Clark Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 I bought a plating monti 5 weeks ago and promptly bleached it probably with too much LED lighting. I still don't have any sense of timescale or lighting scale yet in this hobby. Anyway I've since moved it to a dim corner of the tank and I can see it's not actually white but a very pale purple. I have never seen a polyp any where on it. I have some hope it may recover though because it has added about a 1/4 inch of growth along every edge in the last three weeks since I moved it. But now it's attracting diatoms over 5-10% of its surface. Should I brush it clean or will that damage it? Thanks Clark Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FarmerTy Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 I usually just blow it away with a pipette or turkey baster. I wouldn't actually try to brush it off if possible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clark Posted May 30, 2015 Author Share Posted May 30, 2015 Good idea. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 Hate to tell you, but that looks like it's dead to me. SPS only have algae growing on them if their skeleton is exposed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 +1 algae will typically only grow on dead skeleton. Never on live tissue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clark Posted May 30, 2015 Author Share Posted May 30, 2015 Yeah, must have grown just before it died totally back. . I used to have underpowered lighting, now I have too much it seems. Someday I'll get this right. Next coral I get is going in a shadow zone and will only be moved out a bit at a time only when I see polyps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted May 30, 2015 Share Posted May 30, 2015 I would double check your water parameters - it's much more likely something is amiss in the water than the lighting (too hot, too cold, salinity off, alk off, calcium off, nitrates, etc). High powered LEDs are getting a lot of incorrect blame these days. Usually if a coral "bleaches" you will see the coral complain - especially if it's too much light. Usually they will start "puking" zooxanthellae which normally looks like a brown stringy substance, which in turn causes them to "bleach" and turn a stark white. But they still have their tissue and aren't dead. If you see particles of tissue falling off the coral, or if you blow some water at it with a turkey baster and you see chunks blow off, that's a sign that the tissue is dying. Drastic measures are required to save the coral at that point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clark Posted May 31, 2015 Author Share Posted May 31, 2015 As far as I can tell my water is pretty good. But I do think my lighting was too high. My palys, rbta, lobophyilla, Birdsnest, and gsp, have much more extension under the lower lighting. Next time I'll acclimate slower to both lighting and water. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted May 31, 2015 Share Posted May 31, 2015 As far as I can tell my water is pretty good. But I do think my lighting was too high. My palys, rbta, lobophyilla, Birdsnest, and gsp, have much more extension under the lower lighting. Next time I'll acclimate slower to both lighting and water. The numbers don't lie. Have you run any tests lately? Might be worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clark Posted June 1, 2015 Author Share Posted June 1, 2015 I test most values weekly or bi-weekly. Here's my log for today and it's typical. Date KH Ca Mg Salinity Ph Phos Temp NO3 Notes 5/31/2015 11 415 1260 1.0252 8 0 78.8 3 5gal water change. Removed expired carbon and Phosguard. +200ml TM magnesium. Note my no3 and po4 test are low resolution. I'm getting hi-res kits to measure fractional values soon. I auto top off water every few hours so these numbers do not vary much. Monti isn't supposed to be too picky i thought. I think I'm in range or is something out of bounds? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted June 1, 2015 Share Posted June 1, 2015 Hmm, yeah those all look good. Perhaps a pic of where in the tank you had it? Montis usually are very forgiving which is why I'm still thinking it may not be the lighting. I'm running a ton of leds and have some Montis way up top and they're fine. What lights and how close to the water? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clark Posted June 1, 2015 Author Share Posted June 1, 2015 Maxspect R420R 16000k. Where the monti was at the bottom of the tank it received about 150 par by my meter readings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 That definitely is not too much light for a monti. Something else is going on here. When you say it promptly bleached, do you mean in like the first few hours, or days, or weeks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bpb Posted June 2, 2015 Share Posted June 2, 2015 +1. Montipora can take a tremendous amount of light. Every bit as much as any other corals out there. One of mine has grown clear up to the water surface and only stops because I cant go higher and I have very high lighting. If it's not your measurable parameters it is something immeasurable (like a pest or some form of contamination) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clark Posted June 3, 2015 Author Share Posted June 3, 2015 It faded completely within a week after acclimation. This is how it looked when it arrived. I did not do any kind of coral dip because I'm afraid that I'd kill it by dipping too long. Contamination or tiny pests is worrisome and seemingly beyond my skill level. This is my third attempt at monti (might have said that already). Thanks everyone for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan H Posted June 3, 2015 Share Posted June 3, 2015 When it faded was it all over or was it more of a line marching from back to front? Sounds like STN, which can be difficult to stop. Sometimes when a little tissue gets damaged or the coral is unhappy, it will slowly slough off tissue. I've found on a frag like that, your best bet is to break off the dead tissue and go slightly past the line into the good tissue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neon Reefer Posted June 9, 2015 Share Posted June 9, 2015 An important requirement for Montipora success is water flow. These corals must be maintained in a system with adequate water movement of at least 20X display. They will do poorly in sluggish water and will likely succumb to algal growth when detritus is not scoured from their surfaces. If proper foundation elements are maintained not much else is too important to this species as they tolerate "dirty water" conditions better than most SPS and thrive in most lighting conditions. Too little light and it will turn brown, too much light and no polyp extension during the day and way too much light and it will bleach out but without tissue loss. They are an enduring SPS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clark Posted June 10, 2015 Author Share Posted June 10, 2015 Thanks for the information, NR. I'll keep it in mind next time I try a monti. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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