High Tide Aquatics

Monti Cap: White Spotting?

Spoon

Spoon

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Hey guys. Here's a pic of a top down view..some of the colors on a couple corals might look weird, but I tried to get the colors on the coral in question to be as best represented as possible here.

I have a large piece of red Monti cap. You can see some lightening of the flesh right in the center of the coral. Spot isn't full white, but the lightening is noticeable. I noticed this just tonight, didn't notice anything earlier today or yesterday.

14246678510_7a17154845_h.jpg


Params:

Temp - 79.5
SG - 35
pH - 8.0
dKh - 8.5
Ca - 500
Mg - 1340

(I dose B-Ionic, and I calculated my dosing a while ago. Ca levels have always been kept/targeted 460, I cannot explain why level has risen to 500, and I haven't even dosed today yet.)

Also, I saw a bit of "diatom" looking algae growing on my purple Monti cap..I had to blow it off and some of it sticks. This is only noticeable just tonight. A little of the same on the large red Monti cap in question, and a trace on my sunset Monti as well, but none was found on any other Monti cap in the tank.

Worth noting, all three Monti with this condition are in direct path of MP10 set to 40% max reef crest mode. The other Monti located elsewhere in tank exhibit no symptoms.

Thanks for any insight!!
 
Also worth noting, I've used carbon as filtration media since day one.

I just installed a small bag of ChemiPure Elite the day before on Friday.

Three other pieces of Montipora have good polyp extension.
 
tr1gger said:
Looks like they are bleaching from the light.
Click to expand...

I am figuring such as well.

I have a Kessil A350W, 5" above water level, set on about 70% blues and 40% whites.

The Monti Cap in question sits dead center under the light, and has been there for close to a month now. Does it usually take about this long for a Monti to tell me it doesn't like the light?

I just turned down the intensity to 40% blues, 20% whites. Do you think this is low enough, or should I go even lower until I see improvement?
 
Spoon said:
I am figuring such as well.

I have a Kessil A350W, 5" above water level, set on about 70% blues and 40% whites.

The Monti Cap in question sits dead center under the light, and has been there for close to a month now. Does it usually take about this long for a Monti to tell me it doesn't like the light?

I just turned down the intensity to 40% blues, 20% whites. Do you think this is low enough, or should I go even lower until I see improvement?
Click to expand...


It can take a length of time for something to start showing a "lightening" in colors (Bleaching is a broad term). I have a few different strains of montiporas that all take different lighting. Matter of fact I just ramped my radions by 5% the other day and started bleaching mine.

I start by placing corals on the sand bed for 3-5 days and slowly start moving them up. You will continually be moving corals and changing lighting as you gain more coral, more growth and as the tank matures ;) I feel like I am moving something almost every day to try and get their placement just right.

I would move them down lower or lower your intensity on your lights and see if they improve and remember it can take just as long to get that color back.
 
The dreaded Montipora Eating Nudibranch.

Bluprntguy said:
Bummer: http://www.melevsreef.com/node/596

Bayer dip would probably work. Is this the only Montipora in your tank?
Click to expand...

No buddy, it's not. I have mostly Monti actually. I will be stopping by Lowe's today to grab some Bayer. :/

So I dipped the piece so bad last night it turned beige (Revive). It doesn't look like much, but I picked off maybe 20 of those guys. You see the areas that are eaten away? Well I broke off a lot of that eaten away area and dug up a bunch that were "trenching" through the poor coral.

I have two other pieces that were within close proximity to this piece, and I dipped them too. I will probably have to end up dipping all Monti on that side of the tank. I hated breaking this one off the rock work, but it needed to be done.

I have a neon green Monti that is on a completely different rock, and I hope the nudis didn't make there way over there. There is no sign of decay or trouble that I notice. I have to keep doing research to figure out how mobile they actually are.
 
I had these a few years back and at that time I had quite a few monti colonies , tried dipping in Potassium Permanganate as I had read someone had tried this successfully in eradicating the pests. Unfortunately more than half my montis did not survive the several dipping sessions and those that did all browned out and I still found Nudis a month after treatment was finished . Eventually I ended up going monti free for almost a year before trying montis again without any issues. Some montis seem to attract them more than others (Idaho grape/red monti caps) but in my experience ......they were still present even on the montis that appeared unaffected (setosa/digitatas).

Good luck
 
Check all your other montis with a bright flashlight underneath each one. They often hide under.... They lay lots of eggs. So figure out what the egg clusters look like and brush them off with a toothbrush (outside the tank of coarse). Long dips in bayer is ok, long dips in revive can kill the coral. Bayer first, rinse, then revive for 10-15 min only. I don't know your tank, but is it big enough for a wrass? I suggest a melanurus wrass.


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I yanked all Monti, inspected, and found Nudibranch on all but the green Monti on the right side of the tank.

I ended up even dipping the green just to be safe, but there are a couple frags that I cleaned and scrubbed and am trying to save.

I hate these guys.
 
Remember that the Bayer kills the adults. Nothing kills eggs. You are going to have to dip everything again once you give the eggs time to hatch. Typically after a few days. I'd plan on doing this for at least two weeks to make sure that you've gotten them all.
 
Bluprntguy is absolutely correct. Plan to keep at it for several weeks. It's fine to dip your coral even if they seem clean............be sure they are gone before you start re-glueing them in the tank. If you lose any, I have some red, orange and green caps I can give you. Don't stress too much. Just part of learning. I had these in my 300 over a year ago. I was able to get rid of them in a month. Minor set back. This will get you doing preventative dips before placing coral in the tank. That is a good thing. ;)
 
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