Monti losing tissue around rim

J

jamesbaur13

Apsiring Alhcohlolic
Hello, I have an orange monti cap that has uniformly lost 3/8" tissue around the rim of the entire coral. It basically looks like a wide faded band where the polyps abruptly stop. It doesn't appear bleached... more like stripped. I have had monti eating nudibranches in the past... it's not them. They have been gone for over a year and I'm not seeing them anywhere.

Any ideas of what would cause tissue loss in this manner?

Around 2-3weeks ago I enabled night mode on my vortechs, just today I disabled it in hopes of helping this guy out. Also, I wasn't watching my Alk... it climbed to 10.5dkh. I have been gradually reducing my alk, it's at 9 at the moment. SG 1.026. PH 8.1. temp pretty much solid at 80. Nitrates are high, but I've had worse... 15ppm.

It is a mixed reef... anemone, zoo's, SPS and some LPS. Everything else looks fine.

I have 2 other monti's that are completely unaffected, just this one has the issue.
 
got a photo? Sounds like growth. White tips are often growth tips.

Google image montipora capricornis ... I'm sure you'll see what I mean
 
oh yeah ... that doesn't look like the white of a growth ring ...

When did it start. I notice on some of the lower plates that the recession isn't as bad. Can you see anything on the coral. Are any of your other corals being affected right now?
 
It started earlier in the week... i'm guessing around Tues or Wed. Seems to have slowed a little in it's pace, but it's still getting worse.
 
Might be the alk and the decrease in flow with the added nitrates but 15 ppm isnt worst case I would also invest in a good led flashlight and look for something eating it at night
 
I've inspected it thoroughly on all sides... the only thing I see which is a little suspicious is the cotton ball looking things, but I think that is the tissue which has recently died.

The lower plates, as you mentioned, appear to be in better shape. The lighting hasn't changed at all... they are LED.

I was thinking a predator as well, but logically it doesn't seem to make sense given that it has a pattern to it... but it's still a possibility.
 
Hi,

I know you said you did not have monti eating nudibranches, but did you inspect your coral in the dark with a torch?
 
I didn't see anything when I looked after lights out last night.

I also have 2 other monti's in the tank that are completely fine.
 
White fuzzy thing might be a pineapple sponge... if no preds at night I would consider alk I had a spike in my tank and all but lost my rainbow monti its been two months and I'm just now seeing polyps again! Also the preds might just be focused on this large colony with enough to not have to seek out another monti
 
What was the ALK reading before it went up to 10.5 and how long did it take to reach that level? I have seen the tips of SPS "burn" when the alkalinity rises too quickly but never Montipora, IME, not to say that it couldn't happen.

Is it in a spot in the tank more affected by the Vortech? Possibly less flow at night caused this?

It dose not look like a parasite to me, I mean why would it eat just the outer edges like that?

You can try to frag the effected rims if it continues.
 
Definitely not nudi's in my opinion.

I had the same thing happen to a frag (also a purple monti) and I was never able to isolate what it may have been (my frag eventually turned all the dark faded colour and the tissue started falling off). In my case it occurred shortly after I moved the frag and I suspected it was something to do with the lighting.

The cotton balls - when you blow on them with water - do they fall off together with some tissue?
 
The tank is a 120G 48x24x24. The rock work centers the width of the tank (center island). The vortechs (MP-40) are mounted on the side panels opposing each other in back of the rock work. The monti is on the front side of the rocks. I had night mode enabled (that I enabled 2-3 wks ago), I turned it off yesterday.

I'm not sure how rapid my alk might of climbed. I wasn't monitoring this for a couple weeks. Everything was looking good... until this. Alk was kept at 8.5dkh and seemed to be steady. My guess is the nitrate levels climbed and as a result the corals stopped consuming the Alk at the same rate.

Noy, yes the "cotton balls" do blow off with some tissue attached.

Fragging the affected pieces is going to be rough... it's going to end up a pile of rubble. I had a thought about this and I wanted to see if you all think it might be worthwhile. Basically, I was thinking about making a "fire line" with superglue. I figure I could try it on one plate and see if it does any good. Do you think it's worth a try?
 
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I don't own an iodine test kit, but come to think of it I have been using aquavitro fuel at 1/2 dose once per week for the last 6 weeks or so.

Could excessive iodine produce this?
 
The said product does not seem to contain iodine.

It is possible that your water column may have too little iodine as opposed to too much. Has any of your other corals (especially montiporas) started to look pale/grey and develop bold patches?

By all means get a second opinion. I would test the iodine levels.

Cheers
 
i don't think the cotton balls is related to your coloration problem. I have large monti plates and I get that occasionally - its just food or debris and the "cotton" is the reaction from your coral. Just blow it off and the coral will heal the bald patch.

Do the affected portions have tissue loss or is it only a coloration issue? Is it still expanding (faded regions)?
 
It's tissue loss. There is algae starting to grow on the areas which have been exposed for a while. It's still progressing, but it's pace seems to have slowed.
 
I PM'ed you trigg, hopefully you got it.

Anyways, an update on what happened. The tissue loss eventually consumed 1/2 the coral. It was looking really bad. I have no idae what was the turning point in this, but it seems to have bounced back.

I am suspecting that it was something caused by a contaminant in the water, as WC's and time were that only things that seemed to help.

Here is a pic of how it looks present day, you can still see the "scars" (forgive me, moonlights are only on as it is late)...

 
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