Question on sps RTN/STN

[chselee]

Hi guru,

How to tell sps is RTN/STN?

Does it mean when it turn brown it's RTN/STN?

[FuEl]

turning Brown is just a process an acro goes through to adapt to new lighting or other water conditions.

STN occurs over weeks, even months.

RTN will kill the sps within a day or two.

[RAV-65]

turning Brown is just a process an acro goes through to adapt to new lighting or other water conditions.

STN occurs over weeks, even months.

RTN will kill the sps within a day or two.

Bro, besides the acro turning white, any other tell tale signs?

[chselee]

turning Brown is just a process an acro goes through to adapt to new lighting or other water conditions.

STN occurs over weeks, even months.

RTN will kill the sps within a day or two.

I'm newbie on sps.

How can we tell the sps is STN, RTN or adapt to new enviroment?

If it's STN, do I need to frag it off from the colony, any cure?

I know if it's RTN, need to frag it off immediately, no cure.

BTW, how to diffrentiate the the above symptoms?

[FuEl]

As long as you don't see the skeleton don't worry too much. If the sps polyps are extended it is a good indicator that it is doing well. If you notice rapid sloughing of tissue resulting in the skeleton showing rapidly, frag the sps asap above the receeding mark (frag it anywhere on the unaffected tissue area). Something like fighting a bushfire if you know what I mean. Tissue will slough off rapidly too if you place your sps too near a water jet (in this case you don't need to frag as it is not disease related).

STN should recover once the coral has adapted to captive conditions or has overcome other forms of stress. If it gets worse consider other factors like water movement, distance from light etc.

Hope you understand what I'm talking about. My english online seems to be getting from bad to worse...

[chselee]

Bro, besides the acro turning white, any other tell tale signs?

Hi bro,

I'm still monitoring the progress.

Performed water test today.

PH - 8

KH - 20dKH

Ca - 500ppm

NO2 - 0.1 ppm

NH4 + NH3 < 0.5mg/l

Do not have test kit for NO3.

[Achilles Tang]

STN = Slow Tissue Necrosis

RTN = Rapid Tissue Necrosis

Tissue Necrosis means that the living tissue is sloughed off the coral skeleton and it is triggered by tremendous stress brought upon by diseases, drastic enviromental change or the other many factors.

The rate usually is either slow or rapid.. hence the terms used. It usually refers to SPS corals.

It is different from tissue recession where the living tissue slowly recedes away as a slow die-off.... usually as a result of poor lighting underneath the coral or poor water circulation.

Fragging corals usually is advisable to save whatever remains of a coral.

When RTN is spotted on the tips of a few of the branches, you must break them off away from the main body to save the body.

When the base is RTNing.. you can frag the branches and discard the base.

The frags can be saved to grow into new colonies.

AT

[FuEl]

What test kits are you using? Your calcium and esp kH levels are unbelievably high! NSW has calcium levels of around 350-380ppm with kH levels around 6-8 depending on location. Most people try to keep their kH above 8 to minimise pH swings at night. kH levels of 8-12 are the norm for sps keepers. 20 is......

[chselee]

As long as you don't see the skeleton don't worry too much. If the sps polyps are extended it is a good indicator that it is doing well. If you notice rapid sloughing of tissue resulting in the skeleton showing rapidly, frag the sps asap above the receeding mark (frag it anywhere on the unaffected tissue area). Something like fighting a bushfire if you know what I mean. Tissue will slough off rapidly too if you place your sps too near a water jet (in this case you don't need to frag as it is not disease related).

STN should recover once the coral has adapted to captive conditions or has overcome other forms of stress. If it gets worse consider other factors like water movement, distance from light etc.

Hope you understand what I'm talking about. My english online seems to be getting from bad to worse...

Thks for the valueless info bro.

Will monitor the colony and see how it go.

Keep my finger close to see if the polyn extending.

[FuEl]

huh...my advice is valueless.. hahaha...jokes aside..omg..you have a colony in your tank when there is measurable ammonia & nitrites? Not too good news already...

[chselee]

What test kits are you using? Your calcium and esp kH levels are unbelievably high! NSW has calcium levels of around 350-380ppm with kH levels around 6-8 depending on location. Most people try to keep their kH above 8 to minimise pH swings at night. kH levels of 8-12 are the norm for sps keepers. 20 is......

