Has anybody solved the montipora turning grey mystery?

[mcfa2403]

I have read post after post after post of other people having this issue and have literally found no common thread (dosing, nutient levels, defeciencies etc.). My acros are doing great and in fact my mystic sunset montipora is growing like a weed and looking great. However, my other montipora get grey patches with reduced polyp extension and incredibly slow growth. The really odd one is my hystrix which grows out quickly while slowly fading.

I will test my parameters again and post later with pictures.

alk: 8.6
calc: 420
mag: 1380
temp: 78-80

Dosing method: balling
Salt: tropic marin dosed up using tropic marin biocalcium and biomag

In the past eight months (the situation has been going on for over a year now) I have eliminated nitrates and phosphates as the source of the issue by running 2 months at undetectable and two months at moderately high (po4 around .01 and nitrate at round 10). Noticed no change in the condition of the motipora in the tank but will not eliminate it as a compounding factor.

Lighting is one hydra 52 blended with two kessil a350 over a 48" x 20" x 18" tank with the 52 centered and the kessils on the end. I have spread out the affected corals so as to see if there was any change based on lighting intensity or flow. None was found.

I am very close to giving up on montipora.

 

[M007]

What monti are you talking about, branching, plating?

 

[rovster]

Top 2 culprits....
1. Nitrate spike
2. Low potassium

 

[reef bloke]

Also check iodine levels, major culprit that doesn't get much of a mention in the main

 

[markalex]

As above,I would check the potassium level

 

[mcfa2403]

It has hit my plating, encrusting and digitatas. I will check potassium and iodine but I would assume my weekly water changes plus the use of balling to provide trace would make this unlikely (plus the fact that these test kits are notoriously inaccurate makes me nervous) but I will check anyways.

Nitrate spike can be eliminated as well due to every montipora I have added in the last 10 months having done this about 2 weeks or so after being added to the tank with none being added at the same time (plus the don't seem to recover).

I got home late last night and the lights were off, will try to get pictures when they come on today.

 

[plyle02]

Top 2 culprits....
1. Nitrate spike
2. Low potassium

I was just going to say "K" lol, IMO this is the usual suspect.

 

[Moser]

Also check iodine levels, major culprit that doesn't get much of a mention in the main

+1 dose Lugol's to 1/2 recommended levels regardless of what your test kit says, especially if you have strong lighting....

Mo

 

[DiscusHeckel]

I would also check for nudibranches in the dark with a torch.

 

[Jlentz]

I would also check for nudibranches in the dark with a torch.

This is a good one as well. I'd recommend using a good flashlight though. Don't want to set your canopy on fire.

I battled nudis for awhile, it was pretty bad, not really greying out though. They just strip it to the bone in my tank.

 

[Jlentz]

Fwiw, I've got 2 xr15 radions and after putting in two supplemental Blue+ t5s they have all really started to take off.

 

[Reef Bass]

I'd recommend using a good flashlight though. Don't want to set your canopy on fire.

:lmao: Good one!

I battled nudis for awhile, it was pretty bad, not really greying out though. They just strip it to the bone in my tank.

+1. No gray from nudis. Just bone white no flesh.

 

[mcfa2403]

Sorry about the lack of pictures as of yet, been a crazy weekend. I can say with full certainty that it is not nudibranchs as some have tissue fade in the center and it is not complete bone white death. Also the tissue recovers if the coral is removed from the tank and placed in another.

I tested potassium to be anywhere from 380 to 400 (red sea kit) so I am going to leave it alone. Still trying to find a good kit for Iodine most likely will order the salifert kit.

As for dosing these two I am of the opinion that one should only dose what one can test for and since I use a quality salt and use the tropic marin balling system (contains a seperate dose just for trace) I feel that a deficiency is highly unlikely if my test reads out a normal amount. Furthermore, the tank I placed pieces in to see if they recover uses the same salt, has a heavier coral load, gets fewer water changes, only doses seachem calc and buffer, and runs a xenia refugium making a trace deficiency seem even less likely as the culprit.

My next thought is to remove the rubbermaid tub in my sump used to hold the sand in my refugium on the off chance it is releasing a toxin.