FS/FT/Free Montipora Capricornis

[Chef Reef]

i recieved a frag of some red/orange monti cap at the last meeting and im afraid i cant keepit. i do not think my lights are strong enough for it even placed at the top of the tank. it is starting to white out in spots and i dont want to see it die. so if anyone that CAN keep it alive or try at least try, that also have some other SPS or monti caps of their own you can have this little guy. its about the size of a quarter. i wouldnt mind a zoa frag of something though in its place but is not nessicaary. i just want to see it live.

i live on pembroke road between flamingo and hiatus in pembroke pines if anyone wants to come get it :/

 

[ninjamini]

I do not think that a monti would bleach from poor lighting that quick. They are pretty tough. I would check water or damage in transport.

 

[Chef Reef]

water is fine. i dont know whats wrong with it then.. i can take some pics. give me a min..

 

[illal]

what r your nitrates/phosphates?

 

[Chef Reef]

0 and from what this test say 0 on Phos too. but can never trust those things.

 

[Chef Reef]

Here are some cruddy quick pics.

 

[Chef Reef]

i moved it to the bottom and next to the rics for "better" pics but thats not where it normally stays.

 

[clockwurk]

chef, what test kit are you using?
some kits dont work very well. salifert IMHO is the best one.

i also agree w/ ninja mini, monti caps are pretty durable.
other than water, the only thing i can think of is maybe it got stung.
did u have it touch anything that could have stung it?

 

[Chef Reef]

nope, my list of corals include xenia, rics, a few zoas, orange gorg, GSp, the monti cap, and some green birds nest. everything else seems to be doing good though. im using the redsea test kit for phos, and aquarium pharmisuticals for everything else.

 

[ninjamini]

Well I have a lot of corals in my tank. two months ago I started to loose my monti cap and a leather. The leather started to dissolve and the monti started to bleach. My testing was good.

I tool a water sample to Eco Reef and they did the fill battery. Alk turned out to be 5. My test was wrong. Take a water sample to someone else and have them test. I'd bet its water. What is your alk?

 

[Chef Reef]

i have no idea. neither one of my kits test for that :hmm2:

 

[Treeman]

In a reef tank you really should test for alk, Mg, Ca and salinity on a regular basis. (weekly) All the others like, Ph, Nitrite, Nitrate, Amm on a monthly etc basis. Or if you think something is wrong.

An easy way is to take it to an LFS every 4-6 weeks to have whole series done and do the others in between.

Also, If you can't test for something I would not add it to my tank.

 

[ninjamini]

Well chef looks like you get to go to the lfs today.

 

[newreefbishop]

Tree, I agree with you.....now the question is which LFS does the best testing....I have been taking my water to a place on Prospect and 441 to get it tested but would be interested to see what or rather where everyone recommend.....i think I am going through the same thing....which is why a RK2 or a similar controller is on my shopping list for the next few months.....

 

[scubasteve247]

i think your monti frag is fine, ive seen them do that before after fragging, i think its because the outer skeleton is crushed from being squeezed to hard, usually while trying to break it off. it will rebound trust me

i had a monti frag bleach totally, i thought it died 100%, but i would have lost that bet, came right back, not the whole thing, but a piece of it lived and its coming back nicely, better color then before if you ask me.

 

[ReefWreak]

RK2 won't help with anything but pH and temp. Neither of which really help you out (you should have your temps stable by the time you invest in a controller) and pH doesn't really matter if you're not using it for a calcium reactor or to watch your pH from kalkwasser dosing.