Stn

[jdhuyvetter]

OK boys and girls.....put on your thinking caps.

I've got a GARF tricolor nana that is experiencing STN. I seem to be loosing 1/16 to 1/8 inch a day. From the inside.

At first, I thought it was stress due to a coral spawning (pocillipora) that really ticked off everybody. However, everyone else has bounced back with minimal or no tissue loss.

I did notice a gorilla crab the other day inside the coral. Don't know if that is the cause or not. (He will be fish food later tonight)

I can see a little bit of clear to white stringy slime at some of the dead/dying spots. No red bugs. I don't believe there are AEFW (can't see any and no other Acros are affected).

Params listed below are fairly consistent (and have been for over a year).

pH - 8.0 to 8.1
kH - 8 to 9
nitrates - 0 to 10 (depending on which test kit)

The base is dead, so I am cutting off the whole colony tonight to dip it. I'll frag up the rest and put the majority back in the tank. Colony started 2 years ago as a 1.5-inch frag on a plug. Today it is about 12 inches tall and about 10 inches around. I'll probably end up with a "frag" that is about 7-8 inches tall by about 6 inches wide...plus a bucketfull of smaller pieces.

Just looking for ideas. I'm at work, so no pics. I'll post some tonight when I get home.

Thanks

[deklin]

If you're seeing STN from the inside the first thing I would check is flow. Is it getting a healthy dose of indirect flow?

This happened to my green birdsnest colony before. As it grew larger, less flow was making it through the colony and started to see a very slow STN from the bottom and middle. Once I repositioned my power heads, it recovered fairly quickly.

[jdhuyvetter]

I't's the centerpiece of the tank. Probably has more flow than any other coral. However, the side that doesn't have as much STN is nearest to one of the two tunze's. So, I don't think it is the cause, but may be part of the solution.

[jdhuyvetter]

Some pics, sorry, didn't clean the glass before I took the pics.

FTS, colony is in the middle
<a href="http://s561.photobucket.com/albums/ss55/jdhuyvetter/?action=view&current=PICT0477.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss55/jdhuyvetter/PICT0477.jpg" border="0" alt="FTS"></a>

<a href="http://s561.photobucket.com/albums/ss55/jdhuyvetter/?action=view&current=PICT0479.jpg" target="_blank"><img src="http://i561.photobucket.com/albums/ss55/jdhuyvetter/PICT0479.jpg" border="0" alt="A. nana colony"></a>

[kemann]

Sorry to hear about that. It's a beautiful coral. I am normally very aggressive about cutting away unhealthy parts of the coral but it would be hard for me to take apart a great specimen like that. Were going to try and dip the whole thing before fragging it or did you go ahead and cut it apart. I'm not sure which way I would go.

[jdhuyvetter]

I was going to dip the whole thing. About 1/2 on the back and right side seems to be unaffected. I'm going to try to salvage that as one big piece and frag the rest.

[jdhuyvetter]

I'm holding off until tomorrow night. Had to make room in the frag tank and mix up a fresh batch of water. Might as well do a partial water change while I'm at it.

[kemann]

That sounds good. Its such a nice big thing that it would be great to save as big a piece as possible. Do you think that it would be worthwhile to dip it and watch it for a day or so before fragging? If you are able to stop the RTN with a dip, maybe it would grow over.

[jdhuyvetter]

No, since I'm pulling the colony, I'm doing a bit of rearranging. I'm getting rid of the purple digitata in the background of the picture. That spot will only hold about 1/2 of the colony. I plan on pruning it so it fits in that spot and then just let it grow in.

I'm putting a turquoise tort and a bonsai coral in the area where this coral is now.