Coral Catastrophe: Have you ever delt with coral STN?

[AlyciaMarie]

Slow Tissue Necrosis (STN) is a coral lover's nightmare. Sometimes STN can be held at bay with minimal loss, while other times it can wipe out entire colonies and tanks without a known cause. No matter what way you look at it, this is not something that anyone wants to find in thier tanks...

Have you ever dealt with coral STN? What was the outcome of the affected coral(s)?

 

[shakacuz]

in many occasions, yes. some lived, some died.

 

[AlyciaMarie]

in many occasions, yes. some lived, some died.

Were you able to pinpoint the cause?

 

[shakacuz]

Were you able to pinpoint the cause?

most cases was due to nutrients bottoming out. i had two clams that seemed to literally deplete my tank of no3/po4. manually dosing made things too inconsistent at times whenever consumption rates would change.

 

[Reefer Matt]

It happens to everyone if they stick around long enough. I don’t think it is one disease or cause. I think it is a symptom of a variety of causes. Alk swings, temperature swings, lighting changes, looking at a coral wrong (lol!), can all cause stn among many other things.

 

[KrisReef]

STN outcomes?

 

[Fenral]

The war is ongoing even right now for me - I've been here and done this 20 years ago. All my numbers are pretty much stable and tested daily. I started doing Randy's Ammonia dosing instead of nitrates, which may help. I also sent two off to a friend at NYU as it's not bothering things like my Hawkins Acropora echinata or cyphastrea, but the seriatopora and stylophone pretty much went through a slow meltdown -- (go figure the easier-to-keep ones are the ones that are dying...) to see if they see anything unusual in the makeup, and the biome - but as is typical, is it the cause, or is it something taking advantage of the situation...

So, I pivoted to lps etc, while I wait for it to resolve

 

[exnisstech]

Yep and I prefer it to RTN. I've been able to save a few that were STNing by fragging them. RTN ussualy results in a bone white coral overnight.
As to a cause I couldn't offer a guess as it normally happens to a single piece while all others are fine. I just accept it a keep plugging away.

 

[ss88]