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Is this starburst monti dead?

It was looking great when I got it, but in all my diligence in coral care research, I dropped the ball on this one and placed it in an area with grossly insufficient light. Upon borrowing the club’s par meter, I learned that the spot only had 30-40 Par which is terrible since starburst montis actually need 200-250 par (as I later learned). Full disclosure: that initial spot was also 2” away from a chalice, so not sure if it had been stung at night when no one is looking. I have since relocated it but does it have a chance to bounce back or is it a goner?

3d194bbfbac0716e2cd04b551716c2a5.jpg



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Give it some time to see if it does recover. SPS, especially montis, have a remarkable recovery rate. Usually you won't be able to see colors or sometimes polyps, but what you will notice is that the piece is still fighting off algae. As long as no algae is growing on it you will be fine.
 
+1 to what Eric said, especially if that color you see is the original flesh, need to ask yourself what did this to it. However if it cyanobacteria over the top I wouldn't have to much hope in it.
 
I have an encrusting monti that came back from dinos (and treatments releasing their toxins?) plague I had. It literally ended up being a tiny patch of tissue, maybe a few millimetres in size, and within half a year is fully encrusting and over 3" with a ton of PE.

Give it a proper placement, pretty sure it'll come back quickly!
 
Definitely not cyano, guys. That color is a result of the monti being in a way under par spot for months and being potentially stung by a chalice for a good amount of time.
 
It resembles my old piece that had a similar issue. It went into a new tank with very low nutrients relative to the intensity of the light and bleached out.
reeftek_starburst_080816.jpg


It got even slightly paler than this and the center of it eventually died.

The outer edge of it survived and recovered. Here it is with the dead center and recovered outers.
reeftek_starburst_012317.jpg
 
It was looking great when I got it, but in all my diligence in coral care research, I dropped the ball on this one and placed it in an area with grossly insufficient light. Upon borrowing the club’s par meter, I learned that the spot only had 30-40 Par which is terrible since starburst montis actually need 200-250 par (as I later learned). Full disclosure: that initial spot was also 2” away from a chalice, so not sure if it had been stung at night when no one is looking. I have since relocated it but does it have a chance to bounce back or is it a goner?

3d194bbfbac0716e2cd04b551716c2a5.jpg



Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
If you like, I have some monti you can have. I have Superman, Idaho Grape, Red Cap., Pokerstar, AppleBerry, Sunset, Mystic Sunset and a couple others.
 
Did you notice the change happening quickly (1-2 days) or much longer? If quickly then it was probably stung, if longer then it could be the low light.

The color that is on it; have you determined if that is flesh or algae?
 
If you like, I have some monti you can have. I have Superman, Idaho Grape, Red Cap., Pokerstar, AppleBerry, Sunset, Mystic Sunset and a couple others.
Wow you have quite the selection of montis! Which ones are plating montis? I’m thinking Idaho grape? Wouldn’t mind a little piece of that. Thanks for offering!


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Did you notice the change happening quickly (1-2 days) or much longer? If quickly then it was probably stung, if longer then it could be the low light.

The color that is on it; have you determined if that is flesh or algae?
This happened over a longer period of time. Initially, after placement, it seemed to do well and had nice PE. Because it was on the side of the tank, I tend to pay less attention to it. Then I eventually noticed it had turned splotchy like that. The color on it is the coral itself and not algae.
 
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Does anyone want to nurse it back to health and keep it? It might have greater success bouncing back in a veteran reefer's tank.
 
i can take it in my frag if you swing by for that torch. i've got some monti came back but eventury lost it during an upgrade. ( yes i'm not upgrading anymore )
 
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