Finding proper action on fading(?) Monti

LeonThePeon

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5014D716-1B84-428B-82C3-3EA891BC6A19.jpeg

I picked up a nice sized monti about two weeks ago. I’m trying to acclimate it to the tank by keeping it mid way at the tank (18” below and in between two AI HD Primes 17” apart).

Not running the Primes very high. 60% power usage on each max

Water parameters are:
Ph - 8.02
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - <5
SG - 1.026
Temp 79.7
PO- 0.08
CA - 380 (testing the last few days to see how much is being used and how much Kalk in ATO is necessary - was 420 a week ago)
Magnesium - 1240 (same testing being done - 1360 a week ago).


I’ve had softies for some time now and just starting my trek into SPS.

The fading on my monti is towards the “back” where there was already a lot of die off when I bought it) Not sure if you can see in the pic:

C5B45347-1578-4A92-80D0-D296EEC34473.jpeg F65630AA-40DA-4AEC-9CA5-9B593AC8917A.jpeg
0777FDF6-DD4F-47B1-8677-4D42415A06F8.jpeg

I’ve read that fading likely means too much light; but with Primes at 60% - I don’t think it could possibly be TOO much light and wonder if it’s not getting enough lights? I’m getting about 120 PAR reading from where it’s at right now. I didn’t want to blast it with max light right away and wasn’t sure how fast to move things up. But if it’s fading - I’m giving it too much light already at 120 PAR?

Would like some input on how to properly adjust lighting. Nutrients should not be a problem right now - as the tank is fallow (ich) right now.

Input is appreciated.
 

markalot

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Is that from someone else's tank, or from a store. If from a store I am going to suspect wild caught and having issues adjusting or monti eating nudis (need a better pic). It's in the center of the tank down low, which can sometimes be the brightest area of the tank depending on light placement, so it might just be too much PAR.
 
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LeonThePeon

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Is that from someone else's tank, or from a store. If from a store I am going to suspect wild caught and having issues adjusting or monti eating nudis (need a better pic). It's in the center of the tank down low, which can sometimes be the brightest area of the tank depending on light placement, so it might just be too much PAR.

Not sure if a comparison of my DT to a LFS tank is good or bad :p - But that’s my tank.

LFS gets a good number of pieces from other owners’ tank tear downs and frags. This one was said to be from someone else’s tank. I had seen it in the LFS for a few weeks before I bought it. LFS runs Hydra 52s, but pendant style probably about 2-3ft from water surface and the pieces is in a coral tank about 8” deep.

I haven’t seen any signs of monti eating nudis - I did do a Coral RX dip and a Reef dip before putting it in the tank. I have, however, seen more and more polyps showing on the surface each day. (Which I would take as a good sign(?))

The green acro about 2/3 up is getting about 214PAR in comparison
 

ZachR32

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5014D716-1B84-428B-82C3-3EA891BC6A19.jpeg

I picked up a nice sized monti about two weeks ago. I’m trying to acclimate it to the tank by keeping it mid way at the tank (18” below and in between two AI HD Primes 17” apart).

Not running the Primes very high. 60% power usage on each max

Water parameters are:
Ph - 8.02
Ammonia - 0
Nitrite - 0
Nitrate - <5
SG - 1.026
Temp 79.7
PO- 0.08
CA - 380 (testing the last few days to see how much is being used and how much Kalk in ATO is necessary - was 420 a week ago)
Magnesium - 1240 (same testing being done - 1360 a week ago).


I’ve had softies for some time now and just starting my trek into SPS.

The fading on my monti is towards the “back” where there was already a lot of die off when I bought it) Not sure if you can see in the pic:

C5B45347-1578-4A92-80D0-D296EEC34473.jpeg F65630AA-40DA-4AEC-9CA5-9B593AC8917A.jpeg
0777FDF6-DD4F-47B1-8677-4D42415A06F8.jpeg

I’ve read that fading likely means too much light; but with Primes at 60% - I don’t think it could possibly be TOO much light and wonder if it’s not getting enough lights? I’m getting about 120 PAR reading from where it’s at right now. I didn’t want to blast it with max light right away and wasn’t sure how fast to move things up. But if it’s fading - I’m giving it too much light already at 120 PAR?

Would like some input on how to properly adjust lighting. Nutrients should not be a problem right now - as the tank is fallow (ich) right now.

Input is appreciated.

Might not be enough light. What lights was it under at the store?
 
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LeonThePeon

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Might not be enough light. What lights was it under at the store?

LFS runs Hydra 52s, but pendant style probably about 2-3ft from water surface and the pieces is in a coral tank about 8” deep.
 

Flexin

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A shedding leather can affect it also. I've since removed Kenya's from my tanks and everything around them has grown well since. They grow fast so feel like a nice addition in a young tank, but as it ages and they get bigger, anything downstream of a leather can be affected.

A separate note, that one is looking a little thin and brittle. I read they like higher nitrates also but am cautions to give you wrong information. But that makes sense since my montis do great in my biocube and in my 65 are slow to grow since nitrates are zero there.

Just keep your calcium etc. where it needs to be. They will take longer than two weeks to show improvement unlike a softie. Give it two to three months.
 

Mal11224

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Looks like it's lacking something. I would try to keep parameters stable. I have one where I had similar issues and realized that I needed to move it up for stronger light and flow. Also, I started testing for potassium and started doing it. Potassium is great for SPS corals and can be tested. As long as it's not a pest, it will bounce back.
 

