Keeping acros is so much fun!

[JGT]

Those absolutely help, but are often not the true reason for deaths especially RTN in acros. I'm in the camp that a lot of very quick deaths are to pathogenic bacteria that will attack once the coral has any type of weakness and is susceptible. Similar to auto-immune disorders in humans.

Agree. More times than not, ICPs show 0, zip, nada, nothing.

 

[dvgyfresh]

Had this happen to me , whatever coral was connected became “infected” I isolated them and broadcast dosed CIPRO, focusing on the bad area. Saved the remaining corals and stopped the “infection” . But I like to take risks lol don’t recommend it

 

[JCOLE]

Corals naturally do this in the wild due to a stress response. It's fight or flight. In the wild, they shed and find another area of the reef to repopulate that meets more optimum conditions for survival. Unfortunately, in our tanks, it is a death sentence.

The fact that it is happening to multiple pieces means it is definitely something in your system that is causing them to go into flight mode.

In the past, when this has happened to me, it has always been a bacterial infection. However, that doesn't mean the same for you. I would check everything: pumps, heaters, wave makers, etc., for rust, especially anything with magnets. I would double-check salinity, temperature with a different probe, test the water, etc.

I know Cipro or antibiotics get a bad rap, but you cannot rule that out, and time is of the essence right now. I would check everything else, and if all else fails, then you could dose OA, Cipro, etc., to rule out an infection.

Good luck!

 

[JonoH]

I would suspect its something bacterial.

Have had this happen a little before, and it stopped with a whole tank dose of CIES (coral infection elimination) - but that could also only be anecdotal...

 

[billyocean]

Its pollen season too which can randomly brings problems in its own sometimes. Maybe a wc and some passive carbon may help.

 

[Danjoethepirate]

Double check salinity, I've had similar issues in the past when mixing salt wrong accidentally. Overconfidence in the method and not enough checking the math, you know.... but really, double check it. 1.028 from 1.026 nuked a few in my tank.

 

[skey44]

How about flow? In the second pic it appears a lack of flow has allowed the dead tissue/slough to settle onto a neighbor. My first suspected issue here is a change in flow. All the other possibilities are out there, but with growth and change acros react. If the coral grew to a certain flow pattern and flow was diminished or changed it could be a stressor triggering the event. Growth itself can also inhibit flow like the battlestag now growing in and changing the flow pattern. In The second pic there appears to be some stagnation in that area allowing the slough to settle instead of being whisked away into the water column for filtration.

Total bummer I’m rooting for you and hope you get it sorted. Acropora are so unforgiving. Glad most corals seem ok.

 

[djkms]

If your salinity has been rock solid steady at 1.025 and then it swung up to 1.027 in a short amount of time the salinity change would be my guess. A .02 abrupt salinity change is big in the acro world. I'm of the opinion salinity changes are harder on SPS/Acros then alkalinity swings.

 

[Minifoot77]

Anyone try the oxalinic acid protocol from aci?

 

[Reef Jedi]

Do you have an anemone in the tank possibly releasing toxins? Are you running carbon?

I had a very similar experience. Wiped out all of my sps and I couldn’t figure out why. Was decimating and since I’ve been running carbon non stop. I have once loan survivor and it’s growing like a weed. Because of that I just ordered new sps Frags on Saturday from BRS sale. I figured I’ll try it again since it’s been a couple months. I hope it doesn’t decimate your tank. You have some beautiful colonies.

 

[Dorsetsteve]

I feel like your attempts to improve things with the ammonium may be the cause. Your Phosphate was already low, you’ve just pushed the process further by allowing further denitrification and Phosphate assimilation. Personally what I’d do right now is stop anything unnecessary, focus of ensuring water quality is good and steady.

 

[fish_collector]

Yep been there. Once RTN starts it can take out most of the collection in a few days. Not too much you can do except maintain good water quality and maybe run some carbon if you don't already, but that can have consequences as well if you don't use carbon. I'm not a big fan of antibiotics in the reef, I know a lot of people use them just not me. As Matt said, chemiclean is an antibiotic and may help. Billyocean mentioned this is pollen season so don't rule out something outside of the tank that has set off a reaction.

Good luck to you sir.

 

[Coral pop]

Do you know how abrupt the salinity increase was?

