everything has RTN

[jrod11]

Posted a thread earlier that I have had some ALK problems.

Been looking at my tank all night and it looks like ALL my frogspawn, hammer and and other corals are getting RTN. Im starting to get really frustrated with my tank and have had a tough time in this hobby for the last year. everything has seemed to go wrong.

is anyone that can lend a helping hand avail this weekend to check out my problem? I know that seems like a lot to ask, but im not sure what to do at this point and i'm at a complete loss. A year ago my tank was kicking ass and it took a dive. I thought i had the problem worked out, but i guess I was wrong. My tank used to make me so happy. Now it just brings pain and frustration.....

Jared

[ReefMaster]

damn sorry to hear that, I'll set a couple frags aside for you when things are better.
I know what that feels like.

[jrod11]

damn sorry to hear that, I'll set a couple frags aside for you when things are better.
I know what that feels like.

I have been really busy with work lately, so I could see how my alk slipped. but frogspawn getting RTN because of that? the part that is so frustrating is that I have no idea what is causing it.

[seesquared]

thats a bummer man..
what water do you use? what do you dose and how much? what kinda chemicals do you put in your tank? what lights do you have and whats your cycle? have you messed with anything recently?

[jrod11]

1. metal halides and actincs
2. top off with kalkwasser
3. b-ionic when levels are low

Things started going south when i started using b-ionic again.

[seesquared]

could you be putting too much in? do you use RODI water? are your test kits wack? it could be many things but if your frogspawn and things are doing bad you must be having some thing major going on. try just using scripps water thats been run through a micon bag for a while and only dose a little bionic if any. i have used scripps for a while before i had dosers and didn't dose all the time and things were growing fine, just not as fast. top off with good water and you should be fine.

[jrod11]

I use RODI water. maybe my test kits are expired?

[seesquared]

ya i dunno bud? just stop dosing if all your stuff is dying and use scripps and plain rodi with no kalkwasser. keeping it simple can work sometimes, but thats just like an opinion, man.

[jrod11]

ya i dunno bud? just stop dosing if all your stuff is dying and use scripps and plain rodi with no kalkwasser. keeping it simple can work sometimes, but thats just like an opinion, man.

lol. check your pms

[stephj03]

What size tank is this? Is there any way you can double check your alk on a different kit? Have you checked for stray voltage? When was the last time you checked PH? Do you have any angels or butterflies? How many fish and what kind do you have? What is your normal WC regimen and salt mix or do you use scripps? I might be able to swing by this weekend. If you can't find someone between now and then drop me a line.

[sgriffin760]

what is RTN

[Som1else]

Double check your salinity, and have someone else check it too. Preferably with a refractometer. High Salinity causes rtn.

[naso tang]

"kalkwasser in top off". Could it be kalk overdose (ie kalk sludge)? I've stressed frogspawn and sps before when using kalk paste due to pH swing...a little vinegar can fix that but ID the prob first, I'm betting pH is high.

Good luck and hope you don't lose any livestock.

PS. maybe run some carbon and water change too in case you got some chemical warfare going on?

[jrod11]

What size tank is this? Is there any way you can double check your alk on a different kit? Have you checked for stray voltage? When was the last time you checked PH? Do you have any angels or butterflies? How many fish and what kind do you have? What is your normal WC regimen and salt mix or do you use scripps? I might be able to swing by this weekend. If you can't find someone between now and then drop me a line.


125 gallon tank
will check alk with different kit
don't have anything to check for stray voltage. Never felt anything with hand in the tank if i have a hang nail or something like i have on other tanks before
checked PH last week, was fine.
I have one coral beauty angelfish that has been with me for 3 years
Have 8 fish: hippo tang, yellow tang, royal gramma, mandrin, flame hawkfish, six line wrasse, mystery wrasse, 2 ocellaris clowns
Have been doing about 15 gallon water changes once a week, sometimes every two weeks. I make my own at the moment.

[jrod11]

"kalkwasser in top off". Could it be kalk overdose (ie kalk sludge)? I've stressed frogspawn and sps before when using kalk paste due to pH swing...a little vinegar can fix that but ID the prob first, I'm betting pH is high.

Good luck and hope you don't lose any livestock.

PS. maybe run some carbon and water change too in case you got some chemical warfare going on?

Can you describe kalk sludge? IS that the super milky white thinck stuff? I normally will let it sit for a while so that the white junk settles at the bottom and then the stuff that gets dosed is clear.

[Nick_Kun]

what is your exact parms and do you have a pic of your tank?

[jrod11]

what is your exact parms and do you have a pic of your tank?

I'll retest everything tonight and then take pictures too.

[jrod11]

what is RTN

RTN is rapid tissue necrosis (sp?)

It looks like the tissue is being pulled off the skeleton of the coral. Painful to watch for me at the moment.

[Bogg]

What test kits are you using and how old are they?. Water changes.

[jrod11]

What test kits are you using and how old are they?. Water changes.

API alk and it is a over a year. not sure how long they last for?
Calc is an ELOS test kit and had that for about 6 months.
Mag I cant remember

bogg do you have an ALK elos kit i can grab? I can come by after work today or whenever.

[luv4qt1004]

do a water change. thats the best u can do. and dont dose anything. try doing like 15-20G water changes like twice a week instead of once a week.

[jrod11]

Started mixing water late last night, hopefully will be ready to go tonight.

Thanks for the help everyone. Still looking to see if anyone is available to check out my situation if available.

