ChicagoReefOne
New member
Rough man, at least you're having a sense of humor about it ("I'm going to RTN on you any day now").
My condolences.
My condolences.
Montis dying.... salt issue?
- Thread starter SDguy
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SPSEMPIRE
New member
double check your alk levels with another test kit just to make sure. I've seen them expire well before the expiration date on the box. Also, different brands are going to give you different results although two in-date test kits should give you an accurate range at the least.
Same thing happened to one of my friends. We pin pointed it back to the brand of salt that he was using but it is not the same brand in this case. Also, look into your iodine. I believe it is a metal of some sort, possibly strontium.
Same thing happened to one of my friends. We pin pointed it back to the brand of salt that he was using but it is not the same brand in this case. Also, look into your iodine. I believe it is a metal of some sort, possibly strontium.
I don’t think it’s the lighting or bulb change. I would your suspect corals would be more pale but who knows. Maybe switching back to IO is your only foot to stand on at this point so I would do that. Have you checked you PH? I’ve heard of some salts having a issue with hold PH. I know it’s a shot in the dark.
Stanley-Reefer
New member
Hey, you dose vodka and bacteria too right? I recently changed from Seachem Reef to D-D in my 175 and my monti and a few others look JUST LIKE YOURS. I had to cut my usual dose in half.
If I had to pin it to one thing, I'd say it's the new salt's different interaction with my CaRx dose, vs, water changes, vs carbon source.
FWIW--I've now got mostly D-D salt in there now and the problems are resolving.
I did add a Deltec SC2560 at Christmas and got to zero on nitrates--reaching that with vodka and new salt is what I'm blaming my probs on!
If I had to pin it to one thing, I'd say it's the new salt's different interaction with my CaRx dose, vs, water changes, vs carbon source.
FWIW--I've now got mostly D-D salt in there now and the problems are resolving.
I did add a Deltec SC2560 at Christmas and got to zero on nitrates--reaching that with vodka and new salt is what I'm blaming my probs on!
Mikey122687
New member
Why don't you go buy a cheap 25G Tropic marin Pro salt pack and do a 25G water change. Whenever i have problems, i just do a huge water change with TMP and it stops.
psteeleb
Team RC
Sorry to hear about this Peter, and hope you got to the bottom of it.
The only experiance I've encountered with monte's going bad have been attributed to low Mg and changing out bulbs so I'm not much help.
Based on what I've read I would suspect a deficency in some trace element or some exposure to a toxin. If so, either of these could be the salt but also could be attributed to something external and it sounds like youv'e eliminated a lot of the external potentials
The only experiance I've encountered with monte's going bad have been attributed to low Mg and changing out bulbs so I'm not much help.
Based on what I've read I would suspect a deficency in some trace element or some exposure to a toxin. If so, either of these could be the salt but also could be attributed to something external and it sounds like youv'e eliminated a lot of the external potentials
Whisperer
New member
Peter, check salinity. Also, parasitic cause. I have few corals that do that. Losing tissues at the base for no reason. I notice some grits like fine sand at the edge of the advancing tissue recession. I have not been successful in IDing this parasite. Some spontaneously stop and tissue begins to recolonize dead spots but some underwent complete coral loss. Good luck.
hey folks, thanks for all the replies. I'm not ignoring them, just didn't want to reply without more info.
Pulled out the refractometer... lots of dust on that box
32 ppt
Alk kit tested spot on for a standard I made at my lab, so it's accurate.
For some reason I don't have any pH probe calibration fluids, so I'll do that tomorrow and get an exact pH.
ORP shows 415. I'll calibrate that probe today just to be sure.
Meanwhile, I did another 30+g water change with IO only. Also added fresh carbon (the BRS brand), and just bought a polyfilter to throw in between the sump baffles.
The montis I'm not heartbroken over. The A. elegans is bad... but if I lose that aussie echinata, D'oh!
Pulled out the refractometer... lots of dust on that box
32 pptAlk kit tested spot on for a standard I made at my lab, so it's accurate.
For some reason I don't have any pH probe calibration fluids, so I'll do that tomorrow and get an exact pH.
ORP shows 415. I'll calibrate that probe today just to be sure.
Meanwhile, I did another 30+g water change with IO only. Also added fresh carbon (the BRS brand), and just bought a polyfilter to throw in between the sump baffles.
The montis I'm not heartbroken over. The A. elegans is bad... but if I lose that aussie echinata, D'oh!
losthere
New member
I have had the same problem twice.
