Montipora Cap: Lightening of Flesh in Large Area

spoon671

spoon671

New member
Hey guys. Here's a pic of a top down view..some of the colors on a couple corals might look weird, but I tried to get the colors on the coral in question to be as best represented as possible here.

I have a large piece of red Monti cap (pictured partially covered with LED reflection). You can see some lightening of the flesh right in the center of the coral. Spot isn't full white, but the lightening is noticeable. I noticed this just tonight, didn't notice anything earlier today or yesterday.

14246678510_7a17154845_h.jpg


Params:

Temp - 79.5
SG - 35
pH - 8.0
dKh - 8.5
Ca - 500
Mg - 1340

(I dose B-Ionic, and I calculated my dosing a while ago. Ca levels have always been kept/targeted 460, I cannot explain why level has risen to 500, and I haven't even dosed today yet.)

Also, I saw a bit of "diatom" looking algae growing on my purple Monti cap..I had to blow it off and some of it sticks. This is only noticeable just tonight. A little of the same on the large red Monti cap in question, and a trace on my sunset Monti as well, but none was found on any other Monti cap in the tank.

Worth noting, all three Monti with this condition are in direct path of MP10 set to 40% max reef crest mode. The other Monti located elsewhere in tank exhibit no symptoms.

Tank is about 12 weeks old. Water changes weekly with D-D. All corals have been dipped prior to introduction.

Thanks for any insight!!
 
Your diatom looking algae could be dinoflagellates. The brown dust on your rocks points to that as well.
If that is the case you are not in a good position.

Your tank looks so new it could not be ready for those corals or they come from vastly different conditions.
 
DNA said:
Your tank looks so new it could not be ready for those corals or they come from vastly different conditions.
Click to expand...

Nah. That's old school thinking. Monti Caps will grow easily in a tank that's just been cycled if you give them stable Alk and CA with enough light. And they don't care where they came from, they are easily to aclimate.

With the color cast in the photo it's pretty hard to see what's going on. Have you recently moved it to directly under that LED ?
 
Montipora Cap: Lightening of Flesh in Large Area

@Reefvet, It's been under the Kessil for about 5 weeks, and has grown 3/16" approx.

I had an Alk + pH spike a few weeks ago when I used some saltwater stored in a container, which had precipitated something out. I created a thread on that. At the time, I was concerned about the inverts, but after reading through I've found that Alk spikes can do damage.

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2414086
 
Last edited:
DNA said:
Your diatom looking algae could be dinoflagellates. The brown dust on your rocks points to that as well.
If that is the case you are not in a good position.

Your tank looks so new it could not be ready for those corals or they come from vastly different conditions.
Click to expand...


I have Trochus and Turbo snails that are eating the "diatoms" which are on the rocks. I hope it's not Dinoflagellates..how in the world could those have been introduced,m? I dipped everything.

Tank is really new, you're right. Although, I do have a few other SPS pieces that are exhibiting growth and PE, and not these symptoms.

And you're right again, the corals came from vastly differing conditions. The offending Monti Cap came from T5 tanning bed. My Kessil did not start at this intensity, but I suppose it's possible also that it is too intense now? I did not acclimate properly?
 
Nobody can really answer your question. If it's been bleached I'd suggest it was the alk issue and not the light. I have Monti Caps 12" below A350Ws at full power. They grow nicely and deepen in color once aclimated.
 
Grrrrrrrrrr. Montipora eating nudibranch? I think I see something underneath that piece. I'm going to have to break it off the rock. :(
 
Thanks for the relink Reefvet. :thumbup:

So yeah, every Monti but one has had these Montipora Eating Nudibranchs. Eggs came in on the pictured piece. Wow, it is amazing how quickly these bastards spread! And how quickly they will decimate Monti populations.

I have three out of seven Monti still alive in my tank. Two of the three has Nudi damage underneath, but I plucked nudi's off and did not find eggs. So I sure hope they recover.

My guess is that there might be stray nudi's on the rock work that will end up finding my still healthy Monti. I fear they will not make it. :(
 
just pull them off their rocks...with your set up it should be pretty easy. Then do dips every 5-6 days for a month with Bayer or another suitable pest killer. U have to ask the experts here what works on these pest and how long it takes the eggs to hatch.

if u do bayer dips...make sure u TOTALLY rinse to get the bayer off. Otherwise you will lose your inverts.
 
Montipora Cap: Lightening of Flesh in Large Area

Thanks for the tips DG!

I have the three pieces of Monti left. Two of them never had any sign of Nudi damage. One of them has Nudi damage and I plucked one Nudi off of it. I found no eggs on these pieces.

I did't find any eggs on the originally infested piece, or any other piece FWIW. But I still had to dump 4 pieces because they were in such bad shape. I plan to Bayer dip once a week even though the survivors appear to be Nudi free at this moment.

---

It's been two days, and I inspect the tank multiple times per day. The two untouched Monti still are untouched; no sign of Nudi presence. The one recovering Monti has also been inspected with no Nudi found, also no eggs found. It has lost some color through this, but over the past two days it has not gotten worse, just stayed the same. I've also observed good polyp extension, even in the bleached areas.
 
I just recently added a few monti's to my tank, I made the mistake of not dipping them. A couple of days later I found some monti nudis. I dipped every monti that I have in bayer (10 ml per cup of tank water) for ten mins. Although I only saw one or two on my montis before the dip, I found 20+ dead in the dip. I just did my second dip (5 days after the first dip) and found one small nudi dead.
 
I dipped mine in the recommended bayer and after a few days I now have white spots on one of them.

See picture attached anyone have any advice or info what's causing this?

Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic.
 

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reelredfish said:
I dipped mine in the recommended bayer and after a few days I now have white spots on one of them.

See picture attached anyone have any advice or info what's causing this?

Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic.
Click to expand...

Your post isn't very clear. You have white spots on the coral or there are white spots that might be pests of some kind on the coral.

Either way, take it out in a small container of tank water and look closer with a magnifying glass. If you have something eating it you'll see them.

And yes, your photo is useless.
 
Really cause I can clearly see the large white circles on the coral.

But whatever don't really need rude people to comment and provide useless feedback.

Thanks anyhow I will use one of the other forums for help.
 
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