidna09]

How long do I keep it in the iodine? Also how much do I have to use when I dip it? If I remember right Lugols comes in a small bottle and isn't very cheap.

Torch got finished off overnight. Lobo is looking bad. Spot on the Leptastrea almost doubled. The dedros and frogspawn seem unaffected. The heads I thought I lost on the dendros puffed up last night.

 

[tmz]

Lugol's comes in a once or so bottle with an eyedropper. It costs about $13. Ibeleive the recommended dose for a dip is 40drops per gallon(you can check the directions for proper dosage). I generally use about 150% of the recommended dose. I do the math an dip in a quart of tank water in a plastic coffe(15 drops) can with a small power head on to blow the solution into the coral. Timeframe is 15 to 20 minutes but watch the specimen if you see it discharging zooxanthellae remove it. I have never had one do this.
As I reread this thread, I developed a suspicion about your salt. Bad batches are not unheard of.
Goodluck,
Tom

 

[Echidna09]

The only powerhead I have is a MJ1200. How can you tell if it discharges it's zoox? should I rinse the Lugol's off with some tank water before putting it back it?

 

[tmz]

No need to rinse. any residue will be very and diluted and won't hurt your tank. Iodine as long as it's not to much is good for your system. I'm not familiar with your power head . What you wan't to achieve is some current in the dip without blowing the specimen apart. If a coral releases zooxnthellae it is in the process of " bleaching" becasue the symbiotic algae can't handle the excess oxygen produced by the oxidiizing agent(iodine in this case). When a coral bleaches you will see strands of mucuous like material sometimes with specks of darker material spewing from it's mouth(s).

 

[Echidna09]

Can I just swirl the container around?

 

[airinhere]

I just fill a cereal bowl with water from my tank, add five drops and let the coral soak in it for a minute or two. You can go longer, but I think it can stress the coral, so I try to minimize the exposure time. All your trying to do is sterilize the injured flesh of the coral with the iodine (just like if you had a small cut).

 

[tmz]

You may be right but I don't think a short lugol's dip will do much to eradicate patogens like the protozoan brown jelly. The lugol's is very diluted not like the strong stuff you put on a cut. Longer exposure at the dosage which will kill the pathogen without harming the coral is the way to go. Just my opinion.

 

[tmz]

You can swirl it or even use an airstone, The current is needed to inusre the solution is driven into the coral.