Once when I was using Marine Enviroment. Then switched to TropicMarin Pro and everything came back. Then a few months ago I got a bad bucket of TMP,it was solidified so I broke it up and just used it. My corals, specifically my montis started doing the same thing. I called and got an new bucket of TMP and started mixing it 50/50 with IO and everything started coming back, and quickly. I tried everything before switching salts that was the only thing that I was left with. IMO it has something to do with the salt, as that has been the only common thread. I would love to discuss this with you in greater detail, and see what your experiences were/are, since I have been through this twice now. HTH
Once when I was using Marine Enviroment. Then switched to TropicMarin Pro and everything came back. Then a few months ago I got a bad bucket of TMP,it was solidified so I broke it up and just used it. My corals, specifically my montis started doing the same thing. I called and got an new bucket of TMP and started mixing it 50/50 with IO and everything started coming back, and quickly. I tried everything before switching salts that was the only thing that I was left with. IMO it has something to do with the salt, as that has been the only common thread. I would love to discuss this with you in greater detail, and see what your experiences were/are, since I have been through this twice now. HTH
I agree, when you haven't really changed anything, that you haven't changed before (lights vs salt) it's tough to really blame anything else.
Laddy
New member
Not that I can add too much to the conversation, and I don't want to cloud the waters with a bunch of hearsay, but I too have experienced recently some RTN'ing with two encrusting montis.
A month ago I noticed my ATL superman, which I've had for over five years, suddenly start to die off, not at the edges, but rather on the interior. The calcification turned from purple to opaque (sp?), and from there it worked outwards in a matter of days. I fraged back down to the mother colony, if you will, treated with Lugols and placed it in an area of between 200-300 lux, but couldn't save it. After five years, and a supplier of frags to atlantis in the past I now find myself "superman-less".
A no-name red encrusting monti I've had for 6-7 years, although, not experiencing the level of stress the superman did (on the other side of the tank, with similar lux readings, and similar flow), suddenly stopped growing, and lost a little bit of color in its calcification.
I did switch from IO to Reef Crystals about two months ago, doing the same water schedule I've always done (approx 10% weekly). Looking back at my records I tested Mg on:
1/6: 1450
2/5: 1480
3/4: 1140 (tested twice)
I'm not sure if this is the root cause or not, although I am curious how my Mag got depleted in a months time. I feel reef salts from batch-to-batch have a lot to be desired, and really look forward to see the longevity of such mixes like ESVs.
Hope this helped a little......oh for the days of fish only again
A month ago I noticed my ATL superman, which I've had for over five years, suddenly start to die off, not at the edges, but rather on the interior. The calcification turned from purple to opaque (sp?), and from there it worked outwards in a matter of days. I fraged back down to the mother colony, if you will, treated with Lugols and placed it in an area of between 200-300 lux, but couldn't save it. After five years, and a supplier of frags to atlantis in the past I now find myself "superman-less".
A no-name red encrusting monti I've had for 6-7 years, although, not experiencing the level of stress the superman did (on the other side of the tank, with similar lux readings, and similar flow), suddenly stopped growing, and lost a little bit of color in its calcification.
I did switch from IO to Reef Crystals about two months ago, doing the same water schedule I've always done (approx 10% weekly). Looking back at my records I tested Mg on:
1/6: 1450
2/5: 1480
3/4: 1140 (tested twice)
I'm not sure if this is the root cause or not, although I am curious how my Mag got depleted in a months time. I feel reef salts from batch-to-batch have a lot to be desired, and really look forward to see the longevity of such mixes like ESVs.
Hope this helped a little......oh for the days of fish only again
Thanks for the info, and sorry to hear about your losses 
Well, with 2, plus a QT, I won't be throwing out the OP salt boxes
oh for the days of fish only again
Well, with 2, plus a QT, I won't be throwing out the OP salt boxes
OK, freshly calibrated probes with brand new calibration solutions.
ORP = 310
pH = 7.98
I'm not thrilled with either, but I don't think either would stress anything. I think the ORP is probably low due to the water change. The pH...hmmm, my tank normally runs low, but that is lower than normal for late afternoon. I will add kalk to topoff for a while.
ORP = 310
pH = 7.98
I'm not thrilled with either, but I don't think either would stress anything. I think the ORP is probably low due to the water change. The pH...hmmm, my tank normally runs low, but that is lower than normal for late afternoon. I will add kalk to topoff for a while.
SPSEMPIRE
New member
acros can defiantly handle lower nutrient levels than montis but they usually just bleach vs start dieing off.
