Coral warfare causing STN

[ReeferDog]

I have a colony of WWC Yellow Tips that has been almost bulletproof for 2 years. This past weekend I noticed some STN that appears to be starting from the center of the colony outward. I removed the entire colony for a witch hazel dip. Upon looking at underside base of the colony, it looks like the STN started from where my Monti has encroached on the base and stung it.

Has anyone seen coral warfare cause a cascading STN that won’t stop even after the ‘inappropriate touching’ has been resolved?

This is just conjecture on my part as to the cause of the STN, so I proceeded with the WH dip as a precaution.

 

[JonoH]

I have a colony of WWC Yellow Tips that has been almost bulletproof for 2 years. This past weekend I noticed some STN that appears to be starting from the center of the colony outward. I removed the entire colony for a witch hazel dip. Upon looking at underside base of the colony, it looks like the STN started from where my Monti has encroached on the base and stung it.

Has anyone seen coral warfare cause a cascading STN that won’t stop even after the ‘inappropriate touching’ has been resolved?

This is just conjecture on my part as to the cause of the STN, so I proceeded with the WH dip as a precaution.

Yep Coral Warfare can cause this.
I get it the worst with Mushrooms and Acropora, and Hammer Corals and Acropora.

 

[CHSUB]

Happens to me frequently, however with fast growing makes little difference and only affects the battle area.

Have a Kenya tree growing inside a Monti Digi and two torch fighting the Digi for space. Several other SPS fights but healthy corals just keep growing.

 

[JBNY]

I've had montis and acros live pretty much right on top of each other with little problems. But a more reasonable explanation might be water flow. Stag corals are notorious for growing large and then blocking their own flow. The interior and base don't get enough flow and over time you start seeing STN in those areas.

Once they hit a certain size you have to adjust the flow or open the colony up otherwise this can happen.

 

[JonoH]

I've had montis and acros live pretty much right on top of each other with little problems. But a more reasonable explanation might be water flow. Stag corals are notorious for growing large and then blocking their own flow. The interior and base don't get enough flow and over time you start seeing STN in those areas.

Once they hit a certain size you have to adjust the flow or open the colony up otherwise this can happen.

I have this with Birdsnest and Especially Acro like Red Dragon - they catch all the bits and pieces floating around, especially when you feed the tank Nori.

 

[Biff0rz]

I had quite a bit of this. I was only able to resolve it by doing a cipro treatment.

 

[mcarroll]

@JBNY nailed it.

Corals shape is often literally designed to kill flow. Think about their crazy high-energy habitat....our reefs tanks are CALM by comparison. Their shapes are diffusive to light and wave energy.

 

[ReeferDog]

I've had montis and acros live pretty much right on top of each other with little problems. But a more reasonable explanation might be water flow. Stag corals are notorious for growing large and then blocking their own flow. The interior and base don't get enough flow and over time you start seeing STN in those areas.

Once they hit a certain size you have to adjust the flow or open the colony up otherwise this can happen.

This colony was about 18" from one of the MP-40's, so I feel like it was getting adequate flow for most of its life.
I determined that the STN was continuing, perhaps a bit slower after I dipped, but I decided to frag the colony up anyways to try and save as much as I could. I left the original colony at about 50% its size, and the rest yielded about 20 super chunky frags. Next few days will determine if the STN has stopped or not. Thanks to all for the input. I'll update the post tonight with some pics of the frags.

 

[mcarroll]

This colony was about 18" from one of the MP-40's, so I feel like it was getting adequate flow for most of its life.
I determined that the STN was continuing, perhaps a bit slower after I dipped, but I decided to frag the colony up anyways to try and save as much as I could. I left the original colony at about 50% its size, and the rest yielded about 20 super chunky frags. Next few days will determine if the STN has stopped or not. Thanks to all for the input. I'll update the post tonight with some pics of the frags.

mp40's are good to about 24", so it may have been borderline flow. Fragging prolly a good move either way.