Monticap dying

[Sharkman7]

I have a red and a green monticap that grew really well for a year or so,but now they are faded and just noticed the green one starting to STN. Have not added a any new in a while.almost looks like algae spots on it. Hoping no major pest...parameters are good
Mag 1400
Cal 400
Salinity 1.026
No3 3
Po4 .oo8
All 8.2
thanks in advance for any advice..

 

[nereefpat]

What is your water change schedule?

 

[Little_Red_Ryan_Hood]

Looks like the red one is getting stung by the coral next to it.
What kind of corals are near the monti's?

 

[Reefer40b]

They are looking fairly pale, possbly reduce your lights? Whats your nutrients look like? Any P? Montis love some phosphates.

 

[Sharkman7]

What is your water change schedule?

75 gallon tank , change10 gallons every 2 weeks... they really just started going downhill in the last month , But haven’t really changed anything in the last year.

 

[Sharkman7]

They are looking fairly pale, possbly reduce your lights? Whats your nutrients look like? Any P? Montis love some phosphates.

Yes phosphate was .08, was thinking of lighting but it is the same as it’s been for the last year or so. So that has not changed. Hate to mess with the lights too much and mess up the other corals ..Just trying to make sure there were no pest

 

[Sharkman7]

Looks like the red one is getting stung by the coral next to it.
What kind of corals are near the monti's?

The only thing touching the red Monti that I have witnessed is the anemone that is behind it, it was supposed to be a rock flower but has gotten pretty darn big. I could trim the Monti back so it does not touch but then I noticed the green one getting STN so I thought maybe I has a pest

 

[Reefer40b]

Yes phosphate was .08, was thinking of lighting but it is the same as it’s been for the last year or so. So that has not changed. Hate to mess with the lights too much and mess up the other corals ..Just trying to make sure there were no pest

If lighting didn't change and P has been pretty consistent at that number, then maybe you had an alk swing or its crept up too high..

 

[Little_Red_Ryan_Hood]

The only thing touching the red Monti that I have witnessed is the anemone that is behind it, it was supposed to be a rock flower but has gotten pretty darn big. I could trim the Monti back so it does not touch but then I noticed the green one getting STN so I thought maybe I has a pest

The green one looks like it has some paly's next to it and a green sps of some sort. They could be fighting and stressing out the green montipora.
If you are sure that water parameters have not changed including alk, I would think the corals are fighting. Nems notoriously kill sps corals if they are too close.
I think it is coral warfare because your other corals look healthy. One coral usually wins the fight.
You can also look for monti eating nudibranch. How many other montipora do you have? Do they look good?

 

[Little_Red_Ryan_Hood]

The only other thing that comes to mind is water flow. Have you moved or redirected your pumps? Do you have enough flow for larger sps corals? Small frags can get by with less flow, but as they grow into colonies they can block themselves from the flow they require.

 

[Sharkman7]

The green one looks like it has some paly's next to it and a green sps of some sort. They could be fighting and stressing out the green montipora.
If you are sure that water parameters have not changed including alk, I would think the corals are fighting. Nems notoriously kill sps corals if they are too close.
I think it is coral warfare because your other corals look healthy. One coral usually wins the fight.
You can also look for monti eating nudibranch. How many other montipora do you have? Do they look good?

Those are the only two I have . And a couple little frags in the corner which really aren’t doing well either . There are some palys near the green one tho. But keeps receding back.going to trim the Monti back and clear the palys out..are the nudibrachs easy to spot

 

[Sharkman7]

The only other thing that comes to mind is water flow. Have you moved or redirected your pumps? Do you have enough flow for larger sps corals? Small frags can get by with less flow, but as they grow into colonies they can block themselves from the flow they require.

I have a gyro pump on one end and a MP10 on the other and return line has a flow generator . Other colony doing well like my anacropora and stylo..

 

[Little_Red_Ryan_Hood]

Those are the only two I have . And a couple little frags in the corner which really aren’t doing well either . There are some palys near the green one tho. But keeps receding back.going to trim the Monti back and clear the palys out..are the nudibrachs easy to spot

I don't have any experience with nudibranches. Knock on wood. I think they are hard to find if you don't know what you are looking for. Maybe someone who has experience with them would be able to help you better.

 

[Little_Red_Ryan_Hood]

How are you checking salinity? You are right up on the high end and if your refractometer or hydrometer is off, it could cause tissue damage. Do you have a secondary way of checking salinity?

 

[CuzzA]

Man, I love monti caps. Especially the way they grow, but they were a PITA in my old 90 gallon, same footprint as your 75. They grow so big they are either shadowing something, blocking flow or another coral is trying to kill it. I vowed never again unless I can give them a big area. In my 90 I was literally throwing away monti frags every week as they grew so much faster than I could sell them and not to mention they were a calcium and alkalinity sinkhole.

I would guess you're probably dealing with a few issues. Flow, fighting. A lot of times something as simple as salt creep falling on montis can start a negative chain of events.

If you had monti nudibranch you would see them. They aren't too hard to spot like zoa eating nudis, for example. They are always white.

Anyway, if you want to keep the coral strain you might want to frag a few pieces.

 

[Softhammer]

I have been keeping montis for a very long time and i sincerely doubt water quality will do that. 100% being touched by zoanthids/palythoas will. They will sting, dead spots will spread and then the palys will grow over the skeleton.

 

[Sharkman7]

How are you checking salinity? You are right up on the high end and if your refractometer or hydrometer is off, it could cause tissue damage. Do you have a secondary way of checking salinity?

I check it with a refractometer and calibrate it with 35 ppt solution ..

 

[Sharkman7]

I have been keeping montis for a very long time and i sincerely doubt water quality will do that. 100% being touched by zoanthids/palythoas will. They will sting, dead spots will spread and then the palys will grow over the skeleton.

Ok thanks, going to get in there and start trimming back, would that pale them out as well?

 

[Softhammer]

Absolutely. Just nuked a bunch of pest plays that did the exact same thing to my red caps.