Acros receding/STN from base, what to do???

My acros have been receding and stning like crazy. I dont know what to do, My mag is high (1650). All other params are fine, Is it the mag?

Calcium 450
Alk 10
ph 8.0-8.1
phosphate 0 (hanna test kit and api)
nitrate 0
ammonia 0

 

Wow, usually this only affects a coral or two, it looks like your entire tank is affected. Honestly, I don't know if you can do much once this start. You can try to frag any healthy areas left, or do an iodine dip, but this is one of those things that we really don't know much about. It could be the mag, but I don't think it is given that I know people who keep that mg that high with no problems.

 

i had the same issue u kinda need to frag them right now every one that has it no dips worked for me make sure to cut a little more like 1/4 inch into the healthy part. what worked for me was after i fraged them i put them on a rack closer to the light and then blasted them with some random flow within 2 weeks they were encrusting the plugs if you can do this i would try it out good luck..

 

in a couple of those i have frags of the same colony not touching eachother and they both recede/stn. Iv been cutting frags off but half of them will start to recede and stn. Ill try to cut some pieces off of the ones in pics.

 

fireworms are known to transport the rtn/stn virus... maybe you have a rogue fireworm in your tank

 

whats STN?

 

RTN rapid tissue necrosis
STN slow tissue necrosis

 

im sure i have some bristle worms, hard to say if they carried it to my tank. Where did you read about fireworms carrying stn? Do i have to cut pieces off and throw out the rest to keep others from getting infected?

 

i learned it in my micro 413 class... my professor dedicated a whole slide to it lol

but your best bet is to frag each one a few times to try and get some of the tissue that does not have the virus infecting it yet. Chances are that the virus infected it a long long time ago and has just been dormant for the time being. Some environmental trigger has just made the virus become "undormant" now :/

 

I'm not sure I can help you but I would just like to point out that I think STN/RTN are a symptom of a problem, not a problem in and of itself. They are descriptions of anything that causes tissue necrosis like you're seeing and the timeframe it takes to happen. If anyone has some documentation contrary I'd love to see it, though!

My understanding is that you can get STN from poor flow, improper chemistry, some parasites cause it etc etc. RTN might be slightly more consistent because I've read that it can be a response by the coral itself to shutdown, but as to what is actually causing it to shutdown... I'm not sure most people have the capability to trace it down to a virus/bacteria/pest etc unless you have a lab handy and a good knowledge of the biology etc.

So right now I would just start trying different things that are being suggested, plus doublechecking your parameters/salinity everything against another set of test kits or at a trusted LFS.