Crash > STN

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Recently, I transitioned a fairly healthy 200g SPS dominant system to a new 340g system. The previous system was stable. Before I broke it down the 200g system, I had started to see some occasional coral mortalities in my frag tank. The new system is 4 months old. Over the 3-4 four weeks, STN has been ravaging my tank. My softies are doing fairly well. My three largest acro colonies are not happy but not dying. large stylo colonies are dead. This morning a large five year old porites died overnight (I had previously thought that this colony was bullet proof). You get the picture.

I am not looking for a miracle cure. I understand that new aquariums have not achieved a microbiologic equilibrium and are by definition unstable. The move from one system to another put the current problem into overdrive. I am trying to decide upon a path forward. I am trying to resist the temptation to tinker. It's not a total loss yet. My softies appear to be healthy. For those who have experienced this problem before ... how did it pan out. Did you break the tank down and call it a day? Did you wait until the problem exhausted itself. Just interested in learning about the thoughts and experiences of others who have faced this problem.

 

[blaxsun]

What are your parameters like in the new system vs. the old system?

 

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What are your parameters like in the new system vs. the old system?

ICP Test just returned. The only pollutant is aluminum. Not sure where it is coming from. I have had aluminum in my system before. It did not cause RTN. It came from using a phosphate remover. I can do up to 10 gallons of water change per day. Started doing that yesterday. I measure my Ca/Mg/Alk with a trident. Parameters have been stable. alk is 8.5 to 9. I started using all for reef by tropic marin for supplementation. returned to using my calcium reactor recently. In my older tank, I used both. Nitrates have been 30-40 and phosphate has been 0.14 to 0.04. Phosphates have been rising. I've using lanthanum chloride to correct it periodically. In my old tank, phosphates and nitrates were always high. I test with a hanna multi-parameter checker. I have been running 2xmp60 at 50%. I don't think there are a lot of dead spots. Started carbon dosing yesterday. Today, I had a nice bacterial bloom. Only gave it two doses and stopped. I was hoping to jump start the nitrifying bacteria population. I have UV plumbed into the system. I don't use it all the time.

I have read that STN is caused by outbreaks of vibrio or listeria bacteria. I have read about parasites which cause STN. As a physician, I do not like using antibiotics unless absolutely necessary. Antibiotics will throw the bacterial populations out of balance. Treating with an antibiotic could kill nitrifying bacteria. I could easily go from RTN to an ammonia spike and wipe out all of the corals as well as the fish. I do not have a quarantine setup at the moment. I haven't added any new corals (i.e. from outside source to my tank in ages).

 

[blaxsun]

I would probably run some periodic titration (etc.) tests just to keep your Trident honest (if you don't already do so). Also clean the cuvette every 4-6 months as it can be off quite a bit (after cleaning the Trident reported my alkalinity as -0.5dKH lower).

I have high nitrates (35+) in my tank with phosphates around 0.1-0.15ppm, and my SPS grows like weeds. I run a UV 24/7 along with an integrated ozone system. I don't do anything to correct my nitrates or phosphates other than running carbon, GFO and zeo in reactors.

 

[brandon429]

how did you handle the sand transfer part

 

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My tank is bare bottom. I have ceramic bio blocks in my sump and sand in a small refugium. The fuge is composed of rock and bioballs from my last tank along with new sand. I have chaeto in my fuge. Cheato is a great pod hide out. I don't use it for nutrient export.

 

[blue-thumb]

I would probably run some periodic titration (etc.) tests just to keep your Trident honest (if you don't already do so). Also clean the cuvette every 4-6 months as it can be off quite a bit (after cleaning the Trident reported my alkalinity as -0.5dKH lower).

I have high nitrates (35+) in my tank with phosphates around 0.1-0.15ppm, and my SPS grows like weeds. I run a UV 24/7 along with an integrated ozone system. I don't do anything to correct my nitrates or phosphates other than running carbon, GFO and zeo in reactors.

Running ozone is like adding peroxide to your tank. I know many people who swear by peroxide. I have used peroxide full strength on softies without increase frag mortality. The SPS frags usually die after treatment. Ozone is great for bacterial and/or viral disease. I have thought about adding carbon and gfo. I have never needed to run them before. I do use a algal turf scrubber for nutrient control. I have that running in the system right now. It hasn't been growing a lot of algae. I have been running it for about half the day.

 

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Running ozone is like adding peroxide to your tank. I know many people who swear by peroxide. I have used peroxide full strength on softies without increase frag mortality. The SPS frags usually die after treatment. Ozone is great for bacterial and/or viral disease. I have thought about adding carbon and gfo. I have never needed to run them before. I do use a algal turf scrubber for nutrient control. I have that running in the system right now. It hasn't been growing a lot of algae. I have been running it for about half the day.

I have noticed that the cuvette collects some powdery residue. I should verify it's numbers independently. I'll need to buy some reagents. Thanks for the idea.