Would this be STN?

Cesar Ravan · Jul 4, 2017

Hello everyone,

My first post. I am fairly new to the hubby. My tank has been up and running for 8 months. I have been wanting to enter the world of SPS. My bird nest have been doing great so I ventured to get one frag of the Blueberry Fields acro. I believe that it is suffering from STN. Any indicators?

220g
Salinity 1.025
NO3 5 (salifert)
PO4 0 (salifert)
Alk 10.1 (Hanna)
CA 450 (salifert)
Mg 1400 (salifert)
Lights LED but will supplement with some retrofit T5

Thank you in advance

pa1ntbru5h · Jul 4, 2017

Your parameters look fine.
The fact that the dying parts are patchy really worries me...
I think you might have an acro eating pest like Acro Eating Flatworms (AEFW). Did you dip the frag before adding to the tank?
I'd recommend you look really closely at your SPS frags for any bugs.
If it was STN/RTN it would go from base up or tip down. Not patchy.

Cesar Ravan · Jul 4, 2017

I had an ich infestation when I started the hobby and lost all of my fish. From then, I QT fish and corals prior to placing them in the tank. What solution do you recommend that I dip him in? I have used Coral Rx. I am not sure what else to get.

Thank you for looking in to this.

pa1ntbru5h · Jul 4, 2017

Coral RX works well but I would also recommend Bayer. Bayer is known to be very effective but also safe for corals and its easy to get. Can be found at your local hardware store. Just search Bayer Dip.
You're going to have to dip multiple times because even if you kill off the bugs that are alive, they most likely laid eggs somewhere.

I use a mild Coral RX dip when I'm confident my frags come from clean tanks.
If the frag comes from an iffy source, I'll use Bayer.
I always either 1. scrub the frag plugs with a brush or 2. cut the coral off the frag plug and remount on a new frag plug.

Cesar Ravan · Jul 4, 2017

I will do this. Thank you. I will keep my progression in this thread.

Cesar Ravan · Jul 4, 2017

So, I just dipped my frag and you were right. I have AEFW. How often would you dip? Do you remove all the SPS and place them in QT? I only have it in that one frag.