JBL testkits.

AT.

I'm using 2x of 24W T5 and 1x 17 ZooMed Atinic FL.

Temp is around 27 deg.

[FuEl]

Hmmm..advice..dump the JBL testkits as they are known to be grossly inaccurate. Get reliable brands like salifert or mini-labour test kits. I have tried salifert..one of the best brands around. I will be trying mini-labour next..heard quite good reviews from other reefers.

[RAV-65]

Hmmm..advice..dump the JBL testkits as they are known to be grossly inaccurate. Get reliable brands like salifert or mini-labour test kits. I have tried salifert..one of the best brands around. I will be trying mini-labour next..heard quite good reviews from other reefers.

Seems like the minilab, not too bad... Didn't get one but I had the opportunity to examine one closely...

[RAV-65]

Btw, how long does it normally take for the acro to start showing polyp extension? As in how long does it take to acclimatise?

[SharkBait]

Btw, how long does it normally take for the acro to start showing polyp extension? As in how long does it take to acclimatise?

A healthy acro should extend its polyps a few hours after you place it in your aquarium.

[chselee]

A healthy acro should extend its polyps a few hours after you place it in your aquarium.

If KH is too high, will it hurm the sps??

Will test the NO3 2morrow after getting the testkits.

[roger]

No3? KH?

Are you sure you know how to keep Acro? Bro, you should not try acros until you try easy corals first. high No3 is not good. and how high is your KH?

[RAV-65]

If KH is too high, will it hurm the sps??

Will test the NO3 2morrow after getting the testkits.

Bro, suggest u get salifert testkits, they are more accurate...

[RAV-65]

No3? KH?

Are you sure you know how to keep Acro? Bro, you should not try acros until you try easy corals first. high No3 is not good. and how high is your KH?

Bro, care to share some secrets on keeping SPS?!

[jd_n]

There r no secrets on keepin sps. Success with sps usually revloves ard Matured tank, proper lighting, perfect water conditions, feeding, knowing their requirements etc.

[RAV-65]

There r no secrets on keepin sps. Success with sps usually revloves ard Matured tank, proper lighting, perfect water conditions, feeding, knowing their requirements etc.

Bro, my tank is about 6 mths old.... using 250W MH 14,000KK, water parameters are as below :

Amm : 0

No2 : 0

no3 : 5ppm

Po4 : Undetectable

Silicates : Undetectable

dkh : 8

Cal : 380

Tried feeding a little golden pearls, but dun see much polyp extension, is it okay? Anything else I need to take care of?

Vincent Ho

[jd_n]

Try increasin ur calcium above the 400 mark and alkalinity to ard 10 and maintain tis parameters. A CR will help in maintain, if u r currently runnin one then u may nd to retune it. If not, regular testin and dosin is required.

How's the flow like in ur tank? Good water flow is very impt in a sps tank as they enjoy good water circulation but not direct flow. Tunze will do the job.

Any means of nutrients export to counter ur nitrate? Reducing it would be greatly advisable. GPs r good form of food for sps . A mix of 5-50nm and 50-100nm would be great but provided water circulation in the tank r good else some will get it some will not. Do not be too bothered with polyps extension. Some sps juz do not show much polyps extension. Chk out ur tank an hr after light off with a touch lite. U shd c pretty good polyps extension from ur sps.

Other than tat, regular dosing of iodide, strongtium r also advisable.

[surfedelic]

I have noticed one of my colony only extend the polyp in the night and when I on the MH the polyp usu disappeared - I am using 250 MH 14K - depth of tank is 13 inch .... Any reason why it is doing this ?

[DeepBlue]

I have noticed my colonies and frags have similar problems before...upon closer investigation...the polyps do extend under the MH light...but not as much. My guesses is that probably they extend further at nite for grasping food ..

Maybe the SPS gurus can confirm that...

polyps do extend during day time, some are more obvious, like milleporas.

[tineng]

i have a 3 SPS that does not seems to have any polyps extension...but they still retain the color that they where.....brown with slight purple...it has been weeks already.....so are they dead?