Advice needed on a Montipora I purchased.

[DannoOMG]

I got an "Atomic Red Montipora" back on January 11th. I have kept it on the frag rack since.

When would you think it was okay to glue to the rockwork? My intention was to glue it right on the top of the rock in front of it. It doesn't seem to be in bad shape and has retained it's color.

Or would you just keep it on the frag rack? Can it grow on that or does it need the rock to grow?

I took a chance with this coral and a digitata monti cause they were on sale and I am confident in my flow/light abilities. The digitata seems to be struggling with polyps coming out. I had it in the same rack as the Atomic red and it was turning white so I moved it in the shade.

Thoughts?

Stats if needed:
pH : 8.0
Ammonia : 0
Nitrite : 0
Nitrate : 0
Phosphate : 0
Alkalinity : 125.3 (realized corals are eating more and have started dosing more of that now)
Calcium : 460
Salinity : 1.026

Flow : MP10
Light : Hydra 32
Tank : 13.5 Evo

 

[olonmv]

you need to get your nitrate and phosphates up a lil. Nitrate to 5-10 and phos to .03 to.1. I too have an evo and just now starting to dial it in.

I paced mine mid tank with a ai 16hd prime on the david saxby schedule. It’s encrusting fast.

 

[Bribo12]

Yep definitely nutrient starving your sps. Hence why the polyps probably aren’t out. Should be fine to glue down whenever though.

 

[DannoOMG]

Yep definitely nutrient starving your sps. Hence why the polyps probably aren’t out. Should be fine to glue down whenever though.

Is spot feeding the Digitata worthless? I got phyto/reefroids etc...

*edit * I havent had a fish in the tank for a while now and feeding has commenced for the little guy. I'm hoping to keep my nitrates in the 2-5 range...

 

[olonmv]

Is spot feeding the Digitata worthless? I got phyto/reefroids etc...

*edit * I havent had a fish in the tank for a while now and feeding has commenced for the little guy. I'm hoping to keep my nitrates in the 2-5 range...

Don’t spot feed your monti with reef roids. I wiped out a previous colony in my tank.

 

[DannoOMG]

Well considering my past I have had higher nitrates, so this shouldn't be too hard to raise them.

(attached you can see my tanks entire testing history)

Now that I have a fish back in the tank my nitrates should go back up steady and my better filtration setup should keep it stable.


Thanks for the advice.

 

[olonmv]

Well considering my past I have had higher nitrates, so this shouldn't be too hard to raise them.

(attached you can see my tanks entire testing history)

Now that I have a fish back in the tank my nitrates should go back up steady and my better filtration setup should keep it stable.


Thanks for the advice.

I just started to dose nitrates. My center chamber is a refugium with dragons breath micro-algae and it’s finally starting to do too good a job of keeping nutrients low as of late.

that’s a heck of a spreadsheet!
I used to write down my parameters in a similar way. I’ve since changed to the aquurimate app and love it. It keeps track of a lot of stuff from livestock to parameters and has a bunch of other options.

 

[DannoOMG]

I just started to dose nitrates. My center chamber is a refugium with dragons breath micro-algae and it’s finally starting to do too good a job of keeping nutrients low as of late.

I have chaeto and "sea lettuce" which I think is called colerpa or something in the bottom of my first chamber. Sponge and filter floss above it. Denitrate in the second chamber.

I had no idea spot feeding the digitata could harm it. That is probably why it is almost bleached out.

 

[olonmv]

I have chaeto and "sea lettuce" which I think is called colerpa or something in the bottom of my first chamber. Sponge and filter floss above it. Denitrate in the second chamber.

I had no idea spot feeding the digitata could harm it. That is probably why it is almost bleached out.

I’ve been told that they are just fine as filter feeders. When I didn’t direct feed, they did great. When I did…..dead. It was depressing because it had encrusted so much.

 

[Hugster78]

Just a heads up that monti can take over an entire rock rather quickly. Once it does you lose all that Realastate for other corals.

 

[DannoOMG]

Just a heads up that monti can take over an entire rock rather quickly. Once it does you lose all that Realastate for other corals.

I have read both corals are fast growers. Given the condition of my digitata I think that wont be taking off any time soon.

 

[KK's Reef]

Looks like it's overgrowing the plug already. You can place it on the rockwork anytime. Just don't be surprised if it eats up that real estate.

 

[DannoOMG]

Sorry this is the best pic I have of the digitata and its location. If you zoom in you can see its lack of polyps.

I was kind of hoping that atomic red monti would eat the top of that rock.

 

[Bribo12]

Why is the digi in such a shaded area? No wonder it’s mad. Needs a lot more light

 

[DannoOMG]

Why is the digi in such a shaded area? No wonder it’s mad. Needs a lot more light

Because I :

(A) was spot feeding it reefroids and didnt realize until I made this thread that is a bad thing. So prior to that knowledge I thought the light was too intense and it was bleaching it out.
(B) I am dumb. See (a)

 

[vetteguy53081]

I got an "Atomic Red Montipora" back on January 11th. I have kept it on the frag rack since.

When would you think it was okay to glue to the rockwork? My intention was to glue it right on the top of the rock in front of it. It doesn't seem to be in bad shape and has retained it's color.

Or would you just keep it on the frag rack? Can it grow on that or does it need the rock to grow?

I took a chance with this coral and a digitata monti cause they were on sale and I am confident in my flow/light abilities. The digitata seems to be struggling with polyps coming out. I had it in the same rack as the Atomic red and it was turning white so I moved it in the shade.

Thoughts?

Stats if needed:
pH : 8.0
Ammonia : 0
Nitrite : 0
Nitrate : 0
Phosphate : 0
Alkalinity : 125.3 (realized corals are eating more and have started dosing more of that now)
Calcium : 460
Salinity : 1.026

Flow : MP10
Light : Hydra 32
Tank : 13.5 Evo

It will encrust on the frag rack. Before making any adjustments, What test kit(s) are you using ?

 

[boacvh]

My advice, is don't glue it to your main rock. Glue it to a smaller rock and give yourself the option to remove it later.
I glued to my main rockwork and now it's killing everything.

 

[DannoOMG]

It will encrust on the frag rack. Before making any adjustments, What test kit(s) are you using ?

I use API for pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, Alkalinity and Calcium.

I use Salifert for Nitrate and phosphates.

Red sea for magnesium.

 

[DannoOMG]

My advice, is don't glue it to your main rock. Glue it to a smaller rock and give yourself the option to remove it later.
I glued to my main rockwork and now it's killing everything.

May I see what that looks like if you have a image available?

 

[boacvh]

May I see what that looks like if you have a image available?

Here are the latest I had. There are some others in my build thread. Monti is unstoppable. Has killed everything in it's path.