What has happened with my Monti cap

[Fredda]

I have a montipora that has been growing good over the last months but today i noticed 2 white spots on it. Dunno if it has been stung by another coral (The hammer or the favia, the favia i next to the candy cane) or if it´s a fish bite or a bite from a pest or clean up crew. Have also applyed aptaisia X on some aptaisia yesterday but i can´t recall that there was one close to the monti cap.

Measurements: Alk 8.0 NO3: 12 ppm PO4: < 0,03 Mg: 1490 Ca : 490 Salinity 1.026

Have had 2 other montipora digitata frags showing the same thing for a month ago. One died and the other recovered.
Sorry for bad pictures (Reef flare Pro Blues)

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

can you turn off the blue lights and turn up the whites? Impossible to see in that pic.

 

[DanyL]

Can’t really see anything in the pictures, a close up under white lights would be perfect.

From the details you provided - I wouldn’t be surprised if you have Montipora eating Nudicranches, you should look underneath the the montiporas or at the base of digittatas where they’re usually reside in daylight.

Unfortunately battling Monti Nudis is a hard task, but some people had success.

For me sadly, I lost multiple huge colonies battling it years ago, until nothing was left to be saved.

These days whenever I introduce new montis they go through an intensive dipping process, thorough inspection under magnifying glass and a settling period in a separate frag tank, similar to how I introduce acros as well.

 

[Fredda]

Hope it´s a little better now. It´s the 2 bigger marks upper right and lower left i wonder about.

 

[Fredda]

Can’t really see anything in the pictures, a close up under white lights would be perfect.

From the details you provided - I wouldn’t be surprised if you have Montipora eating Nudicranches, you should look underneath the the montiporas or at the base of digittatas where they’re usually reside in daylight.

Unfortunately battling Monti Nudis is a hard task, but some people had success.

For me sadly, I lost multiple huge colonies battling it years ago, until nothing was left to be saved.

These days whenever I introduce new montis they go through an intensive dipping process, thorough inspection under magnifying glass and a settling period in a separate frag tank, similar to how I introduce acros as well.

Oh thats not good. How big are they? Do i need magnifying glass or can I see them with naked eye?

 

[fishyjoes]

You can see them without magnification

Here's a reefbuilders video showing them - you can skip to around 5 minutes in

 

[DanyL]

Hope it´s a little better now. It´s the 2 bigger marks upper right and lower left i wonder about.

Unfortunately, it looks very similar to how Nudibranches bite signs look like.

The white spots are spread across the monti randomly, and even in areas where other corals can’t reach.

It is also looks like it’s going through STN, and is likely annoyed from the sand that fell on it, which you need to make sure doesn’t happen.

Take a small flashlight and try to see wether you can spot anything underneath it or nearby, you can use an image from google for comparison.

Oh thats not good. How big are they? Do i need magnifying glass or can I see them with naked eye?

It’s sometimes hard to spot them, but once you’ve seen one you can more easily spot the others. They come in different sizes for depending on their age, somewhere between 1 to 4 mm in size IIRC, so you can see them with the naked eye.

 

[Fredda]

You can see them without magnification

Here's a reefbuilders video showing them - you can skip to around 5 minutes in

Thanks

 

[Fredda]

Unfortunately, it looks very similar to how Nudibranches bite signs look like.

The white spots are spread across the monti randomly, and even in areas where other corals can’t reach.

It is also looks like it’s going through STN, and is likely annoyed from the sand that fell on it, which you need to make sure doesn’t happen.

Take a small flashlight and try to see wether you can spot anything underneath it or nearby, you can use an image from google for comparison.


It’s sometimes hard to spot them, but once you’ve seen one you can more easily spot the others. They come in different sizes for depending on their age, somewhere between 1 to 4 mm in size IIRC, so you can see them with the naked eye.

Ok I will take a look and see if I can see any. The sand is from my Valenciennea strigata wich I somewhat regret buying cause it spreads the sand all over the place.
Thanks for your help

 

[Fossilman06]

You can see them without magnification

Here's a reefbuilders video showing them - you can skip to around 5 minutes in

That was cool to watch. Nudibranches flying off.