High Tide Aquatics

Montipora STN?

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keithschon

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TLDR: Anybody know what's causing this or what else I can do?

This monti has been growing successfully for years. Now suddenly there is a giant white patch in the middle. It's growing. I've been watching it for pests, and I can't spot any. I can't remove the rock it's attached to without taking down the whole tank. I've already gotten a healthy frag and put it in another tank. (Unfortunately, they both have the same sump--I don't have separate water systems running--but at least they are separated.) The rest of the system looks healthy.

One thing I think is interesting is that the point of origin of the bleaching seems to be where the monti has been fighting with a zoa colony. Are there monti pests that hide in zoas? Or can the zoas damage/weaken the monti enough to encourage an infection? In the latter case, I would have expected this to be even along the boundary, and it isn't.

Any advice welcome!
 

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Have you checked the Monti at night?
Have you added any other Monti to the tank in the last few months / are any other montis stressed?
Related to monti eating flatworms.

how are your magnesium levels?
 
Last edited:
keithschon said:
One thing I think is interesting is that the point of origin of the bleaching seems to be where the monti has been fighting with a zoa colony. Are there monti pests that hide in zoas? Or can the zoas damage/weaken the monti enough to encourage an infection?
Click to expand...

Yes, coral fighting will kill parts of either coral. Before I read your post I looked at the pictures and my first thought was coral warfare. Soft coral have the luxury of being able to retract and move slightly where hard corals do not.

Move the zoas and any other coral that can sting away and that part should heal or grow over.
 
grizfyrfyter said:
Have you checked the Monti at night?
Have you added any other Monti to the tank in the last few months / are any other montis stressed?
Related to monti eating flatworms.

how are your magnesium levels?
Click to expand...
- I have checked it at night, and I haven't seen anything, but I'll continue to look.
- The other montis in the tank look fine for now.
- I can't find a non-expired Mg test right now. I don't usually test because it's always stable (established tank with auto-water-changes, no Mg additive besides thew salt). I'll get a new test. What should I be looking for? Too high, too low, or recent changes?
 
H2OPlayar said:
Yes, coral fighting will kill parts of either coral. Before I read your post I looked at the pictures and my first thought was coral warfare. Soft coral have the luxury of being able to retract and move slightly where hard corals do not.

Move the zoas and any other coral that can sting away and that part should heal or grow over.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, I don't have a good way to separate them. They're both encrusting the same rock, and my experience with scraping back zoa colonies has not been good. I might try a long line of epoxy along the boundaray to create a DMZ. It will get overgrown again eventually, but could test the hyposthesis.
 
keithschon said:
Unfortunately, I don't have a good way to separate them. They're both encrusting the same rock, and my experience with scraping back zoa colonies has not been good. I might try a long line of epoxy along the boundaray to create a DMZ. It will get overgrown again eventually, but could test the hyposthesis.
Click to expand...
I’d take a piece of the month and move it if you want to save it then
 
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