Why is my Starbust Cap so unhappy?

[James983]

So I have the cap in my tank for months. Lately it looks terrible. Turning white I'm spots and ploys are closed, but it keeps growing. Usually when a coral is dying it doesn't grow so well. Any ideas?

Here are my numbers.

Calcium 450
Alk 9.3. Very steady.
Mg 1350
PO4: .03
NO3: 0
SG. 1.025

Here is a pic.

Here is a pic of regular orange cap.

Tank is 180 gallons with about 350 gallons total water volume. Current set up is 6 years old.

 

[vette.tech]

Maybe it's too high up, see how it's growing away from the light

 

[Mael]

agreed, based on only the upper most piece being affected, have you tried checking par levels?

 

[James983]

Thanks for responding guys. No I have not tried checking par readings. It is 3/4 of the way down so I wasn't thinking too much par, but I should check. I am running a 10 bulb 60" ATI fixture so it is possible.

 

[markalot]

Have you changed feeding or parameters lately? Changed GFO?

I am NOT an expert, far far from it, but it looks similar to my red cap when it's starved for food or I dropped PO4 too fast.

 

[James983]

Have you changed feeding or parameters lately? Changed GFO?

I am NOT an expert, far far from it, but it looks similar to my red cap when it's starved for food or I dropped PO4 too fast.

Nope.

 

[Marksmithsb2004]

Montipora eating nutibranch? If not a pest, do you test iodine, strontium, potassium or other elements? Maybe one is deficient or overdosed? Only other thing would be a few larger water changes, see if that helps.

 

[James983]

Montipora eating nutibranch? If not a pest, do you test iodine, strontium, potassium or other elements? Maybe one is deficient or overdosed? Only other thing would be a few larger water changes, see if that helps.

Not thinking nudis because this is the only cap that looks crappy. Have plenty others which are very large and they are flourishing. Actually they are too large. I did have my water tested by Triton and they indicated low Iodine and Strontium. I have a Iodine test kit (Red Sea) which indicates only slightly low where Triton shows a large deficit. I added a 2 ml a few days ago. Triton recommended 5.67 ml but I want to go slow as I do not want to mess with my Acros which seem to be fine.

 

[Realposition]

Has kind of a weird growth pattern. Could it be getting hammered with flow?

 

[James983]

Has kind of a weird growth pattern. Could it be getting hammered with flow?

I do have 2MP40s and 2 Tunze 6105s for flow. Growth pattern doesn't bother me but the overall health is bizzare as it keeps growing despite looking like it does.

 

[Realposition]

I have the starburst cap as well and it just plates out like a normal cap. That downward growth pattern might be some clue as to why it's losing tissue at the top.