Completely Stumped - My Reef Tank hates orange polyped montipora!

[BigJohnny]

I am completely stumped, it appears that my reef tank hates orange polyped montipora. I am a montipora addict and have 18 different montipora in my reef tank. Every single one has beautiful coloration, EXCEPT any that have orange polyps. It is so weird!

I have the following montis:

Vivid Grape Cap
Reeftech Starburst Cap
Pink Cap
Ethereal Dream Undata
Superman
Chili Pepper
Banana Banshee
Mystic Sunset
Jedi Mind Trick
Tubbs Stellata
WWC All-in
WWC Inferno
WWC Lucky Charms
Pink Cadillac

Orange Polyped:

Cornbred's Underwater Rainbow
UWW Rainbow Sunburst
Reverse Sunset
Reef Raft Watermelon (pinkish orange polyps)

All of these lost color or bleached pretty quickly in my tank. I have high par ranging from 150 sandbed - 450 water level. All were started on the sandbed but I've tried some in higher light and some in shade once they lost color. The funny thing is, all of them grow well or are starting to grow (if recent purchases) Thoughts?

I'm not changing params because these are the minority. Thanks!

 

[Dkuhlmann]

The dye is wearing off of them? :lmao: Sorry but I couldn't resist. I hope you figure it out. It is very strange that they are growing but fading in color.

 

[BigJohnny]

The dye is wearing off of them? :lmao: Sorry but I couldn't resist. I hope you figure it out. It is very strange that they are growing but fading in color.

Haha very funny.

I know its so strange, and why only the orange polyped ones? !

 

[scooter31707]

I am having problems with polyp extension my orange digitata monti. All other monti doing good even my green digitata monti which is about 6 inches from the orange one.

 

[BigJohnny]

I am having problems with polyp extension my orange digitata monti. All other monti doing good even my green digitata monti which is about 6 inches from the orange one.

Sorry to hear that! Since that's only one montipora in your tank, we can't really say it has anything to do with the orange polyps, it could be a multitude of factors. Even in my case it's possible that their issues are unrelated, however there are so many similarities and it's 5 montis!

 

[BigJohnny]

I see that everyone else is stumped as well!

 

[Sandberg1222]

Ask Than at Tidal Gardens. Google them very nice corals and very helpful.

 

[C.Eymann]

It doesn't have to do with polyp coloration.
most of the corals you listed are montipora palawanesis/danae which can be really tricky to keep. I don't have "the answer" for you other than they should be given more flow than most other montiporas, and many of the brightly colored varieties tend to bleach out or fade if given too much light.

 

[rvareef]

pics?

 

[BigJohnny]

It doesn't have to do with polyp coloration.
most of the corals you listed are montipora palawanesis/danae which can be really tricky to keep. I don't have "the answer" for you other than they should be given more flow than most other montiporas, and many of the brightly colored varieties tend to bleach out or fade if given too much light.

How can you confidently say it doesn't have to do with polyp coloration if I have so many montis and they are the only ones I have coloration issues with? I thought it was a coincidence originally but then I kept getting more n more montis and only the orange polyped ones have issues!

It doesn't seem too farfetched to me because fair skinned red heads sunburn easier than dark skinned brunettes, so maybe my orange polyped montis need less light than my tank provides. However one colored up more at the top of the tank, so go figure.

 

[dkeller_nc]

The species that you're likely describing (montipora danae) and that C.Eymann id'ed definitely have a reputation for bleaching under even moderately intense lighting. Certainly well below what one would keep acroporas under.

Here's and article on the care and feeding of one member of the group. One relevant quote from the article:

"However, bleaching of a Superman specimen has been noted at a light intensity of only 300 µmol·m²·sec and a photoperiod of 11 hours."

BTW - it's best not feed the beast and buy stuff labeled "Cornbred's" on the 'bay.

 

[BigJohnny]

The species that you're likely describing (montipora danae) and that C.Eymann id'ed definitely have a reputation for bleaching under even moderately intense lighting. Certainly well below what one would keep acroporas under.

Here's and article on the care and feeding of one member of the group. One relevant quote from the article:



BTW - it's best not feed the beast and buy stuff labeled "Cornbred's" on the 'bay.

Thanks for the informed response. Funny thing is, my other montipora danae (especially my superman) are doing great. I have my orange polyped ones lower than the superman as well (except for one which colored up slightly better in higher light). I can't imagine that 150 par is too much for any montis, but I guess I'm mistaken? I still believe that there is something to the orange polyped thing. It's possible that the ones doing better were already acclimated to high light and it's just a coincidence that all my orange polyped ones were not, however they all came from different sources and I know for a fact that one was actually in higher light. 150 is low par in most sps tanks so it's very strange to me. I have plenty of lps that flourish in the same par. I will read the article, thanks.

Regarding your cornbred comment, that's what it's called haha, no one else has an underwater rainbow monti that I am aware of so as far as I'm concerned it's a cornbred underwater rainbow monti. It is most similar to uww rainbow sunburst but definitely different. I buy a lot of corals from rich (owner of cornbred corals) and he's just good at marketing, he labels mostly everything Cornbred's because originally they all came from his buddy's tank (who's nickname was cornbred), and then it caught on. He has an unbelievable collection and they are all incredibly healthy and vibrant corals. He has fantastic customer service and throws in a few freebies every single time. It's not like he's the only one that puts his name in front of corals he's selling, and he sells a ton of stuff you can't readily find anywhere else.

Having said that, if it was not a cornbred exclusive I would not refer to it as Cornbred's. Btw, the beast is beyond full, there is nothing that will slow him down, especially me not using his name haha.[emoji6]

 

[maroun.c]

The lighting comment might be a good starting point so maybe try a new one and do a very conservative light acclimation starting from lower light and observing for weeks before moving up.
A triton test might also help in case it's some non identified parameter affecting orange colored polyps monties... Similar to how potassium affects purples and blues in accros... It's far fetched but no harm running a test and making conservative adjustments.