Corals dying stn

[sfin52]

Before Christmas my 500l sps dominant reef was thriving, colines growing great colour everything looked happy !! 2 weeks later me corals look sad, no polyp extension, loss of colour stn on many colonies!! Even some months and chalices semi died off, some hermit crabs died over time !! So sent VIP test away and got the usual results Calcium and magnesium a bit low but nothing that would kill corals !! Nitrate and phosphate is 0 on a salifert test kit !!The only thing I can relate this to is my wife got strong scented candles from someone ( not me ) for Christmas and she burned one in the living room beside the tank with the door closed !! Would that cause corals to start stn over the next couple of weeks or am I just looking for something to blame !! Its all I can come up with !! Noel.....

Nitrate and phosphate 0 is extremely bad. Remember the Zooxanthellae is a type of algea that needs Nitrate and phosphate to grow reproduce and feed the coral. Zero means it can't to this and 0 could actually cause a dinoflagellates to bloom

 

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Nitrate and phosphate 0 is extremely bad. Remember the Zooxanthellae is a type of algea that needs Nitrate and phosphate to grow reproduce and feed the coral. Zero means it can't to this and 0 could actually cause a dinoflagellates to bloom

Zero phosphates and nitrates means it isn't present in the water. It doesn't mean that phosphate and nitrate is absent from the system. Phosphate is important for any process involving DNA metabolism and Nitrate is important for Protein metabolism. I had absolutely colorless frags in my ULN system. They were alive but not thriving. After increasing my the PO4/NO3 I got color. I also have had dino blooms with the ULN system.

I just started a new system and having trouble with STN. My research has revealed very little insight into the cause of STN. Everyone talks about maintaining a stable system. Unfortunately, there isn't science directed toward the root cause. Some sources suggest that STN is a bacterial infection (vibrio). Other sources suggest that it is caused by a parasitic infection. I'm trying to find a reasonable treatment.

 

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And the lord of all corals sent a pestilence on my reef. He said unto me, I will smite all of your hard corals. I send a bacterial bloom of biblical proportion unto your reef such that your skimmer becomes a giant foam making volcano.

Overnight, my aquarium became so cloudy that the skimmer nearly explode and my corals went from stn to rtn. The softies seem unaffected. I have had some of these corals for years. Once upon a time, they had great polyp extension and color. They are now white naked skeletons. It is sad.

It is so easy to kill corals! About six years ago I had the opportunity to dive in the Solomon Islands.

A video of this experience

There were fields of beautiful green coral as far as the eye could see. As I swam toward the horizon, the field came suddenly and abruptly to an end. I was then looking upon the polar opposite. Dead coral as far as the eye could see. It was strange. Turn in one direction and there was life. Turn in the other there was death. Why? The answer lies in science. As reef keepers we are citizen scientists. My current experience reminds me how fragile an ecosystem a coral reefs is. Our tanks will be the last hope for the wild reefs of the world. I grow corals because they are beautiful. It is challenging. I grow corals to hold onto a glimmer of hope for the wild corals.

What have I learned:
Placing established healthy corals into a new system lacking biological diversity is a really bad idea. Unfortunately, you can never tell when a system is ready. There is no rational way to know.

BTW, I am always looking for good dive buddies.