White spot on montipora

[Frogmanx82]

I have this

There is a spot that has turned white, I presume from some STN. I thought Montis were pretty hardy. My water quality is pretty good, no nitrates, phosphates 0.01 or less, Calcium 440, Mag 1380, kH just dropped to 6 it was 7 last week, pH 8.5 up from 8.3. I'm adding some bicarbonate to increase the kH and decrease the pH a bit but that seems like not enough of an issue to be a problem. All my lps are doing great.

Should I wait this out or do I need to intervene an do some pruning on the monti. The white spot is about a quarter inch on the edge. I'll post a pic when I get back on Wednesday. Any suggestions?

 

[rbnice1]

Are you running some ULNS that would require your alk being so low?

 

[boodlefish]

I'm adding some bicarbonate to increase the kH and decrease the pH a bit

i haven't used bicarbonate in a long time well over 3 years now but i thought that it raised both ALK and pH, similar to Kalk....

 

[boodlefish]

I just found my old bottle of Seachem "Reef Builder" and they claim to raise Alk without an immediate effect on pH but, and with prolonged use the aquarium should achieve a stable pH of 8.3.

I just don't think that bicarbonate lowers pH/ but it doesn't look like pH or a pH swing is your issue here anyway.

 

[Frogmanx82]

So is there anything I should do physically to the coral? Would moving up higher help? The spot seems to be slowly spreading though the rest of the coral looks fine.

 

[Shadowramy]

Check for nudibranches, as the consume the flesh they leave white patches. Usually find on the underside of the cap

 

[goochesfish]

I just found nudi's on my montipora today. looks like these.

 

[anderson99]

+1. Start with the worst case scenario.

But I've found that caps can lose color, bleach when water parameters suddenly change.

I just found nudi's on my montipora today. looks like these.

 

[Frogmanx82]

Couldn't find an nudibranches. Its just one spot and it is receding pretty evenly so I'm thinking its not a predator.

 

[Frogmanx82]

Here is the white spot. At the lfs they suggested feeding rotifers to the monti, a dip in revive, and if possible breaking off the white area. Is this good advice?

The white spot toward the center is just some sand my hector's goby spit out.

 

[Frogmanx82]

Can anyone suggest the best path forward?

 

[Frogmanx82]

I just need to know if breaking off that piece has to be done.

 

[Frogmanx82]

No help then? I just want to know what the best course of action is. Move it higher in the tank, feed it, revive dip, or break off the white area, or all of the above.

 

[preef]

Looks like damage from another coral touching that edge. Happened to me once. Did another coral fall on that spot? If so it won't come back.

What is your alk at?

How long has it been there? Did it show up overnight or has the white area been slowly getting bigger?

I would observe it. If the whit area expands rapidly I'd break it off. I wouldn't move it since, by the change in your two pics, it looks like it has grown. I'd get a turkey baster and squirt the area to see if any nudis come flying off. Squirt the bottom too since I think they hide during the day.

 

[Frogmanx82]

Thanks, the area grows a little every day. I first noticed it a couple weeks ago. The pic was taken on the 13th. Wouldn't nudis cause a lot more random damage? The recession is very uniform. I've been looking for nudibranches and pulled the monti out and looked with a magnifying glass on the under side and not seen any.

There aren't any corals close to the monti that would lead me to believe it has been stung.

I'm guessing my best course of action is to break off the white piece, do a revive dip, and hope that works. I see where some people seal a break with super glue. Is that normal?

Ca 440, Mg 1380, alk 6, nitrate 0, phosphate 0.01, ph 8.3, salinity 1.026

 

[Chipie]

Your Alk is too low. It should never go under 7, but raise it very slowly.

 

[Frogmanx82]

So you think that's the issue? I know I'm low on alk and added some baking soda last week and was planning on adding more today.

So should I take the monti out and break off the whit spot or can I feed more, up my alk, and reverse the recession?

 

[potterjon]

I constantly break my monticaps off. I can't run a magfloat on the glass without shaving my green ones so it almost constantly has a wound on the front edge of it. Needless to say, the front edge of it is parallel to the front of the tank. I say break it off and glue it to a plug. Monti eating nudis can be very hard to see. But if you looked with a magnifying glass, then you would have seen them somewhere on there. Is this the only monti you have? When we had them down at the lfs, all the montipora suffered simultaneously.

 

[potterjon]

It does look like it got burnt. Is there a coral anywhere around it with sweeper tentacles?

 

[Frogmanx82]

No corals around it, the closest thing is a cabbage leather about 4 inches away