 

[exnisstech]

This is a great reason to regularly send off ICP’s; whilst you might not have any interest in tweaking ideal trace element values, it will give advance warning of things like magnet contamination… It’s better than waiting for strippity-doo-dah, then clutching at straws for reasons. Always good to be able to rule things out straight away…

I lost faith in ICP the first time i did one. I tested two tanks and two RODI samples. The RODI samples were taken from the same container at the same time yet the results were quite different. My logic is if the RODI tests were botched I wasn't about to trust the tank water test. I know many people swear by them but my experience was not confidence inspiring.

The RODI test results

How about flow? In the second pic it appears a lack of flow has allowed the dead tissue/slough to settle onto a neighbor. My first suspected issue here is a change in flow. All the other possibilities are out there, but with growth and change acros react. If the coral grew to a certain flow pattern and flow was diminished or changed it could be a stressor triggering the event. Growth itself can also inhibit flow like the battlestag now growing in and changing the flow pattern. In The second pic there appears to be some stagnation in that area allowing the slough to settle instead of being whisked away into the water column for filtration.

Total bummer I’m rooting for you and hope you get it sorted. Acropora are so unforgiving. Glad most corals seem ok.

Tons of flow actually. Two MP40s, two nero 5s, two orca 6075s and a jebao MP40 knock off. Flow was low on the first effected piece photo but that's because I had turned the orca off. I thought maybe having the tissue blow around might not be good but that was just a guess on my part.

Do you know how abrupt the salinity increase was?

Not really but I'm guessing it was a slow increase caused by an ATO not topping off.

 

[exnisstech]

I want to thank everyone who replied. If I missed answering questions I apologize. Life is not at a pleasant place right now so I'm very distracted. Lights just came on and I didn't have any losses overnight but one of the chunks of battlestag I cut off is on the way out. The digi hasn't gotten a lot worse. I was able to get a few things done before bed. I did a 25% WC, put the roller back in figuring maybe it will trap some of the flesh coming off, cleaned the skimmer and started skimming as I was only using the skimmer for aeration to help with pH. I also added some rox carbon in a reactor and removed the single leather in the tank. No nems or anything else that typically releases toxins or chemical warfare that I'm aware of. I think I have some chemiclean so I may dose the tank with that since it can't hurt. I've had all powerhead out recently and didn't see any cracks or abnormalities on the magnets. I have 5 tanks running and use the same water and salt mix as well as testing equipment. Nutrients on this tank have run low since it started and I've been using ammonium for almost a year to raise NO3. I don't test mag but I've never tested it on any tank in 10 years I've been in the hobby. This came on so quickly that I'm just going to assume it's an unknown bacterial infection or something similar and I'll most likely never know the cause and I'm okay with that. Its been a good run and I've grown some nice pieces from tiny frags which is a success in itself for me since I had zero experience with acros when I started the tank 3 years ago. All good things must come to an end. I was just telling my Gal a couple of weeks ago that the the tank was growing so well I was expecting it to come to an end so this is really not a surprise. I've never been accused is being a pessimist lol
The life stuff that I have going on right now is just more important than the tank so most likely I'm just going to let things play out and deal with the results good or bad. The seams on the tank are failing and I had just ordered a replacement tank but was able to cancel it when the stuff going on made it pretty much impossible for me to schedule a delivery. If I loose all the coral I'll just move the fish to my big tank and toss this one on the scrap pile and move along. Maybe I've become too accepting in my old age but sometimes i find it easier that fighting.

 

[skey44]

I want to thank everyone who replied. If I missed answering questions I apologize. Life is not at a pleasant place right now so I'm very distracted. Lights just came on and I didn't have any losses overnight but one of the chunks of battlestag I cut off is on the way out. The digi hasn't gotten a lot worse. I was able to get a few things done before bed. I did a 25% WC, put the roller back in figuring maybe it will trap some of the flesh coming off, cleaned the skimmer and started skimming as I was only using the skimmer for aeration to help with pH. I also added some rox carbon in a reactor and removed the single leather in the tank. No nems or anything else that typically releases toxins or chemical warfare that I'm aware of. I think I have some chemiclean so I may dose the tank with that since it can't hurt. I've had all powerhead out recently and didn't see any cracks or abnormalities on the magnets. I have 5 tanks running and use the same water and salt mix as well as testing equipment. Nutrients on this tank have run low since it started and I've been using ammonium for almost a year to raise NO3. I don't test mag but I've never tested it on any tank in 10 years I've been in the hobby. This came on so quickly that I'm just going to assume it's an unknown bacterial infection or something similar and I'll most likely never know the cause and I'm okay with that. Its been a good run and I've grown some nice pieces from tiny frags which is a success in itself for me since I had zero experience with acros when I started the tank 3 years ago. All good things must come to an end. I was just telling my Gal a couple of weeks ago that the the tank was growing so well I was expecting it to come to an end so this is really not a surprise. I've never been accused is being a pessimist lol
The life stuff that I have going on right now is just more important than the tank so most likely I'm just going to let things play out and deal with the results good or bad. The seams on the tank are failing and I had just ordered a replacement tank but was able to cancel it when the stuff going on made it pretty much impossible for me to schedule a delivery. If I loose all the coral I'll just move the fish to my big tank and toss this one on the scrap pile and move along. Maybe I've become too accepting in my old age but sometimes i find it easier that fighting.

