Acropora Spathulata random RTN?

[jcosta98]

Hi everyone,

So after 5 days of getting a Spathulata, it randomly RTN'ed today , after my water change last night. I tested the water change water and it was normal as usual. Today I tested for KH expecting a swing , but the value was the same as the day before the water change. I also recently bought a microclados and another spathulata, but they are doing fine. Also my other SPS are doing fine..

Did this already happen to anyone? Did it melt just because?

Thank you :)

 

[T-J]

Hi everyone,

So after 5 days of getting a Spathulata, it randomly RTN'ed today , after my water change last night. I tested the water change water and it was normal as usual. Today I tested for KH expecting a swing , but the value was the same as the day before the water change. I also recently bought a microclados and another spathulata, but they are doing fine. Also my other SPS are doing fine..

Did this already happen to anyone? Did it melt just because?

Thank you :)

There's so many factors that can cause this to happen. It could have been sick/stressed already. Adding it to a new environment can stress it more. What are your water parameters? Lights? Flow? Age of tank?
All of these things can affect your SPS.

 

[jcosta98]

There's so many factors that can cause this to happen. It could have been sick/stressed already. Adding it to a new environment can stress it more. What are your water parameters? Lights? Flow? Age of tank?
All of these things can affect your SPS.

The weird thing is that I have more corals and more SPS that are looking like always, very nice !

But here are the values:

11.8 dKH
1400 MG
420 CA
0.046 PO4
2 NO3

This happened in 14 hours , from looking good to this

 

[T-J]

It could be that your dKH of almost 12 was too high for it. That's a pretty high alk. Do you know what the parameters are of the tank it came from?

 

[jcosta98]

It could be that your dKH of almost 12 was too high for it. That's a pretty high alk. Do you know what the parameters are of the tank it came from?

Yes, all my corals came from the same shop, they keep alk around 8 dKH .. Probably just bad luck with this one?

 

[twwety]

Alk is to high for nutrient levels. The skeleton will out grow the flesh causing tissue loss. I'm sure it didn't contribute to the RTN. Something as simple as damaging the flesh can cause RTN , it happens :(

 

[jcosta98]

Alk is to high for nutrient levels. The skeleton will out grow the flesh causing tissue loss. I'm sure it didn't contribute to the RTN. Something as simple as damaging the flesh can cause RTN , it happens :(

Yes I always keep my nutrients in check to prevent the white tips from low nutrients, been successful in that , at least :p

I could've hit it slightly while I was doing the water change with a tube or something, probably it caused it. Didn't know that damaging the flesh could do that! Thanks!

 

[twwety]

Generally it would be ok but the added stress of every thing else can compound it. Other wise people would lose there colonies when they fraged.

 

[stephj03]

Spaths love to die. If your other Acros are happy and you don't see signs of pests, I wouldn't chase anything over a Spath doing what Spaths do.

There's a reason why you see so many aquacultured Tenuis, Milli, Microlados, and so few Spath. It was likely a Mari/Wild that your LFS brought in.

Watch for other Acro issues for now IMO.

 

[lemonade]

I'm sure they love quite the opposite of dying. Spathulata do have the tendency to be more sensitive than other acropora. Especially if it was chopped off a newly imported colony. It's not too surprising with the DKH being so high and No3 being on the low end that it RTNd

 

[jcosta98]

Yes they were Wild caught , that I know for sure , also yes it was a cut from the colony the day I got it , taking this factors in and with the dKH difference , it probably RTNd from stress :( It's my first experience with spaths ..


Have one left, hope it doesn't die, they are so gorgeous ;Shamefullyembarrased

 

[dedragon]

ugh, i feel you, i have had the same 2 inch spath frag that has rtn'd halfway twice and seemingly randomly. I sealed it with super glue both times but man it is temperamental at best. Going like this for almost 2 years now with it

 

[jcosta98]

ugh, i feel you, i have had the same 2 inch spath frag that has rtn'd halfway twice and seemingly randomly. I sealed it with super glue both times but man it is temperamental at best. Going like this for almost 2 years now with it

Wish you luck , mine didn't give me an option to frag it or super glue , it just RTN'ed from top bottom everywhere ;Brb

 

[dedragon]

thanks, wish yours the best of luck as well my friend

 

[jda]

Don't take this too personally. Spath is a very hard coral to keep. Even when they live, they can just be mono colored and some of the beauty from the wild is hard to replicate without tanks very close to ocean conditions.

 

[jcosta98]

Don't take this too personally. Spath is a very hard coral to keep. Even when they live, they can just be mono colored and some of the beauty from the wild is hard to replicate without tanks very close to ocean conditions.

Yeah , I didn't know they were harder then Milles for example , I will hope the one I have left thrives and not mess with them again soon , I was looking for aquaculture ones but they are very hard to find here :( I will stick with Microclados, Tenuis, Millepora .. . for now :D

 

[lemonade]

IME they are no different than Tenuis or Millepora. It’s more about maintaining parameters and lighting that suits them. If you can do that then they are actually a pretty hardy and very fast growing coral, but you have to be in it for the long run. They almost always have a painfully slow acclimation period.

Here’s what one of mine looked like after a year (top left) followed by 10 months of growth after it first started to sprout.

8 months of growth

10 months

 

[jcosta98]

IME they are no different than Tenuis or Millepora. It’s more about maintaining parameters and lighting that suits them. If you can do that then they are actually a pretty hardy and very fast growing coral, but you have to be in it for the long run. They almost always have a painfully slow acclimation period.

Here’s what one of mine looked like after a year (top left) followed by 10 months of growth after it first started to sprout.

8 months of growth

10 months

Wow , crazy it doesn't even look like the same coral. Absolutely gorgeous, this corals are insane! I have one now, let's see how it goes :D I'll keep my tank thread updated :)

 

[jda]

That is a nice spath.

If you can post what you have come up it to make it happy, it might help. For me, it is NSW type parameters and up high under 14k Phoenix Metal Halides. Mine is in a bad spot under a 2 foot glass center brace (hate it), but I will see if I can get a photo soon.

 

[JPergamo]

Spaths absolutely love getting crushed with par and flow in my experience. And I mean crushed. I've had a few over the years and currently have grown out this beauty that I have way up high under a radium and in front of a gyre.