Treating Tank for RTN

[KJa]

I'm planning on treating my tank for bacterial disease caused RTN with chloramphenicol. I have read that once chloramphenicol or CAM is introduced to the tank it will create a bacterial bloom that will consume most of the oxygen in the water. As much as I want to believe, I'll be alert enough to react in time to combat the lack of oxygen with the use of the skimmer. I was thinking maybe I can increase the amount of oxygen in the water with an air bubble pump placed in the tank. I would like to get some more advance reefers thought on this idea. I'm really not trying to kill my fish but I would like to enjoy more coral in the near future.

 

[EmdeReef]

Are you sure RTN is caused by bacteria? It can happen but it’s pretty rare.

Re. Oxygen depletion, you can counter it with wave makers pointed to the surface, add air stones to the tank, run skimmer without a cup. If things get bad have some water ready to make changes. Also as a last resort you could dose small amounts of hydrogen peroxide.

 

[KJa]

I've had several coral frags unexpectedly die and they are showing and have shown the usual RTN and STN signs. The parameters are for the most part in range except for salinty which swings between 35 and 40 specific gravity which could have been the factor that "encouraged" the situation. The dosing is in my opinion a last resort to try and stop a constant problem destroying my investment. Thanks for the suggestions I will use them all.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

I have never heard of CAM but here’s an interesting Facebook thread on rtn.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/SPSSwap/permalink/1112449838936092/?comment_tracking={"tn":"O"}
I had issues with stn and rtn from carbon dosing and gfo. Once I threw all that crap away my sps started surviving and are now thriving. If you do get a bacterial bloom I recommend some 10 micron filter socks and kz coral snow. It’ll clear the tank in a couple hours. Good luck.

 

[EmdeReef]

I've had several coral frags unexpectedly die and they are showing and have shown the usual RTN and STN signs. The parameters are for the most part in range except for salinty which swings between 35 and 40 specific gravity which could have been the factor that "encouraged" the situation. The dosing is in my opinion a last resort to try and stop a constant problem destroying my investment. Thanks for the suggestions I will use them all.

As above, RTN can be caused by a mix of factors including light, flow, alkalinity, temperature swings, toxins...only once you have ruled out everything else you should treat for bacterial infections IMO. Dosing may not do anything but throw your system out of balance more.

If you decide to dose I would advise dosing chloramphenicol in a clean QT and not your DT as it will be readily absorbed by rocks and sand etc and may cause issues down the road.

Good luck!

#reefsquad ?

 

[RCS82]

Having your salinity swing between 35 and 40 I would think is very alarming and needs to be addressed.

 

[marlinmon]

Having your salinity swing between 35 and 40 I would think is very alarming and needs to be addressed.

15% swings? How?

 

[RCS82]

So it's fine for sps health to go through salinity swings from 35 to 40? And I interpret swing as it going up and down several times and not a one time occurence.

 

[Waters]

Unless you can determine that the bacterial disease is what is causing your RTN, I would not dose anything.......I am guessing that is just going to make it worse. RTN and STN can be caused by a ton of different things unfortunately. A lot of times the true cause is never determined and it works itself out on its' own. Also, that is a huge swing in salinity. That alone could be causing your issues depending on how often and how quickly it is happening.

 

[dieselkeeper]

I'm in the same boat as you. A couple of years ago I lost a bunch of large SPS corals due to alk burn. Since then I can not add SPS frags without them dying. I have nippers that will nip at the tips. This is where I believe pathogenic bacteria is allow in and the frag dies from that infection. I'm trying to introduce non pathogenic bacteria. I'm doing this thru a small reactor with porous media inside the reactor. I'm using the chunky calcium reactor media. I then added fritz turbo start with tank water. I let it sit for 30-40 minutes to let the bacteria get into the media. Running the reactor at a pretty good flow. Thought is the non pathogenic will out compete the pathogenic bacteria. Just started running it this past weekend. Fingers crossed cause I'm a SPS addict.

 

[jda]

I do not know much about the bacterial product, but I do know that once oxygen starvation starts to happen, you will not be able to catch up. Even with skimmer use, overflows and return pumps and massive surface agitation, the bacteria from an overdose of organic carbon can suffocate fish and inverts.

I would also not expect CAM to fuel other bacterias and not fuel the ones that you are thinking contribute to STN. High tide raises all ships, not just the ones that you want. I know that people theorize that the good can outcompete the bad, but without any evidence that this happens, I would assume that it does not.

There are bacteria all over the place and healthy corals can fight them off. I would focus on making the corals as happy as possible without stressing them to where bacteria might be able to take over. Using the CAM seems like treating the symptoms rather than the root cause.

 

[rkpetersen]

I do not know much about the bacterial product, but I do know that once oxygen starvation starts to happen, you will not be able to catch up. Even with skimmer use, overflows and return pumps and massive surface agitation, the bacteria from an overdose of organic carbon can suffocate fish and inverts.

I would also not expect CAM to fuel other bacterias and not fuel the ones that you are thinking contribute to STN. High tide raises all ships, not just the ones that you want. I know that people theorize that the good can outcompete the bad, but without any evidence that this happens, I would assume that it does not.

There are bacteria all over the place and healthy corals can fight them off. I would focus on making the corals as happy as possible without stressing them to where bacteria might be able to take over. Using the CAM seems like treating the symptoms rather than the root cause.

^ TRVTH

 

[KJa]

Yeah it was a pretty big salinity swing. Ultimately it was my fault. As deiselkeeper has mentioned, now I can't add any frags without them dying that day or after a couple of weeks. Needless to say it's a little fustrating. I do have some LPS still alive and seem to be doing well..even the hammer is still alive and kicking but they were there before the big swing. smh.

 

[markalot]

Salinity swings would have harmed or killed the acros in the tank, but new acros dying? What is the current KH and what is your PO4? Are you using anything to control PO4? Typically acros dying in tanks quickly is due to low nutrients plus high Alk.

Size of tank,
Age of tank,
Type of export used (skimmer, GFO, bio pellets, etc)
How do you dose, how often do you test?
Current KH and how stable has it been?

 

[KJa]

I'm not using any media to control PO4 or Nitrates except weekly water and filter changes. the KH is 11 and PO4 is between .5 and 1.0 by the time I do a water change. I feed once a day and I have a refugium.

 

[jda]

PO4 is a poison for most inverts at that level. You can see some examples of tanks where the po4 is that high, but the inhabitants were in the tank the whole time and do not appear as "shocked" as other new additions would be.

I would recommend a skimmer if you do not have one.

I also might suggest a dKh more around natural seawater levels of 8 or 9... but this is probably not your problem.

 

[KJa]

Tank inhabitants are fine. I'll probably do another water change tomorrow and see if that reduces the phosphates level.

 

[jda]

It might lower the po4 initially, but test again in a few days. Phosphate binds to aragonite and as your water level gets lower (water change), then the aragonite release some to get back to a slightly lower equilibrium. It takes a LOT of water changes to fight phosphates and GFO, Aluminum Oxide or Lanthanum Chloride might be a better help.

If you are going to be fighting phosphate, then get a good test kit like the Hannah.