- Joined
- Mar 27, 2019
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All,
Currently in "panic mode" as I'm losing my favorite corals and some that are extremely pricey... Super bummer currently! Any help you can provide would be BEYOND appreciated... I've run this by some people in the industry that I truly trust, all are stumped....
About a week ago I started a fluconazole treatment on my SPS dominant reef to treat bubble algae. I did the 200% dosage to try it out, before bumping to the 400% some people have used with bubble algae. Almost immediately after, my alk consumption went down about 60%.... This caused my apex to overdose alk, causing a spike from 9.2 dKH to 10.36 dkh. Now, I wouldn't normally assume a swing that's not terribly high would cause masses RTN throughout the system, but the only two factors that changed are the fluco and the alk spike from the fluco (after speaking with many people way smarter than I am, it seems as though fluco has had effects on alk consumption for many).
Immediately I started doing 15% water changes, adding and removing carbon every 24 hours. Corals have still been RTN'ing, fast. I've removed the corals and dipped them to look for pests. There are a few pod-looking critters that came off (pictured below), but no eggs or visible flatworms in the 4 colonies removed (various stages of RTN).
Parameters have been stable, minus the alk swing, daily:
Temp 76.9 PM -> 78 Day Time
Specific gravity: 1.026 (checked with 2 refractometers and Apex salinity probe, all just around 1.026).
Nitrates: < 3 ppm (this has been constant for some time, the refugium has been in many ways too efficient, but I can't imagine this would suddenly cause RTN).
Po4: 0.03 according to multiple Hanna ULN tests with 2 different batches of reagents
Alk (Current) - 9.4 dKH post water changed (mixed salt is TM pro, dKH is ~7) (test with Trident and Hanna)
Cal: 480
Mag: 1280
pH: 7.9 PM, 8.1AM (never had the HIGHEST pH, but it's been this way for years).
ORP has dropped from about 240 prior to about 150 post-RTN event and continues. Correlation in some way?
The only other "changes" in the last month was the addition of Korallen-Zucht Bio-Mate, started about 2 weeks prior to RTN starting, dosed up until RTN was noticed (I stopped all additives).
I have an ICP sent out to test all elements. I have added carbon and added purigen today, poly filter is supposed to arrive today, will add that too. Continuing to do daily water changes until ICP results come in, unless someone suggests otherwise as I still have been having new colonies RTN (1 last night when I got home). The RTN is VERY fast and the tissue is peeling off. The species effective have been A. Tenuis (multiple), A Millepora (multiple) and 1 smooth skin acro. Montipora, LPS, anemones, shrimp, crabs, snails and fish all seem unharmed and fine.
Tested for stray voltage, negative.
What could possibly have caused this? Fluco? Alk swing? Possible my emerald crab has gone rogue (he's big, but could he do THIS much damage so quickly)? Haven't added new corals in about 6 months besides 3 frags I got from Jason Fox, which I'm fairly confident in them being "clean" as about any source can be.
Here are the bugs I found on the dip, but they don't look like AEFW, red bugs or black bugs, to me... They look like copepods. Also, no visible bite marks or eggs on the across pre, during or post-RTN.
Currently in "panic mode" as I'm losing my favorite corals and some that are extremely pricey... Super bummer currently! Any help you can provide would be BEYOND appreciated... I've run this by some people in the industry that I truly trust, all are stumped....
About a week ago I started a fluconazole treatment on my SPS dominant reef to treat bubble algae. I did the 200% dosage to try it out, before bumping to the 400% some people have used with bubble algae. Almost immediately after, my alk consumption went down about 60%.... This caused my apex to overdose alk, causing a spike from 9.2 dKH to 10.36 dkh. Now, I wouldn't normally assume a swing that's not terribly high would cause masses RTN throughout the system, but the only two factors that changed are the fluco and the alk spike from the fluco (after speaking with many people way smarter than I am, it seems as though fluco has had effects on alk consumption for many).
Immediately I started doing 15% water changes, adding and removing carbon every 24 hours. Corals have still been RTN'ing, fast. I've removed the corals and dipped them to look for pests. There are a few pod-looking critters that came off (pictured below), but no eggs or visible flatworms in the 4 colonies removed (various stages of RTN).
Parameters have been stable, minus the alk swing, daily:
Temp 76.9 PM -> 78 Day Time
Specific gravity: 1.026 (checked with 2 refractometers and Apex salinity probe, all just around 1.026).
Nitrates: < 3 ppm (this has been constant for some time, the refugium has been in many ways too efficient, but I can't imagine this would suddenly cause RTN).
Po4: 0.03 according to multiple Hanna ULN tests with 2 different batches of reagents
Alk (Current) - 9.4 dKH post water changed (mixed salt is TM pro, dKH is ~7) (test with Trident and Hanna)
Cal: 480
Mag: 1280
pH: 7.9 PM, 8.1AM (never had the HIGHEST pH, but it's been this way for years).
ORP has dropped from about 240 prior to about 150 post-RTN event and continues. Correlation in some way?
The only other "changes" in the last month was the addition of Korallen-Zucht Bio-Mate, started about 2 weeks prior to RTN starting, dosed up until RTN was noticed (I stopped all additives).
I have an ICP sent out to test all elements. I have added carbon and added purigen today, poly filter is supposed to arrive today, will add that too. Continuing to do daily water changes until ICP results come in, unless someone suggests otherwise as I still have been having new colonies RTN (1 last night when I got home). The RTN is VERY fast and the tissue is peeling off. The species effective have been A. Tenuis (multiple), A Millepora (multiple) and 1 smooth skin acro. Montipora, LPS, anemones, shrimp, crabs, snails and fish all seem unharmed and fine.
Tested for stray voltage, negative.
What could possibly have caused this? Fluco? Alk swing? Possible my emerald crab has gone rogue (he's big, but could he do THIS much damage so quickly)? Haven't added new corals in about 6 months besides 3 frags I got from Jason Fox, which I'm fairly confident in them being "clean" as about any source can be.
Here are the bugs I found on the dip, but they don't look like AEFW, red bugs or black bugs, to me... They look like copepods. Also, no visible bite marks or eggs on the across pre, during or post-RTN.