Strange monti-cap issue & other Q....

[ErikS]

I've had this yellow monti-cap in my tank since last Oct & it's done very well. It's grown from a thumb sized frag to the size of my hand.

The problem - suddenly it's begun to loose flesh/bleach in spots @ the center. If you look at the palm of your hand (that's pretty much the shape - a hand) It has three growing white spots about @ the top of your plam/1st knuckle. This has just started in the last few days to maybe a week. I'm about to frag it back to the healthy base but I wanted to know WTH? first.

I've sat and looked at it for an hour with a magnifying glass & seen no bugs/nudis or anything crawling on it (also other caps in the tank).

Nothing has changed in the tank, specs/parms are:

CA = 420
ALK = 9.6DKH
SG = 1.025
Temp = 79.1 to 80.1
Nitrates = 0
PO = 0 (but that's salifert, doesn't count)
PH = 8.02 to 8.21 (CA reactor = a bit low, but steady)
MG = 1320
Turnover via CL, Tunze, & main return = 50x
Lights 2x54w T5 = 10hrs, 2x250 Phoenix14K = 6hrs

I've seen RTN/STN from the tips & base but I've never seen anything like this - out of the middle? Makes me think an attack, but who or what?

Also - anyone know where the thread on that red algae (the stiff short stuff - BB'ers tended to have it)?

 

[atzak]

I had a similar problem, turned out a damsel was eating polyps in the middle. I fagged a few little peices, big enough to cover the dead spots, covered the white skeleton with superglue, you can't even tell it ever had a problem.

 

[ErikS]

Thanks for the input, I keep checking but I've seen nothing touching it night or day

 

[Doubledown]

Could flow be an issue? As corals grow (particularly the whirl pattern) dead zones develop where flow is restricted.

Just a thought.

What else is in the tank (leathers, fish?) - maybe something like undesolved salt or kalk fell on these areas by accident.

 

[ErikS]

What else is in the tank (leathers, fish?) - maybe something like undesolved salt or kalk fell on these areas by accident

Flow - it's not swirling (yet), shape is pretty much an open hand (thought the same thing). Nothing flow wise has changed.

No softies in the tank, frogspawn in the tank but it's 12" or more away. No salt or kalk goes into the display & the areas are growing - not the typical "burn destruction"

 

[Kimo]

Erik -

You have any pygmy angels? My potters angel used to nip at my plating monties and it looked exactly like you describe. White spots in the middle of the coral.

Jamie

 

[kabboord]

I once had some detritus settling in the center of a cap just like you described, it ended up killing some of the flesh.