Stn !!!!

[greg1786]

Ive had my system up and running for well over two years. I upgraded my tank from a 55 to a 125 about 7 months ago but all water, sand, LR, coral, fish, media, macro etc went into the new tank so its essentially the same system from the original 55 but much larger. I keep a mixed reef mostly SPS though. I started keeping sps about a year ago. I recently traded a bunch of zoas and a few lps for 9 sps frags. Everything was well for about 4 days and all of a sudden things are falling apart, literally! Every new sps frag that I got has STN. They were all drip acclimated, dipped for pests, and placed on the sand-bed. The STN has spread to three other frags that were also on the sand-bed, which have been in the tank about a month. So far none of my other sps colonies that are well established are showing any signs but im worried this can spread. I have never had to deal with anything like this, in fact for the majority, most of my coral has always done very well for me. I have no idea how to treat or correct this issue. Im becoming severly disheartened because it seems like overnight my tank is falling apart. None of my zoas, softies, lps or any other corals are showing any signs of stress or decline in health. I tested tonight and my parameters are as follows: nitrate-0, phos- .04, cal-470, alk-9.8, mag-1380, ph-8.2, SG- 1.025, temp 78.6. I run 8x54watt t5ho. Any more info can be happily shared upon request. Please share any help, suggestions, and or information you can. Thanks a ton -Greg

 

[mos90]

that is a tough 1. you say only frags are showing stn? did you place them on the bottom of the tank for a few weeks?

 

[Allmost]

has the KH been stable ? over past few weeks ?

double check with red light at night for crabs and pests too.

 

[greg1786]

that is a tough 1. you say only frags are showing stn? did you place them on the bottom of the tank for a few weeks?

All of the frags have been on the sandbed since I got them in order to light acclimate them properly.

 

[greg1786]

has the KH been stable ? over past few weeks ?

double check with red light at night for crabs and pests too.

My alk titration solution from red sea apparently has something wrong with it as my end point color is COMPLETELY different from what it should be. They are fixing the problem for me and sending me a new titration liquid. However, I keep an API kit as backup for situations like these and while I know they arent nearly as accurate, the alk has at least remained constant according to the API kit. I dose B-Ionic two part and it helps me keep things pretty stable. Im losing my mind a little bit because I have no idea what is causing this. I feel like it has to be something ive done wrong and accidentally overlooked somehow but I cant figure it out. The only thing that I have done differently recent is that I didnt perform a water change in three weeks, which I do religously every week. I simply have not had the time recently with work but I adjusted my dosing accordingly to make up for the missed water changes

 

[mos90]

once they start to stn it can be difficult to stop. for the most part, as long as other parameters are in check, i found that either lack of light or alk swings cause stn from the base.

 

[Allmost]

Id do a couple of 20% water changes this week.

 

[greg1786]

I cant seem to get them to stop for anything!!! Though I have zero experience with tissue necrosis so I dont have many remedies. Im going to do a 25% water change tonight regardless of how late I get off. It may not be until 11pm but ive gotta do something

 

[tdb320reef]

Two questions

1. Did you move the same sand?
2. Was the tank used?

 

[greg1786]

Yes to both questions. The tank was a freshwater planted tank. I gave in a vinegar bath and bleached it but the guy I got it from said he never put medication in it. I did move the sand from my old tank into the new tank and added some new sand as well. The thing is though, its been up and running for over 6 months in the new tank and I have a TON of other sps, lps, zoas, shroom etc that have all been fine.

 

[Jamey1010]

Your alk is nearly 10 and these new frags probably came from a tank at 7 it's a pretty big difference and they just aren't adjusting well.

I wouldn't go changing a million things real fast stressing all your 7 month old established corals out just because some new frags aren't doing well, they may very well recover fine and if they were fresh cuts they were already stressed.

 

[greg1786]

Your alk is nearly 10 and these new frags probably came from a tank at 7 it's a pretty big difference and they just aren't adjusting well.

I wouldn't go changing a million things real fast stressing all your 7 month old established corals out just because some new frags aren't doing well, they may very well recover fine and if they were fresh cuts they were already stressed.

Yea, i havent made any major changes. I was thinking of slowly lowering my alk over the next few weeks but im not sure thats even the right solution. I have coral in the tank that ive had anywhere from 2 years to a month or less not including the ones that arent doing well. One thing that stands out to me is that you mention the fact that they were freshly cut making them more susceptible and the only frag that is doing well is the sanjays purple stylo and it was a freebie that was cut a long time ago and is fully encrusted on the plug