Monti Cap Problem...Please help!

S

shandy_say

New member
I have several monti cap species in my tank. Ive inspected them, dipped them and even scrubbed their undersides. However there seems to be something eating them. Take note that the pest doesn't just eat the flesh, it also eats the skeleton. Been searching the web for any pests that may do this but i have not been able to find any information aside from nudis. Any ideas? I had to move my orange monti cap cause it was slowly getting eaten away starting from the edges. Last night i had to move my chili pepper monti cause whatever the pest is, its not munching on that. Been watching my tank during lights out for months now and i have yet to get a glimpse of what the pest is. Any experiences or advise?
 
If you are losing skeleton as well as tissue, your pH may be too low resulting in dissolution of the CaCO3. This low pH would also affect the soft tissue. Can you check your pH, Ca, Mg, and alk and get back to us?
 
Will have to check again tonight but last time i checked my params were as follows:

Ca - 490
Mg - 1300
Alk - 7dkh

The PH i have to check.

The weird thing is i have several monti caps in the same tank.

Let me put it this way...
last week - Orange Monti Cap was getting eaten so I moved it to a different position in the tank and it stopped.

last night - Chili pepper monti was getting eaten so I moved it.

All other montis (another orange monti cap, green monti cap, purple monti cap, superman monti) are doing ok and growing.

So i really doubt its the chemistry of my tank. I really feel like there is something feasting on my monti cap.
 
Very strange. Seems to me the only thing that could really EAT coral skeleton would be a large fish. If your pH were so low that the coral was re-dissolving, the actual coral tissue would be long since dead, IMO.
 
willandmelsreef - PH is at 8.3.

Greg Hiller - I would assume the same thing. But all my other corals, LPS, SPS, Softies are doing great. The largest fish i have now in my tank is only a Powder Blue Tang which is just around 4 inches and he doesn't bother any of my corals. Aside from the PBT, the only fishes i have in my tank now are a pair of banggais, a royal gramma, a scarletfin wrasse, and a randalls goby. So this is just one big mystery. I checked the chili pepper monti this morning and its recovering already from the damage caused by the mystery pest.
 
Your params are fine accept your alk is a little low. I would slowly take it up to 8-8.5. I am uncertain as to why your coral skeletons are resorbing or what might be eating them. There are just no reef "pests" that come to mind that would be able to destroy a coral's skeleton.
 
Im currently using Biopellets in my tank and im worried that if i bring it up to 8.5 it might cause burnt tips in my acros. Recommended for ULNS tanks is just 7dkh if im not mistaken.

As for the pest, are there crabs that can do this kind of damage?
 
Sorry for the delay as ive been planning on removing all my LR in my DT and changing it out to new rocks just to be able to get the mystery pest out of my tank.

Here is a pic of the damage being caused by the mystery pest. As you can see, its not only eating the tissue but also the skeleton of my monti cap.

08252010693copy.jpg


I think the little bugger retaliated over the weekend as i kept moving around my monti caps to keep them from getting damaged by the pest. Instead what it did was it attacked my PBT and killed him. This is getting really annoying. Once i catch that bugger im going to take out its legs one at a time.

IMG_0354.jpg


Any ideas what the pest might be? This is definitely not the work of nudis.
 
I have no idea. Would something like a mantis do something like this? Shady this has been going on for a while. Didn't you have a thread on this before?
 
yeah i had a thread like this before but i rescaped and it stopped. Then it returned again after a couple of months. Even until now i still cant find the mystery pest. This time around will take out ALL the rocks and change every single piece of rock in my DT.

It could be a mantis or a huge crab. Still not sure though as i have yet to see it. Ive been using a flashlight at night to look for the pest but even then it never comes out.
 
You need to set up a camera or something man. I'd bet it some kind of invert doing it. Its gotta be a crab. Good luck man, I hope you find it soon.
 
A coral smashing/eating pest that can also kill a good size PBT? I would exam the PBT very carefully and try to analyze the trauma. Puncture wounds, broken bones, is the tail partially eaten, open the PBT up and see if there is any hemorrhage from the organs- seriously. If the death of the PBT was not coincidence, then you have one heck of pest and a Mantis Shrimp seems more likely now that you have had a fish kill (?) also.
 
aquaph8 - i dont have a cam with night vision capabilities. So as of now the best option is to just to take out all the rocks and hunt for it manually. Im just curing my rocks now and i hope it will be done soon. Can crabs do this type of damage to corals and fish? If i find it i will post pics. I just hope nothing else gets eaten or killed until im able to find that pest.

ssavader - Unfortunately the dead pbt has already been disposed of. The damage was to its dorsal fin near the tail end as well as its body near the tail. I touched that part and you can feel it was bitten by something as its bones are showing quite a bit already at that part. Also it was wedged between some LR and SPS when i found it and no CUC was near it when i found it. It is a big possibility that it is a mantis. Any suggestions on how to catch it?
 
I had one years ago. I was fortunate enough to know where it lived. I removed the rock it was in and hung it over a bucket of water and eventually it plunged out into the water. You could also try a fish trap and hope you get lucky.
 
apexifd - not entirely sure but a mantis is a suspect.

aquaph8 - i see. Well better to just take out all the rocks. hehehe! If that mantis was able to sneak past me who knows what else there is. :D
 
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