Reef_Crasher
Community Member
A bit over a month ago I got my first Acropora (booberry) frag and it was doing pretty well in my Nuvo 20 for the first three weeks. Though in the past several days, first noticed Oct 7th, this frag started showing spots of skeleton at the tips of the Corallites. The day before I do recall noticing a small white ring forming around the base.
(image above, this was taken Sep 24 a bit over 2 weeks ago. Parameters recorded that day: pH 8.2 Nitrate 2.5 dKH 10 Calcium 460)
When I noticed the skeleton I did some testing and noticed some parameters were low though the major thing that stood out was that the water temp was at 75°F. I usually keep the tank at 78°F but had to turn the heater (Eheim Jager 50w) down during the summer so the temperatures could have dropped even lower when nights started getting colder. In the end, I ended up doing a 33% water change in the end to also replenish some of the parameters.
(image above, this was taken Oct 7. Parameters recorded that day: Salinity 1.025 pH 7.8 Nitrate 0.2 dKH 9 Calcium 440 Magnesium 1280)
That night after the water change the acro looked a lot happier with the polyps more extended though you can see where the skeleton is exposed better now. I also turned the heater up a bit though started to suspect the heater possibly not being as consistent for the colder nights.
(image above, this was taken Oct 7 later that night)
The water change might have raised the parameters a bit too rapidly so I was a bit worried about that, though for that day and the next I didn't see any more skeleton get exposed. During this time I also picked up an Inkbird UTC-306A temp controller to make sure temperatures were a lot more stable.
(image above, this was taken Oct 8. Parameters recorded that day: pH 8.2 Nitrate 0.2 dKH 10)
As I started to think things might have slowed down on the 10th I noticed another spot of skeleton appearing so I ended up doing another water test. At this point I wasn't sure why things were still slowly declining with this specific acropora. Parameters and temperature looked fine and all my other SPS (Montipora digitata, Plating Montipora, and some Seriatoporas) have looked fine and even healthier the whole time.
(image above, this was taken Oct 10th. Parameters recorded that day: Salinity 1.025 pH 8.2 Ammonia (undetectable) Nitrite (undetectable) Nitrate 0.2 Phosphate (undetectable) dKH 9.3 Calcium 450 Magnesium 1320)
For now I'll keep maintaining parameters to be as stable as possible and see how tings go. Today, I did move the frag a bit further from the light closer to it's original location and testing results were quite similar to yesterdays. I also added activated carbon that I'll keep for a couple days just in case it could have been toxins from my soft corals (Palythoa, Nephthea, and Zoanthids). This is the first time I've experienced this so I wasn't completely sure if it is STN cause I haven't seen images of STN like this before. As of now my current suspicion is that it was a mixture of the dropped parameters then the sudden temperature drop due to the cold nights that might have pushed the acro over the tipping point of stress though if anyone has thoughts of what might be coursing this, I'm open to any ideas.
(image above, this was taken Oct 11th. Parameters recorded that day: Salinity 1.025 pH 8.2 Ammonia (undetectable) Nitrite (undetectable) Nitrate 0.2 Phosphate (undetectable) dKH 9.1 Calcium 440 Magnesium 1320)
(image above, this was taken Sep 24 a bit over 2 weeks ago. Parameters recorded that day: pH 8.2 Nitrate 2.5 dKH 10 Calcium 460)
When I noticed the skeleton I did some testing and noticed some parameters were low though the major thing that stood out was that the water temp was at 75°F. I usually keep the tank at 78°F but had to turn the heater (Eheim Jager 50w) down during the summer so the temperatures could have dropped even lower when nights started getting colder. In the end, I ended up doing a 33% water change in the end to also replenish some of the parameters.
(image above, this was taken Oct 7. Parameters recorded that day: Salinity 1.025 pH 7.8 Nitrate 0.2 dKH 9 Calcium 440 Magnesium 1280)
That night after the water change the acro looked a lot happier with the polyps more extended though you can see where the skeleton is exposed better now. I also turned the heater up a bit though started to suspect the heater possibly not being as consistent for the colder nights.
(image above, this was taken Oct 7 later that night)
The water change might have raised the parameters a bit too rapidly so I was a bit worried about that, though for that day and the next I didn't see any more skeleton get exposed. During this time I also picked up an Inkbird UTC-306A temp controller to make sure temperatures were a lot more stable.
(image above, this was taken Oct 8. Parameters recorded that day: pH 8.2 Nitrate 0.2 dKH 10)
As I started to think things might have slowed down on the 10th I noticed another spot of skeleton appearing so I ended up doing another water test. At this point I wasn't sure why things were still slowly declining with this specific acropora. Parameters and temperature looked fine and all my other SPS (Montipora digitata, Plating Montipora, and some Seriatoporas) have looked fine and even healthier the whole time.
(image above, this was taken Oct 10th. Parameters recorded that day: Salinity 1.025 pH 8.2 Ammonia (undetectable) Nitrite (undetectable) Nitrate 0.2 Phosphate (undetectable) dKH 9.3 Calcium 450 Magnesium 1320)
For now I'll keep maintaining parameters to be as stable as possible and see how tings go. Today, I did move the frag a bit further from the light closer to it's original location and testing results were quite similar to yesterdays. I also added activated carbon that I'll keep for a couple days just in case it could have been toxins from my soft corals (Palythoa, Nephthea, and Zoanthids). This is the first time I've experienced this so I wasn't completely sure if it is STN cause I haven't seen images of STN like this before. As of now my current suspicion is that it was a mixture of the dropped parameters then the sudden temperature drop due to the cold nights that might have pushed the acro over the tipping point of stress though if anyone has thoughts of what might be coursing this, I'm open to any ideas.
(image above, this was taken Oct 11th. Parameters recorded that day: Salinity 1.025 pH 8.2 Ammonia (undetectable) Nitrite (undetectable) Nitrate 0.2 Phosphate (undetectable) dKH 9.1 Calcium 440 Magnesium 1320)