Life is not all about corals. More concerned with your situation than the tanks. You are the most important thing.

 

[CaptClay]

Acros are the best corals. I think.

 

[LobsterOfJustice]

As soon as I saw the first pic I knew you were going to say it spread to other nearby corals. This is an infection which is why you're coming up blank when looking for issues with parameters. I dealt with this a few years back. You can frag the affected corals and dip in iodine. But it may continue on other nearby corals. I treated the tank with Cipro. I saw a couple different dosages online and I went with the most conservative one first. Didn't really work. Went with a more aggressive dose next and it stopped for a little while but then came back. Finally did a treatment with the most aggressive dose I could find online (I think this was something like 10x the original dose) and that seemed to resolve it for good.

 

[Red_Beard]

I want to thank everyone who replied. If I missed answering questions I apologize. Life is not at a pleasant place right now so I'm very distracted. Lights just came on and I didn't have any losses overnight but one of the chunks of battlestag I cut off is on the way out. The digi hasn't gotten a lot worse. I was able to get a few things done before bed. I did a 25% WC, put the roller back in figuring maybe it will trap some of the flesh coming off, cleaned the skimmer and started skimming as I was only using the skimmer for aeration to help with pH. I also added some rox carbon in a reactor and removed the single leather in the tank. No nems or anything else that typically releases toxins or chemical warfare that I'm aware of. I think I have some chemiclean so I may dose the tank with that since it can't hurt. I've had all powerhead out recently and didn't see any cracks or abnormalities on the magnets. I have 5 tanks running and use the same water and salt mix as well as testing equipment. Nutrients on this tank have run low since it started and I've been using ammonium for almost a year to raise NO3. I don't test mag but I've never tested it on any tank in 10 years I've been in the hobby. This came on so quickly that I'm just going to assume it's an unknown bacterial infection or something similar and I'll most likely never know the cause and I'm okay with that. Its been a good run and I've grown some nice pieces from tiny frags which is a success in itself for me since I had zero experience with acros when I started the tank 3 years ago. All good things must come to an end. I was just telling my Gal a couple of weeks ago that the the tank was growing so well I was expecting it to come to an end so this is really not a surprise. I've never been accused is being a pessimist lol
The life stuff that I have going on right now is just more important than the tank so most likely I'm just going to let things play out and deal with the results good or bad. The seams on the tank are failing and I had just ordered a replacement tank but was able to cancel it when the stuff going on made it pretty much impossible for me to schedule a delivery. If I loose all the coral I'll just move the fish to my big tank and toss this one on the scrap pile and move along. Maybe I've become too accepting in my old age but sometimes i find it easier that fighting.

Sending you good vibes brother. My grandma always used to say bad things come in 3's. I hope your life stuff gets sorted out. Acros too, but worse case there is just time and money.

 

[exnisstech]

Sending you good vibes brother. My grandma always used to say bad things come in 3's. I hope your life stuff gets sorted out. Acros too, but worse case there is just time and money.

Funny you mention 3s. Quick story that happened the other day. My Gals Mom who lives with us is 86 with Parkinson's and dementia, she isn't really mean but says some random things. Recently my mom fell and broke her hip and while in a facility for rehab my Dad ends up on the floor then ER and is now going to be admitted to the same facility my mother is in. I get home from making my rounds the other day and my Gals Mom asked me how my parents are doing so I explain knowing she isn't going remember anything. She looks at me for a few seconds and says "well maybe you'll be next" She's a believer in the bad things happen in 3s things also. She's a funny old gal in her own way.

On another note I'm happy to report what ever is going on in tye tank seems to have paused or one if the few actions I performed earlier had an effect. What ever it is it hasn't spread any further. I lost the digi but that was the last piece. I did not dose chemiclean. Fingers crossed every morning when I do my inspection. I removed all of the affected pieces and am just monitoring things.