Whats killing my monti pics

[alford35]

Ok my monti doesnt look very good although its growing extremely fast! I think I pulled a nudibranch off of it but not sure.

Here are pics from 9 days ago and today. The growth is crazy but lack of polyps is what is concerning me. The base where the unknown was at is also in bad shape.

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Here it is now.
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What I pulled off of it. I have been searching for more but havent seen any others. I use Coral RX for dips and rinse with saltwater.


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Guess this is eye opener for frag QT tank although I've always planned on one but now will always use one. Any suggestions on what to do for now?

I lost a blue polyp monti and am now guessing this is why. My zoos have went from doubling almost each week to nothing. I've had that happen to zoos before and have read the long thread about their unknown reasons for dying off rapidly. Acro is growing crazy fast and so is my Cadmium Porcillopora

Water params are great and dose to keep them stable.

Cal 440
Alk 9.5
Mag 1500-1550
PH 8.3
Sal 1.025
Nitrate 0
Phos 0

Should I start feeding more to both the fish and coral since trates and phos stay at 0? I feed fish flakes once a day and frozen every other day. Feed coral every couple of days.

And could the lack of polyps compared to before be because of the extreme growth over 9 days? There are far more polyps than in the pic since they are closing for the night but they arent covering it completely all bunched up like before it hit the growth spurt.

 

[pstank1]

I think there is still a nudi at the base. If you blow up that picture, you can see something right at the base of the chewed part.

I wouldn't worry too much about the polyp extension. If that's an orange monti with pinkish colored tips, they don't seem to have much extension. I have one of those and a blue one in my tank and you can barely see the base of the blue from the polyp extension. The orange one does have polyps out, they just stay closer to the skeleton, the color is also close to the base color so that makes them blend in even more. The coral looks healthy, the tips have recovered from the trip to your house. The color looks good.

I would be far more concerned about the nudibranchs. Since it's a new frag, i'd break it off at the base. Discard the base and dip it in some bayer advanced insect killer. Mount it on a plug afterwards. It'll be much easier to inspect for eggs. You'll probably need to dip it a second time about a week later.

Do you have any other monti's in the tank? If so, i'd inspect them closely. They like to stay in the shaded portions of your coral if they can.

 

[Reef Bass]

Yes there is at least one nudi on the base in the pic.

+1 for being concerned about the nudi(s). +1 for dips and discarding the base.

 

[swanny]

I had those and added a yellow corris wrasse and haven't seen one since.

 

[pstank1]

If you decide to go the bayer insect killer route ( i have used it myself with great results), i strongly suggest reading the thread on it before using it. It's nasty stuff, but works extremely well. You just want to make sure none of it get's in your tank.

I used a solution of 4 ml/ liter of salt water ( i siphoned it from my tank ) for 15 minutes. I also used the bayer advanced with germ killer. Different products have different concentrations, which is why i suggest the reading the thread. Here's a link to it http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1965880&highlight=red+bugs

 

[DNA]

It seems it was glued on there recently since it has not encrusted on to the rock.
The coraline algae needs to be pushed away and that could take it's toll as well.

 

[Bugger]

YOU have 0 nitrate thats zero chance of the coral reciving sufficent nutreints add some extra food to the tank

 

[alford35]

Yes there is at least one nudi on the base in the pic.

+1 for being concerned about the nudi(s). +1 for dips and discarding the base.

Yes, that is the one I removed. I took the pic before removing it.

Thanks all!

 

[alford35]

So, Did the nudi/nudis just not come off during the Coral RX dip? I put them on a timer of 5 minutes in the dip with turkey baster. I guess from now on I'll dip them after one week in QT if they look healthy and watch continously.

I need to start looking into frag tank options. Something nice with levels but not too pricey that will have ample lighting and flow. Will be my first frag QT tank.

 

[swanny]

YOU have 0 nitrate thats zero chance of the coral reciving sufficent nutreints add some extra food to the tank

Huh? C'mon man read the thread, he has nudi's, you can clearly see one in the picture. Also, lots of people use nothing but photosynthesis for succesful tanks. :headwally:

 

[ostrow]

Radiant wrasse is #1 most reliable to control MEN. Next best are cosmetus and MAYBE melanarus.

Problem is radiants have been soper-scarce for nearly a year now.

 

[dvanacker]

YOU have 0 nitrate thats zero chance of the coral reciving sufficent nutreints add some extra food to the tank

Go and check out the amazing SPS tanks in the TOTM feature on this site. The vast majority list nitrate as nil.

 

[alford35]

Go and check out the amazing SPS tanks in the TOTM feature on this site. The vast majority list nitrate as nil.

Yeah the monti is growing way faster than anything other than zoos multiplying than anything I've ever seen. It is almost daily that growth can be seen. I know a little trates wont hurt anything and some think that having them is a good thing. But, I feed daily like I posted and add frozen every other day along with the flakes daily. Then I feed the corals every couple of days. If my trates stay at 0 then I am not going to complain as I've had problems keeping them down in other tanks.

So, I agree with you 100% It is very possible to have extremely healthy coral without trates being present on the test. I have to dose this little 16g 6ml of alk and 7ml of calcium daily so they are def soaking the stuff up in a hurry!

I wish my zoos didnt just up and close though. They were acting like rabbits for like 3 weeks straight.

The monti is showing more polyps than 3 days ago when I pulled the nudi off of it. I just dont know about cutting it and gluing way to get it away from the coraline. How important is that?

 

[alford35]

YOU have 0 nitrate thats zero chance of the coral reciving sufficent nutreints add some extra food to the tank

I do feed the coral along with fish daily. They could be soaking it up as soon as it is present. But not worried about params at all as of now since they are extremely stable which I believe is the most important thing for our tanks.

 

[pstank1]

You aren't cutting to get away from the coraline, the monti will grow right over that without a problem. The reason you'd want to get it off the base is that it is much more difficult to inspect for eggs than a little frag plug would be. If you found one, there is probably more than one, and there are probably eggs. Dipping will not kill the eggs, they must be scraped off. If you mount it on a new base, you can discard the old one and get rid of any eggs that may be there.

As far as using coral RX to kill them, from what i've read it usually just stuns nudi's and you need to baste the coral to remove them.

 

[danrobberg]

I must be blind. I don't see the nudi. Can some one please circle it or point it out so I know what I'm looking for?

 

[tmz]

It's hard to see but I think I see the white shadow of an outline there.

Not sure about Coral rx ; it an herbal thing with proprietary ingredients not disclosed. Might not be strong enough for tough bugs or their eggs.

The Bayer products noted contain cyfluthrin a pyrethroid which is extermely toxic(ppb) to fish and other aquatic life. Lot's of success reported knocking out pests though. Be very thorough in rinsing post dip and use it only when you must,imo. Not much info on long term potential for accumulation since although it breaks down in the air it doesn't seem to in the water but I've been unable to find that out for certain.

 

[tmz]

Radiants( halchores iridis) are not surviving well lately;had one for about 5 years and have been trying to get a replacement.
My lfs guy agreed to get me one despite his initial misgivings but I agreed to take it in the shipping bag.
He called when it came in and I got it right away That was two weeks ago. Died in qt in 3 days with a blown up abdomen;looked like it swallowed a marble, indicative of some internal nematode issue which I don't think is treatable with much effect. I did try prazi pro. The Chrysus wrasse I got a few months ago is doing doing fine though. I'll wait a while until I hear the radiants are faring better before trying again.