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View Full Version : Is my SPS a goner?


sminker
06/27/2009, 05:41 PM
Dont know whats wrong. New to the SPS world. This didnt happen over night but over about 2-3 weeks.

http://i726.photobucket.com/albums/ww265/sminker/purplething.jpg

sminker
06/27/2009, 05:44 PM
its both of these guys. everything else is doing great.

http://i726.photobucket.com/albums/ww265/sminker/greenthing.jpg

Ohiomom
06/27/2009, 06:04 PM
Don't know much about sps..but if you post parameters I am sure it will help others..

luther1200
06/27/2009, 06:25 PM
If it was me I would hurry up and frag them. So you don't lose the whole thing. The first time this happened to me I waited for it to fix itself and it never did. If the bleached spots were smaller I would say give it a chance but they look fairly large. You want to cut it at least 1/4" into healthy tissue.

ludnix
06/27/2009, 06:43 PM
It looks like tissue necrosis, I would do as luther said and frag 1/4" above where the edge of the flesh is.

I've experienced this when my parameters were off and I wasn't acclimating correctly.

Can you post your parameters (Ca, Alk, pH, Mg) and how you acclimated these corals?

plyle02
06/27/2009, 07:46 PM
rtn for sure... rapid tissue necrosis... You may be able to salvage the top of the 1st pic, and maybe the top branches in the 2nd pic. If you do so, remove all suspect corals from the tank, IME, necrosis becomes a plague, for me, usually 2-3 losses when this happens. Check your params, when they rtn, they are clearly not happy, I would advise consistent testing over the next several days... GL

plyle02
06/27/2009, 07:52 PM
another thought,
I noticed the plugs the corals are mounted to. Are they wild or maricultured? If your tank is not completely balanced, and closely matching the specs of the water that wild/maricultured corals are used to, they tend acclimate poorly. Light plays a role too.. IME, this usually leads to RTN. Unfortunately, I usually lose at least 2-3 other corals during this event, even aquacultered sometimes.

VacavilleFC3S
06/27/2009, 07:59 PM
what is your alkalinity?????

cham
06/27/2009, 08:36 PM
Please post alk and lowest PH reading your tank is giving (at night usually).

Its always possible to have a bad test kit.

sminker
06/27/2009, 10:20 PM
ph is around 8.0-8.2
alk 8.5-9
calcuim 480
nitrite 0
nitrate 0 (i have never had any detectable nitrates, tested on 3 different kits)
ammon 0
salinity 1.025-1.026
temp never goes above 81, average is about 78-79

sorry no magnesium test kit yet. im running 4x39 Actinic, 2x80 Aquablue+, and 2x54 Aquablue+. individual reflectors.

i kept them on the bottom for two weeks and it was slowly getting worse, so i put them just over halfway up the tank for the last week to see if it would help.

all my non-SPS are doing great. gave my brain a sunburn when i added my 2x80's. he is starting to color back up.

http://i726.photobucket.com/albums/ww265/sminker/bubble.jpg
http://i726.photobucket.com/albums/ww265/sminker/brain.jpg
http://i726.photobucket.com/albums/ww265/sminker/plating.jpg
http://i726.photobucket.com/albums/ww265/sminker/cup.jpg

douglam
06/27/2009, 10:53 PM
look for AWEF's

pwoller
06/28/2009, 12:27 AM
I would frag the good parts and spread them out in your tank. Dip them in revive or some other pest dip and see if there is some sort of pest on it.

tmz
06/28/2009, 01:02 AM
Check phosphate.

chasekwe
06/28/2009, 05:02 AM
How old is the tank?

Uncle Luke
06/28/2009, 07:17 AM
What kind of flow and lighting to you have?

sminker
06/28/2009, 08:17 AM
sorry phosphates are 0 also.

sminker
06/28/2009, 08:18 AM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15269678#post15269678 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Uncle Luke
What kind of flow and lighting to you have?

424 watts of T5 with individual reflectors. 2 Kor 4's. One in each corner pointed towards the middle.

plyle02
06/28/2009, 09:04 AM
Looking closely at your sps corals, they do appear to be mounted to maricultured plugs, this is why I asked if they were maricultured or wild. I NEVER take one home unless I have watched it for at least 4-6 weeks at the LFS. They acclimate very poorly, and if they survive at the store for at least this period of time, it will help to ensure survival in your tank. Could be a pest, but I doubt it, AEFW usually pretty slow death. You can check for RB's, but I doubt that either. Post in the SPS forum if you get the chance. Maricultured and Wild are very hard to keep, and would not recommend unless you have been succesfully keeping sps for awhile. They are finicky and do not have a great survival rate, monti looks good, but they are usually more hardy, acros not... I have a hard time not purchasing those nice size mini-colonies, and the price, just hard to turn them down, but have gone through alot over the years, and only have 1 currently surviving. Everything else in the tank is aquacultured...
GL

sminker
06/28/2009, 09:49 AM
I would love to let them sit at the store longer but my normal LFS only gets in a few pieces at a time and you gotta grab them before their gone. Guess ill just stick to the plastic plug frags, lol.

Im going to one that is 40+ miles away to pick up an Australian Wall Hammer today. Ill see if they have any plugs so i can frag these guys when i get home. The green one still has polyp extensions on the unaffected areas, so im hoping for the best.

screwtape
06/28/2009, 10:57 AM
2 weeks on the bottom is too long a time IMO. Half way up is better but they may have already kicked off the receding cycle. You could try moving them up even higher, or take a frag off of both and leave the frag at middle height and move the main piece up higher.

Tswifty
06/28/2009, 12:29 PM
That's STN... Slow Tissue Necrosis... not RTN... Rapid Tissue Necrosis occurs in just a few hours or overnight... STN takes much longer.

In my experience, too little lighting, or shifts in alkalinity have caused it in my system before. As others mentioned, you can frag away the healthy tips and remount them. However, I've only had about 50% (maybe less) success saving them after I notice STN.

Good luck.

tmz
06/28/2009, 01:19 PM
Sometimes the fragging works. I wait a long while with stn to see if it will abate . If not .I'll frag at least a 1/4 inch into good tissue. Sometimes fragging too much seems to shock the coral and the frags. It might be better to pick one solid frag now and wait out the rest.

chasekwe
06/28/2009, 03:02 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15269482#post15269482 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by chasekwe
How old is the tank?

I noticed you didn't answer my question, if the tank is very new that is useful information to aid us in assisting you.

Help us help you.

sminker
06/28/2009, 03:52 PM
sorry, its about 1 1/2 years old. Rock was from a 4 year old 180 gallon reef.

i fragged it, ill post pics in a bit. gotta hit walmart with the wife.

1DeR9_3Hy
06/28/2009, 05:07 PM
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=15271690#post15271690 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by sminker
sorry, its about 1 1/2 years old. Rock was from a 4 year old 180 gallon reef.

i fragged it, ill post pics in a bit. gotta hit walmart with the wife.

While your at it, hit it for me as well.

How many frags did you end up getting? Did you do a dip?

sminker
06/28/2009, 05:20 PM
that rock will look sweet if i can get some growth.

http://i726.photobucket.com/albums/ww265/sminker/fraggedgreenthing.jpg