Montipora flaking apart - Help needed

tmillen68 · Oct 16, 2023

I have this Montipora that within the last 3 days in starting to flake apart in the center of the coral. It has been in tank for over a year and has quadrupled in size. Any ideas as to why or what could cause this?

Just within the last two weeks I did have a temperature spike in the tank that I didn't catch for a few days, 78 is normal and temp got to 82 degrees. Temp is back under control.
Parameter's are consistent Alk 8.6, Mg 1420, CA 390, its a 180 gallon SPS dominant tank that has been set-up for 3 years. Nitrates 22 and phosphates .004 are checked weekly as is a low nutrient system.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

blaxsun · Oct 16, 2023

It may be related to the temperature spike, but it appears dead in the center. Was something briefly covering that spot? (sand, invert, etc.)

FUNGI · Oct 16, 2023

blaxsun said:
It may be related to the temperature spike, but it appears dead in the center. Was something briefly covering that spot? (sand, invert, etc.)

Agree, but also keep an eye out for this Monti eating pest:

tmillen68 · Oct 16, 2023

No, nothing has been on it, but it has gotten worse everyday. Dying from the inside out.

On Monti eating nudibranch's, I have added 20+ nudibranch's to the system in the last couple of months from Reeftown. Could there possibly have been some in there not sure. But neither of my other two Monti's are having this issue.

Dburr1014 · Oct 16, 2023

tmillen68 said:
No, nothing has been on it, but it has gotten worse everyday. Dying from the inside out.

On Monti eating nudibranch's, I have added 20+ nudibranch's to the system in the last couple of months from Reeftown. Could there possibly have been some in there not sure. But neither of my other two Monti's are having this issue.

It may be a flow issue if there's not enough flow in that area.