[jrod11]

Just changed out about 17 gallons. borrowed a refractometer and turns out that my hydrometer was off. salinity was at 1.030 when according to my hydrometer it was 1.026. Last time i use that thing.

[luv4qt1004]

it could be that. i had my salinity at 1.03 before and it was still fine. could be something else

[jrod11]

it could be that. i had my salinity at 1.03 before and it was still fine. could be something else

Unfortunately i think this is only one part of the problem.

Meeting Bogg tomorrow after work and bringing him some water. He was nice enough to help me test the water with some different test kits.

[naso tang]

Can you describe kalk sludge? IS that the super milky white thinck stuff? I normally will let it sit for a while so that the white junk settles at the bottom and then the stuff that gets dosed is clear.

That's what I meant but doesn't sound like that's your prob since you'd tested pH and it wasn't out of whack. I have confidence these resident experts will help you figure it out though...

[jrod11]

got the salinity now down to 1.028.....bringing it down slowly

[jrod11]

Brought the salinity down and it was at 1.026 this morning. The octospawn looked better than it did yesterday morning. Actually looked somewhat inflated even.

With the 18 gallon water change, and then removing a bunch of saltwater and replacing it with RODI, i think i might have done close to a 35 gallon water change last night.

Making more water to do another water change tomorrow.

[drainbamage]

Keep us posted. I might have some time this weekend to check it out, but honestly you just doing water changes is probably going to be the biggest thing. Also think of maybe adding a chemical adsorbent media such as chemi-pure or something just to absorb any possible toxins from the pissed off corals.

[jrod11]

Keep us posted. I might have some time this weekend to check it out, but honestly you just doing water changes is probably going to be the biggest thing. Also think of maybe adding a chemical adsorbent media such as chemi-pure or something just to absorb any possible toxins from the pissed off corals.

Let me know if you do have some time. The last 8 months with my tank has been a very humbling experience. It can't hurt to get as many opinions as possible!

[jrod11]

Met with Bogg tonight and he was incredibly helpful. We tested everything. The high salinity has already been addressed and aside from that i had an ALK of 6. Adding a few corals dropped me my alk to a point that I couldnt maintain with just kalkwasser.

I have a jasper reactor that I'm going to set up to fix the alk problem. The salinity might have been the cause for the RTN, the octospawn looks better.

[jrod11]

Update:

Thanks to boggs help, I have had the jasper calcium reactor up and running for a week. It has held steady alk and calcium params, but unforunately I am still losing corals to RTN. I'm at the point where i almost have no corals anymore. I'm hoping that things will bottom out and that they will start adjusting to the new params and start to heal up. Any input or advice?

[jesse100g]

Wow. This is quite the saga. Keep the readers posted. I'm newish to the hobby and all the stories on here have been very educational. Sorry about your loss. I feel your pain on the frustrations. Going through some myself. Makes the hobby difficult to enjoy sometimes. But I asm hopefull...

[jrod11]

Got a barrell of scripps water and changed some out last night and plan on doing 15 gallon water changes every day.

I'm starting to wonder if my sand bed is exhausted or maybe even toxic. Do you guys replace your sandbed? Stir it up? If so how often?

[jesse100g]

I've been told to change it every 1.5 yrs. But that was because I had a nitrate problem

[stephj03]

I have heard that iodine dips can help, but I haven't ever tried this on a coral that was RTNing

[bpro32]

I've revive-dipped stuff that was STNing and reversed the effects, but I dont know that it would help you at this point :/

[jrod11]

Currently contemplating starting over with new sand bed and new LR. fish are totally fine. Wish the rest of the tank was as easy as my fish!

[stephj03]

Are you sure you don't have any coral pests? AEFW, red bugs, asterina stars?

[jrod11]

Are you sure you don't have any coral pests? AEFW, red bugs, asterina stars?

Never seen any flatworms or red bugs. Every once in a while an asternina will show up, but I remove it. Sent you a PM btw..

[jesse100g]

Isn't there something u could do for the lr versus replacing it? That could be pricey. Just a thought

[jrod11]

Isn't there something u could do for the lr versus replacing it? That could be pricey. Just a thought

never heard of one, but if you know how let me know! lol

[bpro32]

never heard of one, but if you know how let me know! lol

bake it, boil it, freshwater soak then dry it out in the sun... lots you can do :)

[jrod11]

bake it, boil it, freshwater soak then dry it out in the sun... lots you can do :)

Learn something new everyday. Right on!

Just finished doing about a 35 gallon water change. by this weekend i will have changed out 100% of the water in my tank.

[bpro32]

if you think the sand is the problem, siphon out a little at a time with water changes, but only a little. As long as you do it slow you shouldn't do any extra damage.

[jrod11]

i'm slowly crossing off problem factors off my list. That will be my next one of things dont start looking up. Thanks for the info

[jesse100g]

Good advice on the lr. Mine was gonna be pull it out and just let it dry and die, but I lag. I was told as far as the sand bed, I was told to remove 1/4 at a time at weekly water change time. Then replace all at once. Info from Ron at octopuss garden, good guy in my book. He suggested that I remove sand as said above, then leave it. Not sand bed. That's how he rolls. But idk....I'm still kinda torn on that one. : )

[hwntunda]

so hows everything doing lately? hope alot better!

[jrod11]

Doing a little bit better, but work is taking over once again :( I don't think i'm cut out for anything more than LPS.

[hwntunda]

hopefully with time everything will recover...