John3

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I bought a nice chunk of orange Monti cap and it browned out on me the first night. I kept it on the bottom and it recovered nicely. I’m under a Radion G4 at 70%. I have since moved towards the top of the tank and the coloring now is very vibrant.

Your under hydra primes, are you directly under a light or off to the side? I personally think montis can take a wide range of lighting but no shading. I think moving up higher or directly under a light would be a good place to start. If your off to the side and have shading those areas will suffer.

Most of the lfs stores I have been to run their led lights pretty high up. I suspect they do it to get more coverage for less fixtures but I don’t think they get enough light doing it that way. I normally take notice to what comes in new and what it looks like after a few weeks. Almost always the color fades with these setups.
 

madweazl

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Might not be enough light. What lights was it under at the store?

If it's a light issue I would guess it needs more light. I would definetly scan the bottom of it for nudis.

Monti caps will grow in low light (well under 100 PAR), I don't believe it to be a case of not enough light, though too much is a possibility based on location (center of a tank is rarely a good spot for a monti unless you want nothing else there anyways). Is light from the sides blocked by the aquascape though? Placement literally at the bottom and off to one side will work out best for future additions (i.e. wont get light blocked from the monti) and will likely be enough for growth (though this will need to be monitored).
 
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LeonThePeon

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Your under hydra primes, are you directly under a light or off to the side? I personally think montis can take a wide range of lighting but no shading. I think moving up higher or directly under a light would be a good place to start. If your off to the side and have shading those areas will suffer.

It’s kind of smack in the middle between two Primes - I don’t really see much of a shadow in the section that’s turning white.
 
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LeonThePeon

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Just to throw it out there, I’m wondering if I’ve got my two new SPSs backwards.

Based on the suggested PAR levels from Seneye (I used their Seneye Reef for the PAR meter) - The monti should be getting anywhere between 180-300 PAR as ideal (300 for the polyps, 180 for the coenosarc - bit confusing, how do you keep both the polyps and the coenosarc happy? - FYI, I have no taxonomy experience whatsoever) and my Acro Granulosa (?) needs low lighting at 107 PAR.

ECC7AD64-0FE3-470B-AA4E-EB059C9615C6.jpeg
(Got the green Acro about a week ago).

Haven’t seen any polyp extension from my Acro other than when I used Polyplab’s Polyp Booster (when I took the picture above). Maybe it’s getting too much light at 214PAR? (Weird since I think I’ve read everywhere else that I should be blasting this Acro with light)

Maybe I should try switching the two locations?
 

madweazl

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200 is likely enough for the acro however, I'd move the monti for sure given the PAR values you listed in that area. If you have something down low and off to the side that is in the 100-150 PAR range, move the monti there (it will be just fine). In regard to the acros lack of polyp extension, what do you have for flow in the tank (especially around the acro)?
 

markalot

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A couple of things.

The Monti has a lot of dead spots on it so it is not healthy. Remember these are living colonies and what is happening now may not have anything to do with your tank or water quality. It may also be the dipping, vigorous dipping can really hurt some corals.

Finally, I want to carefully throw some doubt on those who claim montis don't like leather corals (this is my observation only which is why I say carefully). I haven't see it and my smaller tank (40 breeder) tank rarely gets water changes plus I don't use carbon. This is lit by a single Coral+ t5 and a NanoBox Quad. PAR is 200 or less, maybe 250 right in the center.

y5lkkE1.jpg


The caps grow like crazy in here. Green, red, and purple (down in front, on the sandbed, encrusted on the bottom glass and encrusted on the front glass.

Keep your water quality stable and always place corals that need to heal up in lower light, even SPS. It should recover fine, and once it starts growing you'll probably understand why someone wanted to get rid of it. The purple are WEEDS! :D
 
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LeonThePeon

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In regard to the acros lack of polyp extension, what do you have for flow in the tank (especially around the acro)?

It’s nestled in between the return nozzle and one of my Gyre XF230s set to alternating flow (forward / reverse flows)
 

madweazl

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It’s nestled in between the return nozzle and one of my Gyre XF230s set to alternating flow (forward / reverse flows)

What about flow rates?

Cut/paste from another thread with a similar issue. Maybe you can find something useful in that one.

About a year ago, I almost killed the monti cap. Tank parameters were all fine and I couldn't pinpoint any cause. I maintained my typical maintenance schedule with one additional water change and everything came back around (three 25% changes spread out over three weeks). Outside of the tank being about six months old at the time, I still have no idea what caused the issue or what was responsible for the turn around but I think many people underestimate the value of a mature system (this was setup using almost all dry rock with two pieces of Fiji live totaling about six of the 55lbs of rock used).

Last year after mine started coming back from the dead (it was in extremely bad shape and way worse than this even)
31826811535_35442e3d60_h.jpg


Last month
25466289038_f201f0a140_h.jpg
 

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I’ve grown this piece from a dime size in under a year. I’ve kept this on the sand bed grown under 400wt 20 k radium. Montis are fairly easy to keep as long as you have no pest and keep your parameters stable cheers.
 
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LeonThePeon

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So I saw about three of these crawling on my monti - can somebody help me ID if this is a monti eating nudi? Or some kind of copepod?

Do I need to do anything about it? Cause it seems to be breaking down the algae that was taking over the monti - actually kind of looks better than it did about two days ago.

7E1E33DD-F81C-4243-9906-56E8097864AA.jpeg 0CA62111-BB0D-4C12-8118-81EE41CD28B4.jpeg 84C30270-D72C-41ED-9EA1-E6CDA0D4314E.jpeg
 
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