Poker Star Monti Not Doing So Good?

[ChicagoReefer88]

I got this frag for free from my lfs due to some inconvenience they troubled me with. Im pretty sure i dont have sufficient light for this guy, im running a dual 39w t5 fixture. I will be upgrading come Christmas, but how does he look? Any suggestions?

 

[LifeAquatic]

Looks brown. Is the poker star supposed to be green and purple? That live rock in the photo looks cool! Not sure if thats the actual color or the camera is playing tricks.

 

[nvdiz]

doesnt look too good at the moment. is ur flash on?

from the picture it looks brown and the pokerstar actually has a white/purple base w/ green polyps.

 

[shifty51008]

sorry so small but here is my pokerstar

 

[ChicagoReefer88]

Should I take him out? Is he rotting? I won't have new light s until christmas

 

[shifty51008]

leave him in there, he is not dying. keep your nitrates and po4 close to 0 and your cal. alk, and mag in check and he will be ok till you get your lights. just won't color up till after.

 

[M88A2]

i agree with the high nutrients. once you get everything in check it should come back. i have a rainbow monti that went threw a near tank meltdown and huge nutrient spike. all but litteraly 4 polyps died...its been 4 months since all this happened and its back to about a 2 nickel sizes now and colors up more and more. good luck

 

[tripnbili]

Make sure it is stable...not "wobbling" in flow. Also, they like strong yet in-direct flow, along with lower nutrient levels as mention before. It looks like it is high up in your tank, which is good. I had a nice pokerstar frag brown out on me from stress of transporting it etc....I made the mistake of expecting quick color change and after a week in one spot I'd move it and so on. Finally I picked out a spot with strong light and strong indirect flow and epoxied it onto the rock.

Now, a month later, it is bright blue base with neon green polyps. New growth is orange poylps which turn green after a bit.

Good luck!

 

[ChicagoReefer88]

i agree with the high nutrients. once you get everything in check it should come back. i have a rainbow monti that went threw a near tank meltdown and huge nutrient spike. all but litteraly 4 polyps died...its been 4 months since all this happened and its back to about a 2 nickel sizes now and colors up more and more. good luck

Thanks, i hope he come around. His color doesnt look the best but i do see his small tentacles filtering for food? Im guessing thats a good sign.

 

[M88A2]

ya, polyp ext. is always a good sign. all you can do, other than keep param on track and stable, is give it time. it may take a while and you may say to yourself that nothing is happening, but one day you'll notice that the colors have gotten better. try keeping a picture diary of it's development. it has helped me stop myself from wanting to move things around and add/subtract "elements"

 

[OneReef]

The PokerStar loves high light. The higher the better from what I have seen in my tank. Not enough light and it kinda browns out........ Just need to acclimate it as you go higher so you don't bleach

 

[Stanley-Reefer]

You know their happy when their growth edge is orange...I have it several places in my 175 and the happiest is the one 4" from the top.