What is it and HELP plz!

[fraggleRocks]

I would post this in the ID forum, but its been in my tank for a week and is drastically taking a turn for the worse.

First i'm trying to figure out what it is, so that I can provide it with the correct lighting/flow thats needed for it.

The whole thing was a baby blue with blue looking upraised, oblong looking, nubs on the top. very very pretty coral. Guy said it was some kind of a monti.

Its starting to shed its top layer and expose its skeleton on the edges....bad sign.... the skeleton is pinkish/red throughout, if that helps any.

I dont want to kill it! HELP.

My prams:

Temp 79
calcium 460
dkh 9 (api test kit...)
PH questionable, I think my test kit has had it. It reads 7.8 constantly, and I did a CO2 test by putting some tankwater in a cup outside and testing it 20min later to see if the PH raised any. It diddnt.
P04 - .5
Nitrates - 0

running phosban and some carbon in the sump.

No major changes to the tank since I added it, I figure it just hated my tank from the beginning. other corals and sps in my tank doing well...

At first I had it up in the top 1/3 of the tank with medium flow. Once I noticed the flesh peeling off, i immediately moved it down a bit towards the middle in an area with slightly less flow.

If this move wasnt a good one I need to do something quick, because at the rate its going I dont think it will last another week until I figure out the issue and take care of it ASAP.

Anybody know what it might be? Any info or general ideas in the right direction would be greatly appreciated.

 

[fraggleRocks]

this is similar to blue color and also the shape/appearance of oval disks that are on the top of it...

http://www.juicycorals.com/index.ph...oducts_id=90&zenid=98g5m7ko5vif99qoapqalm5sc0

 

[beeker]

looks like a chalice or some type of favia

i'd say lower to medium light and gently flow


i always keep my parameters at these levels
Calc at 500ppm
Alk at 7-8 dkh
and magnesium at 1500ppm

should help

 

[beeker]

i never test for ph but i don't use a reactor

your API kit my be off on the alkalinty as well

i only use Elo's test kits as i've found them to be of great consistency and quality, i don't like the price but if your parameters are off and your test kit is the issue then it can cause major problems, it's the main reason why i only use Elo's now

i've used isntant ocean and api in the past and they are close but not near as accurate or reliable as the Elos test kits are

 

[fraggleRocks]

thanks. ill drop it down a bit more.

Yeah once i have some cash i will invest in some better test kits. I was thinking about heading over to FAOIS and have them test the water for me, they use better test kits and use a p04 meter. it costs $10 but they test everything

 

[fraggleRocks]

looks like a chalice or some type of favia

i'd say lower to medium light and gently flow


i always keep my parameters at these levels
Calc at 500ppm
Alk at 7-8 dkh
and magnesium at 1500ppm

should help

when you say medium light, is it the same amount of lighting that zoas need appropriate? mine are at the bottom on the substrate and doing great. Or should it be a bit higher than substrate?

I dont have a mag test. water changes are once every 2 weeks and I use Instant Ocean salt, i think thier mag. is at 1100-1200 if i'm not mistaken. I should be dosing then but i'll wait on that until I can properly test for it.

 

[evsalty]

That looks like an monti undata to me. Look at the growth on the edges and you can see that this is not a chalice or any type of lps for that matter. Undatas need higher light. High alk can cause issues like that

 

[fraggleRocks]

i have an undata in the same tank, its very very different. the undata is very high up and in med flow. its doing great with full polyp extention.

this was at the same level as the undata, in about the same amount of flow, then the flesh started flaking off so I moved it down. this coral has oval looking upraised disks on top, they are clearest in the middle of the pic, the whole frag was covered in them just a few days ago.

 

[evsalty]

Ok then. Sorry I could not be of any help.

 

[fraggleRocks]

Ok then. Sorry I could not be of any help.

its all good. i appreciate the input. I should post a better pic of what the top of it looks like, but i just cant get a decent pic of it. this was the best out of 5 that i just took a few min ago. i'll try to get a better pic and post it.

 

[iap]

The whole frag was covered looking like what just the middle looks like now? And they vanished and that outter portion of the coral look normal now or what?

 

[fraggleRocks]

The whole frag was covered looking like what just the middle looks like now? And they vanished and that outter portion of the coral look normal now or what?

edges are the skeleton and middle is the original color. the whole frag was baby blue with pink rim and light blue/pinkish/orange oval disks everywhere.

Picture quality isnt the best.

everybody on another forum has voted chalice.

Ive droped it down in the tank and its in an area of less flow. I'm going to see if it starts to recover over the next few days.

Its quite a big piece, i dont know if i should just frag the healthy parts or if it would just kick the bucket completely because of the added stress ontop of the already stressfull situation...

for now i'm just going to let it be and see if it recovers.

 

[fraggleRocks]

just found this pic of it in my camera...this is what it looked like 6 days ago