Digitata White around the Base Overnight

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Hi all,

My Digitata turned white at the base suddenly. Not too sure what went wrong as my other hammers and digitata look fine. Would appreciate any insights and what to do next.

FWIW, My tank is 3 months old, cycled with TBS live rock using Tropic Marin Pro Salt.

Water parameters:

no3- 3.6
ph- 8
po4 - .03
Cal - 400
kh- 6.7

Thanks in advance!

 

[Manpeckz]

I think most people consider 7 dKH or Alkalinity to be the lowest you want to see it. I would look to raise that towards 9 slowly.

Bump for the pros

 

[Dburr1014]

It's tough with brand new tanks and sps.
Probably rtn. If it keeps going, snip and remount, and say a prayer.

 

[njreefkeeper]

If the aquarium has always been in that 6.7-7.3 dkh range it’s fine. I’ve always kept my SPS tanks at NSW alkalinity levels for years and always found it to be less stressful on animals. Anything above that is actually elevated alkalinity. Now, if it was introduced to alkalinity of 8.5 or 9 and fell to that in a day or so I can see it being an issue.

But yes, a new tank is going to go through all sorts of things; many of which are just simply unexplainable; whether it’s live or dry rock. Two parameters you didn’t list are magnesium and nitrate. Try and see that Mg is at least 1290 and that you’ve got some single digit nitrate readings. Montipora seem to be pretty sensitive to magnesium, and not having any available nutrients in the water is the scourge of alil new tanks that act more like a desert than a healthy and full of life ecosystem. After that, try inspecting it for pests. Hopefully you don’t have monti eating nudibranchs.

 

[Dburr1014]

Two parameters you didn’t list are magnesium and nitrate. Try and see that Mg is at least 1290 and that you’ve got some single digit nitrate readings.

Water parameters:

no3- 3.6 *****
ph- 8
po4 - .03
Cal - 400
kh- 6.7

 

[njreefkeeper]

I would most likely rule out pests. It’s a pretty even and clean recession unless they’re OCD nudibranchs.

At this point I’d keep things stable for a few days and document if it’s gotten worse or stopped. How are other corals in the tank doing? I think I see a monti cap in the background there.

 

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I would most likely rule out pests. It’s a pretty even and clean recession unless they’re OCD nudibranchs.

At this point I’d keep things stable for a few days and document if it’s gotten worse or stopped. How are other corals in the tank doing? I think I see a monti cap in the background there.

It's tough with brand new tanks and sps.
Probably rtn. If it keeps going, snip and remount, and say a prayer.

Thanks for the responses!

Magnesium tested at 1380.

The digitata in question has gotten worse overnight and I can see that it has spread further up the coral unfortunately. I’ll try to frag it off and attempt to save it. :(

My other corals look good with no changes. The hammers are in the middle of splitting and the monticap in the back has started encrusting the plug from what I can see over the last month or so.

 

[njreefkeeper]

Thanks for the responses!

Magnesium tested at 1380.

The digitata in question has gotten worse overnight and I can see that it has spread further up the coral unfortunately. I’ll try to frag it off and attempt to save it. :(

My other corals look good with no changes. The hammers are in the middle of splitting and the monticap in the back has started encrusting the plug from what I can see over the last month or so.

With everything else looking good I’d say that’s the best bet. Maybe move the fragged piece to another location in the tank as well.