Monti Help Needed

[Michael Hull]

Hi there! I’ve got a Monti cap frag that’s losing its coloration and polyps not extending. Believe it has a little brown algae on it.

Would high nitrates cause this? I know I’m a little in need of a WC, nitrates maybe 20ppm. Otherwise, ph 8.1-8.3 daily, alk 7.8-8.1 daily, calcium 420, mag 1305.

 

[C. Eymann]

I doubt its high nitrate causing the issue, but the photo is too blued out for me to really see what you are talking about. Params other than nitrate look good, but again I doubt it's causing the problem. post a pic with the whites turned up or use a filter so we can better help you.

 

[Michael Hull]

Here you go!

 

[JCOLE]

What are your phosphates and have you recently added any chemical filtration to remove phosphates?

 

[Michael Hull]

The phosphates are .03ppm. I did just now add a low dose of gfo to my rox carbon reactor. I’ve been running the carbon for a few weeks now. Maybe I don’t need it?

 

[Michael Hull]

Just went ahead and took a toothbrush to clean off a little of that algae on there too. I can’t seem to win with stylophora either but everything else seems to be doing great. It’s night mode now so not fully extended but here you go.

 

[fcmatt]

How old is the tank?

Something is not right here. Almost like you are sticking coral in a tank that is only 3 months old or something. Nitrates being at 20 tells me there is something more to this story. An established reef tank that is a couple years old with normal fish feeding amounts.. has a really hard time getting nitrates to 20 with normal practices.

 

[Michael Hull]

How old is the tank?

Something is not right here. Almost like you are sticking coral in a tank that is only 3 months old or something. Nitrates being at 20 tells me there is something more to this story. An established reef tank that is a couple years old with normal fish feeding amounts.. has a really hard time getting nitrates to 20 with normal practices.

It’s 9 months. Established with lots of live rock, live sand, solid Bioload. Using Marin pro salt. Have a bunch of healthy LPS, zoas... sps seems to escape me...

Plenty of lights with 3x hydra 26 running brs ab+

 

[fcmatt]

I think I see coralline algae growing on the glass which is good.

But with nitrates at 20 ppm.. and phos only at .03 ppm that seems odd. I would expect more phos.

Running carbon is fine. I tend to run it quite often and refresh it once a month. It cannot hurt. Adding gfo with only .03 ppm is ok I guess. I would only use a 1/4 cup I suppose. Just a touch on top of my carbon in a reactor.

But I do agree SPS are having a hard time. Having algae actually grow on them is a sign of too much nutrients in the tank. I would keep doing weekly water changes until nitrates are at least down to 1-2 ppm. At that time I would see if they rise again doing your normal routine. Only when you can keep nitrates steady at that lower level would I try SPS again.

You also own lighting that has the ability to fry new coral, fyi. I do not use LEDs but I would wonder what the par level is for each of those SPS.. versus what they were kept under before. I doubt that is it.. but worth exploring. Maybe you have them on high?

I realize what I am stating is not set in stone but on a new tank it seems to be a reasonable goal to shoot for. Lower nutrients like nitrates to a much lower level.. keep them stable at that low level with normal practices/routine.. and try another coral again like montipora digitata or a cheap acropora frag.

This is all part of the learning curve. Don't give up. Often in reefing the time it takes for a tank to mature can be like magic on coral health. 1-2 years is where things can really take off stability wise.

 

[Michael Hull]

Thanks for the thoughts. I'm going to do a WC tonight and get the sand bed clean.

Only other thing that recently was done was I moved a few rocks around in the aquascape and rotated a few (so areas that didn't see the light are now in light)...

 

[Michael Hull]

I think I see coralline algae growing on the glass which is good.

But with nitrates at 20 ppm.. and phos only at .03 ppm that seems odd. I would expect more phos.

Running carbon is fine. I tend to run it quite often and refresh it once a month. It cannot hurt. Adding gfo with only .03 ppm is ok I guess. I would only use a 1/4 cup I suppose. Just a touch on top of my carbon in a reactor.

But I do agree SPS are having a hard time. Having algae actually grow on them is a sign of too much nutrients in the tank. I would keep doing weekly water changes until nitrates are at least down to 1-2 ppm. At that time I would see if they rise again doing your normal routine. Only when you can keep nitrates steady at that lower level would I try SPS again.

You also own lighting that has the ability to fry new coral, fyi. I do not use LEDs but I would wonder what the par level is for each of those SPS.. versus what they were kept under before. I doubt that is it.. but worth exploring. Maybe you have them on high?

I realize what I am stating is not set in stone but on a new tank it seems to be a reasonable goal to shoot for. Lower nutrients like nitrates to a much lower level.. keep them stable at that low level with normal practices/routine.. and try another coral again like montipora digitata or a cheap acropora frag.

This is all part of the learning curve. Don't give up. Often in reefing the time it takes for a tank to mature can be like magic on coral health. 1-2 years is where things can really take off stability wise.

Coralline is growing well on back wall, indeed.

 

[JCOLE]

The phosphates are .03ppm. I did just now add a low dose of gfo to my rox carbon reactor. I’ve been running the carbon for a few weeks now. Maybe I don’t need it?

I wouldn't use it at .03. That is a good number. Do you have a refugium? If not., then I would suggest putting one in with Chaeto that will help lower your nuteients naturally as well.

 

[Michael Hull]

Good to know. GFO is off. Yes, I do have Chaeto in a fuge, it's growing well with a 10hr or so photoperiod. I had undetectable nitrates about 45 days ago, so I cut the photo period back and started feeding a little heavier. Might have just caught up to me and now I need to stabilize.

 

[VA5]

Take monti down and place in a low light area, reposition when color returns.
place at least mid tank with decent flow.
This is what has worked for me

 

[Michael Hull]

Did a big water change, will probably do another end of weekend. Nitrates are already down, vacuumed sand. Here’s an update on the Monti. Looking much better.