RTN causes, treatment, prevention

[Mafiaman]

I have read several articles by Borneman, and Calfo already.
No speculation please. If you have personal experience with RTN please share it and the results.

What are the options or is it a lost cause and once spotted remove and destroy.

Thank You.

[wildernet]

In my experience once it is spotted it is too late. I have had several corals that developed RTN and I could do nothing for them. I have tried dipping and fragging the corals and neither helped. I would love to get some new things to try because there is a terrible feeling knowing there is nothing I can do to help.

[Geoff]

i have been lucky so far in my RTN events. they have been from recently fragged corals that i just introduced to the tank. i have had only one stop RTN'ing once it started. unfortunatly i do not know why that one stopped. it was the longest of all the frags.

i have had a couple of TN events. i noticed that parts of the encrusted base were receeding. the first time i saw this it was the alk that was low. once that was corrected the coral started to encrust over the dead parts. the secound time it happened it was my S.G. it got a little low. again once corrected the corals started encrusting again. in all of these cases the TN was very slow. maybe a mm a day. it was not bleaching it was dying.

hth,

G~

[Mafiaman]

Have either of you ( or anyone else) had it spread to other corals?
If so how contagious is it? How fast did it spread?

[Rick O]

I have had a few cases of RTN. It was always on recently aquired wild acro colonies. I used to try fragging once it started but I was never able to save the coral or any of the frags. I have never lost an acro that I received as a frag that had come from someone's established tank. I have never had it spread from one coral to another but I usually yank the colony when it starts.

I do have a few older colonies that start to die off at the base where it's encrusted but I speculate this is from being shaded by the top part of the colony. The tissue doesn't slough off it just recedes very slowly. Some of these have been doing this for a long time and the colony looks just fine.

[Mafiaman]

Originally posted by Rick O
I have never had it spread from one coral to another but I usually yank the colony when it starts.

That is useful info. I yanked this piece at the first signs of flesh coming off. I hope it is contained.

This morning I fragged it high above the dieing area in hopes to save a piece. It sounds as if it may have been an exercise it futility

[Mafiaman]

Originally posted by Geoff

i have had a couple of TN events. i noticed that parts of the encrusted base were receeding. the first time i saw this it was the alk that was low.
hth,

G~

My paramiters are all in line ( I'm a numbers hen I watch all the time)
But I'll keep an eye on them.

thank you.

[Mrs Smith]

We lost all our SPS a couple of years ago to an RTN event. The tank crashed at the same time, and it was likely the cause of the RTN, rather than the other way around. (We were upgrading systems - it was a disaster.) We blamed stress for the RTN, but managed to lose everything in 24 hours. Thankfully, most were frags, but still...

I've more recently gotten back into SPS, and lost a frag to RTN.It was precipitated by trauma, and even with fragging lost the frag. (Granted, it was small.) I do know that the local LFS here will frag a colony aggressively if it starts to develop TN. It works for them. I (knock knock knock on wood!) haven't had the, erm, opportunity to try it myself.

Danielle

[MsReeReee]

Chris which coral did u lose

[Mafiaman]

[MsReeReee]

Oh no that is such a pretty coral.............

[wildernet]

Hey Chris I still have that frag that you gave me. I can let you have it back and I can get another frag later. I think it will grow faster in your tank.

[Mafiaman]

Originally posted by wildernet
Hey Chris I still have that frag that you gave me. I can let you have it back and I can get another frag later. I think it will grow faster in your tank.

Thank you so much for the offer, I wont be adding anything for 60-90 days to make sure it was isolated.
My other 25 colonies seem to be OK for now.

[MsReeReee]

Was it one of your older colonies or a new one

[Mafiaman]

I've had it about 2 months, it was a wild colonie and it just shut down.