Couple SPS STN

[ggNoRe]

Background: I am just getting started with SPS in my system that is one year old. I have about 13 frags most are doing great but a few have started to STN. The oldest frags are almost 2 months old with the newest being about one week in the system.

Question: All parameters have been very stable except last Monday I tested phosphates at .17 so I put a 25gal bag of Chemipure Elite in my sump (my tank is 200G total water volume). In 6 days my phosphates dropped from .17 to .9. Is these too much change too fast? Possibly causing STN? Any and all opinions welcome.

 

[Gedxin]

Following. Had a very similar situation happen. Best of luck.

 

[Cantusaurus]

I don't think the phosphate reduction caused it, especially since it didn't happen overnight. It may be pH fluctuation related or some other factor causing stress.

 

[ggNoRe]

I don't think the phosphate reduction caused it, especially since it didn't happen overnight. It may be pH fluctuation related or some other factor causing stress.

PH seems very stable.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Background: I am just getting started with SPS in my system that is one year old. I have about 13 frags most are doing great but a few have started to STN. The oldest frags are almost 2 months old with the newest being about one week in the system.

Question: All parameters have been very stable except last Monday I tested phosphates at .17 so I put a 25gal bag of Chemipure Elite in my sump (my tank is 200G total water volume). In 6 days my phosphates dropped from .17 to .9. Is these too much change too fast? Possibly causing STN? Any and all opinions welcome.

Yes.

 

[Cantusaurus]

PH seems very stable.

Hmm. Yeah, it does seem very stable. Did you test Magnesium when you tested?

Do you have some soft corals or other animals that could have died and released toxins? That's one possibility. Or it could be metals in the water or pest related :/
Hope things get better.
Maybe dose some Aminos, and dip/clip some of the SPS if needed to prevent continued degradation.
Also maybe add some Polyfill just in case there's something weird in the water

 

[ggNoRe]

I do test magnesium as well. It's slightly low but not enough to where it should hurt anything to the best of my knowledge.

 

[sculpin01]

My main system has been at 0.3 phosphate for years and everything grows great…UNLESS I try to lower it. Then everything gets unhappy, tips burn, and I get mad at myself.

There are plenty of tanks that can run phosphate levels less than 0.1. However, they tend to be very well established and the corals are adapted to those conditions. Yours might be happier initially at a higher phosphate concentration.

YMMV

 

[damsels are not mean]

I would just let it be

 

[ocncheffy]

My main system has been at 0.3 phosphate for years and everything grows great…UNLESS I try to lower it. Then everything gets unhappy, tips burn, and I get mad at myself.

There are plenty of tanks that can run phosphate levels less than 0.1. However, they tend to be very well established and the corals are adapted to those conditions. Yours might be happier initially at a higher phosphate concentration.

YMMV

This 100%. I had .4 phosphate (With Hannah ULR) and had amazing SPS/growth. The community convinced me it was too high, and I decided to slowly lower it to .1. Everything slowly got tip burn/STN, even with an alk of 8.5.

 

[KomsCorals]

A buddy of mine over at WWC brought up a possible bacterial infection when I had a similar issue with my aquarium, guess it is more common than we realize. Suggested using the chemicure powder that is used to kill cyanobacteria. Greatly reduced the amount of STN issues and its now a staple in my quarantine. Worked well for me and may work well for you, especially if your confident your parameters are within reasonable ranges. Best of luck!

 

[sculpin01]

I’ve reversed/stopped STN and RTN-type tissue loss with broad spectrum antibiotics. I believe in that setting that opportunistic bacteria are overtaking host defenses that are weakened by environmental variables (e.g. water quality, high/low temperature exposure, etc.). I do this by soaking the coral in an isothermal solution of tank water mixed with saturated amoxicillin, metronidazole, and doxycycline for 1-2 hours prior to returning the coral to the tank. I feel this has two effects: 1) decreasing/eliminating harmful bacteria/rickettsials/ciliates from the coral and 2) potentially causing a coral microbiome “reset”. The latter effect is theoretical but I like to think that it could lead to a new microbiome more adjusted to tank conditions.

 

[damsels are not mean]

I’ve reversed/stopped STN and RTN-type tissue loss with broad spectrum antibiotics. I believe in that setting that opportunistic bacteria are overtaking host defenses that are weakened by environmental variables (e.g. water quality, high/low temperature exposure, etc.). I do this by soaking the coral in an isothermal solution of tank water mixed with saturated amoxicillin, metronidazole, and doxycycline for 1-2 hours prior to returning the coral to the tank. I feel this has two effects: 1) decreasing/eliminating harmful bacteria/rickettsials/ciliates from the coral and 2) potentially causing a coral microbiome “reset”. The latter effect is theoretical but I like to think that it could lead to a new microbiome more adjusted to tank conditions.

I hope this does not create any superbugs

 

[sculpin01]

I hope this does not create any superbugs

Single point exposure is unlikely to cause enough selection pressure for that to happen.

For instance, when you undergo surgery, they give you a one-time dose of broad spectrum antibiotics to limit your risk of post operative infection. This single dose generally doesn't provide enough selection pressure to lead to creation of resistant bacterial because there is no selection pressure on bacterial survivors. The antibiotic is already gone from your system, so there will be no survival benefit to antibiotic resistant genes in the surviving bacteria, because the antibiotic in question is no longer present. However, it can alter bacterial population dynamics.

By comparison, if you feed antibiotics to animals chronically (as has been done to increase food absorption/treat chronic infections), you provide long term continuous exposure that does lead to development of resistance. The antibiotic is still present after the initial mass die-off of bacteria and this continues to provide selection pressure for survivors to develop antibiotic resistance.

 

[damsels are not mean]

Single point exposure is unlikely to cause enough selection pressure for that to happen.

For instance, when you undergo surgery, they give you a one-time dose of broad spectrum antibiotics to limit your risk of post operative infection. This single dose generally doesn't provide enough selection pressure to lead to creation of resistant bacterial because there is no selection pressure on bacterial survivors. The antibiotic is already gone from your system, so there will be no survival benefit to antibiotic resistant genes in the surviving bacteria, because the antibiotic in question is no longer present. However, it can alter bacterial population dynamics.

By comparison, if you feed antibiotics to animals chronically (as has been done to increase food absorption/treat chronic infections), you provide long term continuous exposure that does lead to development of resistance. The antibiotic is still present after the initial mass die-off of bacteria and this continues to provide selection pressure for survivors to develop antibiotic resistance.

good point