Fuge disruption - RTN?

[Dustballz]

Greetings, looking for opinions to whether or not this could've been a possible RTN trigger..

I have a stable, heavily stocked 120 gallon mixed reef, 70% of it being SPS. Haven't added a new coral in over a year. Never had a coral RTN yet, until this past week. I have a 65 gallon independent, bare-bottom refugium in sequence that I tend to leave alone unless thinning out the Chaeto. A couple nights ago I was messing with the fuge (cleaning coralline off front glass, thinning out Chaeto and rotating it). I usually do this every other month when system is shut down for water change, but I started playing with the fuge on a whim in this particular circumstance, leaving everything running. While I wasn't overly aggressive, this did slightly cloud up my DT (upstairs), but it was back to normal clarity within a couple of hours. The following morning I noticed one of my acro colonies losing a lot of tissue. Right in the middle. A day later almost half of it is gone. Could disrupting the fuge expose anything to the water column that would be stressful enough to cause this issue? Nothing else seems effected and it seems like a weird coincidence. Thanks for your thoughts!

 

[DesertReefT4r]

Its possible if there was a lot of ditritus in the fuge and you disturbed it. There can be bacteria in there that is causing the issue. RTN and STN have been linked to bacterial issues so its possible. I would also look to any other changew you may have made in the last few weeks as a possible cause. New additives, change in salt mix, change in flow or light, new foods, anything. Coral growth and shading is a possibility as well.

 

[Dustballz]

Its possible if there was a lot of ditritus in the fuge and you disturbed it. There can be bacteria in there that is causing the issue. RTN and STN have been linked to bacterial issues so its possible. I would also look to any other changew you may have made in the last few weeks as a possible cause. New additives, change in salt mix, change in flow or light, new foods, anything. Coral growth and shading is a possibility as well.

I appreciate the feedback. Can the attributing bacteria be eliminated or treated?

 

[ScottB]

RTN on a mature colony is tough. I've had it a few times and just could not specifically explain it. Seemingly random, and nothing else affected but that single colony. I kinda felt like it was flow related with fish food or detritus finding places to settle in the middle kicking off something.

A lot of talk about bacterial infection, but I tend to question cause/effect chicken/egg. Our corals swim happily in bacteria all day until something makes the host vulnerable. This weakness can just gradually build up over weeks and weeks too until they finally just quit altogether. So look back through your records a little for shifts in chemistry, temp, salinity, nutrient, etc.

 

[Dustballz]

RTN on a mature colony is tough. I've had it a few times and just could not specifically explain it. Seemingly random, and nothing else affected but that single colony. I kinda felt like it was flow related with fish food or detritus finding places to settle in the middle kicking off something.

A lot of talk about bacterial infection, but I tend to question cause/effect chicken/egg. Our corals swim happily in bacteria all day until something makes the host vulnerable. This weakness can just gradually build up over weeks and weeks too until they finally just quit altogether. So look back through your records a little for shifts in chemistry, temp, salinity, nutrient, etc.

Good points. Thanks!