Is this normal behavior for a monti?

[kdx7214]

I was at a store a week ago today and bought a yellow coris wrasse and they threw in a plating monti frag for free. At the store this was a fluorescent red with yellow/green spots. I got it home, put it in the tank, and it's looked like the below photos ever since.

Tank parameters:

Temp: 77.0F
Salinity: 1.025 (adjusted up to 1.026)
pH: 8.07
Alk: 8.7
Calcium: 407
Nitrate: 5.00 (off the Hannah checker scale)
Phosphate: 0.11
Magnesium: 1480

Not sure why the nitrate is so high unless adding the new fish has thrown it off substantially, especially since the phosphate only seems a tiny bit higher than normal. I suspect I've been doing the magnesium testing wrong, but cannot figure out how. I'm using a Salifert test kit and the instructions are not really clear on the "color change". I wait until the whole sample changes, not when a small part changes. *shrugs*

My light fixture is dying. It holds six T5 bulbs, but is down to two, one blue+ and one coral+ at the moment. It will be replaced as soon as the darn tax refund gets here, which will hopefully be soon. I can move the coral up for more light if that will help.

Sorry for blurry pictures. I'm not a photographer and do not have a tripod, just a cell phone and shaky hands.

 

[MoshJosh]

I am pretty sure that is not a montipora. Scroll coral, specifically an "LA Lakers" scroll, would be my guess. Tissue and polyps look healthy from the pictures. My guess is that you and the sellers lights are quite different and that explains the more muted appearance.

 

[DDenny]

Just not enought light probably. Get new bulbs and I bet it will color up. Nitates seem fine I have mine at 10ppm and .1 PO4.

 

[Seancj]

Pagoda cup coral. Looks normal to me.

 

[Cichlid Dad]

WWC Lakerz Turbinaria Coral

WWC Lakerz Turbinaria sp. Photo is a representation of the shape, size, and color of the coral you will receive. Frag is approximately 3/4" in size

worldwidecorals.com

 

[kdx7214]

WWC Lakerz Turbinaria Coral

WWC Lakerz Turbinaria sp. Photo is a representation of the shape, size, and color of the coral you will receive. Frag is approximately 3/4" in size

worldwidecorals.com

That is exactly it. Thanks!

 

[Cichlid Dad]

That is exactly it. Thanks!

More than likely it is a LA Lakers. Easy coral

 

[Dburr1014]

I was at a store a week ago today and bought a yellow coris wrasse and they threw in a plating monti frag for free. At the store this was a fluorescent red with yellow/green spots. I got it home, put it in the tank, and it's looked like the below photos ever since.

Tank parameters:

Temp: 77.0F
Salinity: 1.025 (adjusted up to 1.026)
pH: 8.07
Alk: 8.7
Calcium: 407
Nitrate: 5.00 (off the Hannah checker scale)
Phosphate: 0.11
Magnesium: 1480

Not sure why the nitrate is so high unless adding the new fish has thrown it off substantially, especially since the phosphate only seems a tiny bit higher than normal. I suspect I've been doing the magnesium testing wrong, but cannot figure out how. I'm using a Salifert test kit and the instructions are not really clear on the "color change". I wait until the whole sample changes, not when a small part changes. *shrugs*

My light fixture is dying. It holds six T5 bulbs, but is down to two, one blue+ and one coral+ at the moment. It will be replaced as soon as the darn tax refund gets here, which will hopefully be soon. I can move the coral up for more light if that will help.

Sorry for blurry pictures. I'm not a photographer and do not have a tripod, just a cell phone and shaky hands.

Are the bulbs dead or the ballast?
Either are replaceable.

 

[Katrina71]

Nice freebie!

 

[kdx7214]

Are the bulbs dead or the ballast?
Either are replaceable.

It's a combination of several things. First the ballast is dying and it's a custom fit job, so all the ballasts I can order don't fit. I could mount it externally but that messes up the heat sinks. The controller that's built into it is also going haywire. I can't use it to automatically turn on the lights, and I can't run it off my Robo-tank as it assumes the built-in controller will turn it on, so I have to turn the lights on/off manually daily. It's got two channels for T5 bulbs and a third channel for moonlight LEDs. There are several of the LEDs missing and so much rust around them that there's no way I'd trust replacing them.

I've thought about going in and rewiring it, but when I took it apart, I found a ton of rust and with how tightly assembled it is, I would basically be building it from scratch. I'm not opposed to that but when I started pricing out the parts I found I can get the Noopsyche K7 III's for the same price and have controllable levels. So it's sort of same price but better features kind of thing.

 

[kdx7214]

More than likely it is a LA Lakers. Easy coral

They had an enormous colony at the store and had fragged it many times, so I'm guessing that's why they threw it in. Through our conversation the owner knew I was hard strapped for cash and was trying to decide what I could afford, so he took pity on me. I can tell you this, it was greatly appreciated

 

[kdx7214]

Nice freebie!

I'm definitely not going to complain! The parent colony was enormous and simply beautiful. Enormous fluorescent red plating coral and their lighting showed it off spectacularly! I'm sure they only gave it to me because it grows quickly and they have a lot of frags of it in the tank lol. Of course they did tell me it was a montipora though.

 

[Seansea]

Better lights. What you have going is hardly sustainable for mushrooms mush less lps and def no sps. But i feel ya. Lights are expensive. What size tank do you have? The quanta led strip lights are on the cheaper end and do a nice job.

And the way you are doing the mag test is exactly how i do it. Wait until it turns blue. Dont go in for the grey that the directions say. Have matched it to icp tests and its right on.

 

[kdx7214]

Better lights. What you have going is hardly sustainable for mushrooms mush less lps and def no sps. But i feel ya. Lights are expensive. What size tank do you have? The quanta led strip lights are on the cheaper end and do a nice job.

And the way you are doing the mag test is exactly how i do it. Wait until it turns blue. Dont go in for the grey that the directions say. Have matched it to icp tests and its right on.

Good to know on the Mg test. I'm never sure about the color. It starts to turn in bands or swirls in the liquid, so I keep adding drops until the whole thing changes, but then I've emptied the entire amount into it.

I have a 75 gallon DT. I moved the coral up to the top of the rocks and it's definitely getting more color. Once the tax refund check gets here I'll get some Noopsyche LED lights to fix the lighting. This fixture is a 2 year old fixture that's falling apart.