STN possible treatment
- Thread starter graha321
- Start date
justinr2k
New member
I would have that on hand as well. I already have one going due to the dinoflagellate ostreopsis in my tank, which is also what graha321 had in his tank. The microscopic photo he posted looks just like dinoflagellate ostreopsis. I just did some experiments tonight on the effect of chloramphenicol on the dino and it had little to no results, as expected. The main thing is the dino appear to be feeding on the dying coral tissue. If I can get that under control then maybe the dino will also get under control. I hate multiple issues at once. Why can't this hobby be easy? 
drummerboyevil
New member
dinos! Just getting rid of these now 
justinr2k
New member
dinos! Just getting rid of these now
Good luck with that. :headwalls:
Livinlocal619
New member
Best of luck, hopefully it works out for you.
justinr2k
New member
Thanks. The water is a tiny bit cloudy but no change in fish or breathing. Everything seems OK. No visible change to stn / rtn though. Hopefully I see some soon. If not, I've got about 175 gallons of fresh saltwater made up. I'll do a huge water change if nothing else works. If all else fails, I'll keep trying.
justinr2k
New member
Never again! lol
Never again! lol
Ok, so dosing chloramphenicol was probably a horrible idea. I woke up yesterday morning to my apex screaming at me and tons of texts on my phone. Ph had dropped to 7.7 and the water looked like someone poured milk into the tank. I hurried and turned on the UV, Skimmer, and put my fresh carbon reactor on the tank. I used 5/10 micron socks until they clogged, then swapped them out. I ended up doing a 140 gallon water change. I had already prepared the water and matched alkalinity by using muriatic acid. Today my fish are alive and breathing much better. All fish ate last night except for my Sailfin tang, which is also my oldest and favorite fish. I checked on him this morning and I can see him swimming around on camera right now. I will update in a few days to see if this fixes my STN/RTN problem, but I believe ostreopsis dinoflagellates are my problem now, not STN/RTN. These dinos will attach to coral flesh and eat it away. I'm gonna drop my alk back down to around 7 and just dose phyto and bacteria (once this bloom goes away) until the dinos recede. If they don't, I'll start over from scratch.
Never again! lol
Ok, so dosing chloramphenicol was probably a horrible idea. I woke up yesterday morning to my apex screaming at me and tons of texts on my phone. Ph had dropped to 7.7 and the water looked like someone poured milk into the tank. I hurried and turned on the UV, Skimmer, and put my fresh carbon reactor on the tank. I used 5/10 micron socks until they clogged, then swapped them out. I ended up doing a 140 gallon water change. I had already prepared the water and matched alkalinity by using muriatic acid. Today my fish are alive and breathing much better. All fish ate last night except for my Sailfin tang, which is also my oldest and favorite fish. I checked on him this morning and I can see him swimming around on camera right now. I will update in a few days to see if this fixes my STN/RTN problem, but I believe ostreopsis dinoflagellates are my problem now, not STN/RTN. These dinos will attach to coral flesh and eat it away. I'm gonna drop my alk back down to around 7 and just dose phyto and bacteria (once this bloom goes away) until the dinos recede. If they don't, I'll start over from scratch.
Did you ever ID any specific cause of the RTN/STN? I have been batting STN for months. One colony at a time will STN from the bottom up, the only way I have managed to save them if by fragging well above the receding tissue.
All parameters have checked out minus a short bout with Phosphate after a prolonged period of neglect to change my GFO brought on my total discouragement with the loss of many mature acro colonies.
I have spoken to a couple other reefers who managed to get a positive ID on Vibrio and am thinking that I may have the same issue. It all started with introducing a colony of SSC acro from a friend who I thought had just neglected their tank. I am now almost positive they introduced some much more serious issue into their tank that I foolishly introduced into mine.
All parameters have checked out minus a short bout with Phosphate after a prolonged period of neglect to change my GFO brought on my total discouragement with the loss of many mature acro colonies.
I have spoken to a couple other reefers who managed to get a positive ID on Vibrio and am thinking that I may have the same issue. It all started with introducing a colony of SSC acro from a friend who I thought had just neglected their tank. I am now almost positive they introduced some much more serious issue into their tank that I foolishly introduced into mine.
justinr2k
New member
I did not find any particular reason. I was dosing carbon and raised my alk up to almost 12, then I started seeing peeling flesh on SPS. Not sure if that started it or if me introducing a new coral started it. I went through hell Monday to save my tank after the bacterial bloom. Hopefully I don't ever have to do a whole tank antibiotic treatment again. I took a guess that it was Vibrio, but no confirmation of that. I also have ostreopsis dinoflagellates though, so they could also be the cause of my problem.
Good luck to you!
justinr2k
New member
Did you have dinoflagellates, or just STN/RTN on your SPS?
Despite very low Nitrate readings I can't imagine this my issue. Despite this I bought a K test kit last week and checked my levels (400-420) as well as some Brightwell potassium to experiment with Justin Credabels elevated K levels over the next month or 2.
If this happens to be the magic bullet I will report back. If that doesn't work I may take a shot at the treatment Justinr2k tried (with caution).
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If this happens to be the magic bullet I will report back. If that doesn't work I may take a shot at the treatment Justinr2k tried (with caution).
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
justinr2k
New member
I wouldn't try "my" method. It killed tons of beneficial bacteria and now my dinoflagellates are worse than ever.
