RTN Questions

[captexas]

Could it be kidney failure from all the Vodka? lol, sorry, had to say it! :)

Seriously though, the calcium/alk relationship is a bit complicated and as I have had issues with my tank and reactor I want to tag along here.

[NaCl_H2O]

Could it be kidney failure from all the Vodka?

ROFLMAO - I'm gonna bust a gut :)

I don't think Ca of 350 is all that bad, probably a realistic level with your load. I'm lucky to push mine to 400, and it typically sits at about 360.

Obviously the prolonged Vodka dosing has to be considered, esp. the "Double" you ordered for the tank yesterday ;)

Maybe you should try dropping in a few olives? ;)

[GaryP]

I'm thinking that the bacterial bloom may have more likely caused a low oxygen level. A depleted NO3 & PO4 level is also possible.

However, RTN is usually caused by a bacterial infection of the coral I thought. This may have been something else besides RTN.

How much did the triple dose of calcium raise your levels and over what period of time?

[NaCl_H2O]

4) The tank temp is showing to be 79 degrees, which is odd as it normally fluctuates between 82-84

Uh, maybe you should take the Vodka out of the freezer :o

[Richard]

Are you sure it's rtn? Usually you would see sloughing or some signs of tissue loss.

I usually assume that a suddenly clean looking pearly white acro is just a bleached acro. In which case they will sometimes recover. I had an an ugly brown acro that bleached completely white in a day when I changed my lighting. A month later now and it is back to being an ugly brown acro. I think I liked it better when it was white :roll

[theedprado]

any sudden change in the system can cause stress on the acros, making them more vulnerable to rtn and other illnesses. since you just put a lot of new stuff in your tank you may have introduced something undesirable to the system. or, the extra livestock just used up your ca etc quicker than before. Also, i am assuming that the colonies were wild caught and not aquacultured. not knowing where the corals were from exactly, light levals, flow rates, nutrient levals, bla bla bla, are hard to recreate. I have always had better luck with aquacultured acros. I am sure you have seen many skeletons at fish stores, so if you only lost a couple of frags, you are doing pretty good, i have seen entire orders die within a couple of hours of arriving. if it is rtn, it can be contagious. so watch out for the nearby frags. I think Eric Borneman was working on a thesis on rtn, I am not sure if it is published. it seems that this term is used to describe many different infections with the same result. good luck, let us know how it works out.

[brewercm]

Maybe you should try dropping in a few olives?

So is this added shaken or stirred. :lol

Sorry Josh, had to do it.
Let us know what you do find out though if anything.

[alexwolf]

I would like to see where it shows RTN is caused by bacteria. I recently lost an entire shipment of acros, all of which came in dead and i would tend to believe there are other factors involved. When Tim did that tricolor order almost a year ago, everything was fine for several weeks until one day BAM, 3 colonies lost within a matter of hours. I have had good success now by dipping the corals in the Seachem Reef Dip before they go into the tank. Why, I dont know.

[alexwolf]

Yeah, that makes sense. BUT, how does that explain what happens days, weeks, or months down the road? Does the bacteria lie dormant then just attack?

[Reef69]

ok, My cap has RTN...******!!!

[jaded]

does anyone have a link that would explain what RTN is?

[Reef69]

I found the cause of the problem. I bought an acro last week (not going to name stores) and it had the clear mucous coating, but i didnt give it importance..My cap had a small dead spot last night, and this morning is almost less that half the cap white..im dipping the cap and the coral that had the bacteria at first right now...******..

[GaryP]

Here you go:

http://www.reefcentral.com/members/EricHugo/rtn.htm

[GaryP]

Here you go:

http://www.reefcentral.com/members/EricHugo/rtn.htm

[Reef69]

I dipped both corals on a gallon of water from the tank and added 40 drops of Luglols to the gallon, they were in there for 20 minutes..

[GaryP]

I just lost a great millepora colony from RTN. Lugol's didn't help at all. I should have fragged the healthy branches and started from scratch. The only other time I had RTN that's what I did and I saved some of it.

[Reef69]

Should i do something else then?

[GaryP]

Read the article I quoted. It gives some alternative treatments using antibiotics.

[Reef69]

Another good article with FAQ's...

http://www.reefs.org/library/talklog/c_bingman_040697.html

[gjuarez]

I have a green slimer that is STNing on me. Should I follow the same procedures?

[Reef69]

I just follwed the instructions...