Forest Fire losing color and extension

[SuncrestReef]

I've had this Forest Fire montipora digi for several months, but over the past couple of weeks it has lost a lot of color and the polyps aren't extending.



Here are my parameters:

Temp: 78
Salinity: 1.026
pH: 8.1 - 8.2
Alkalinity: 9.0 dKH
Calcium: 420 ppm
Magnesium: 1350 ppm
NO3: 1 ppm
PO4: 0.05 ppm

Lighting: Radion XR30 Pro, 220 PAR for 7 hours/day
Flow: Medium
Dosing: BRS 2-part, controlled by Apex DOS over 18 hour period. I test Alk & calcium daily.
Water changes: Daily auto water changes adding up to approx 10% weekly.

Any ideas on what may be causing this? Too much/too little light? Flow? Other thoughts?

I haven't changed anything recently, so I'm not sure what would cause this. All of my other corals are doing fine.

 

[Mal11224]

It's possible that it is receiving too much light. Your parameters seems fine. Nitrates are a little low but is okay. How is your flow and how close to the surface is it?

 

[jda]

New tank? It looks kinda sterile. New tanks can be hard and you can chase all kinds of issues that just pop up and disappear without any rhyme or reason. If the tank is new, then just keep up with the water changes and things will get better over time... about when the coralline is popping up everywhere is when the SPS start to thrive.

Pests can do this to corals, so look closely.

I see some PE on the second photo, so not completely bad. 220 PAR should be OK, but I would still get it more.

You might get some that tell you that you need more N and P, but neither of those numbers are limiting in any way... you are fine there.

 

[SuncrestReef]

New tank? It looks kinda sterile. New tanks can be hard and you can chase all kinds of issues that just pop up and disappear without any rhyme or reason. If the tank is new, then just keep up with the water changes and things will get better over time... about when the coralline is popping up everywhere is when the SPS start to thrive.

Pests can do this to corals, so look closely.

I see some PE on the second photo, so not completely bad. 220 PAR should be OK, but I would still get it more.

You might get some that tell you that you need more N and P, but neither of those numbers are limiting in any way... you are fine there.

Yes, the tank is about 4 months old now. I started seeing coraline about a month ago and it's spreading.

I did check for pests but didn't find anything. I have a 200mm macro lens and it can reveal way more than the naked eye.

 

[SuncrestReef]

It's possible that it is receiving too much light. Your parameters seems fine. Nitrates are a little low but is okay. How is your flow and how close to the surface is it?

It's about 6" below the water surface at the center of my Reefer XL 425, shown below. I have a WAV on the back wall to the left, and a Gyre XF230 on the right side. This coral is in a medium flow area, definitely not a high flow area.



I've seen conflicting advice about lighting requirements for this coral, both here and in other forums and articles.

 

[Mal11224]

It's about 6" below the water surface at the center of my Reefer XL 425, shown below. I have a WAV on the back wall to the left, and a Gyre XF230 on the right side. This coral is in a medium flow area, definitely not a high flow area.



I've seen conflicting advice about lighting requirements for this coral, both here and in other forums and articles.

When my tank was new, I tried to keep one and it lasted for a few weeks and then started to do the same thing. I convinced myself that my tank was just too new. This coral can take above average lighting and medium flow. I see a few SPS in your tank, which looks great. It could just be placement as well.

 

[SuncrestReef]

When my tank was new, I tried to keep one and it lasted for a few weeks and then started to do the same thing. I convinced myself that my tank was just too new. This coral can take above average lighting and medium flow. I see a few SPS in your tank, which looks great. It could just be placement as well.

Did your forest fire eventually recover, or did you lose it?

Yes, I actually have 28 SPS frags in my tank and they all are doing well and showing growth, except for this forest fire. Here's an example of a frag only 8" away from the forest fire, and it's thriving:

 

[Grsfish]

I have 2 frags in my tank and the one off to the side In not as direct light has better color and growth. I don’t know Par levels...

 

[29bonsaireef]

My BBG digi seems to be fairly light sensitive and will do this if it gets anything over 250par. My FF digi will take some light however. Looking at your photos I think you may have BBG not FF digitata

 

[TexasTodd]

IME that coral can't take a ton of light, or at least big changes higher as easily as other corals.

 

[SuncrestReef]

My BBG digi seems to be fairly light sensitive and will do this if it gets anything over 250par. My FF digi will take some light however. Looking at your photos I think you may have BBG not FF digitata

Sorry, can you tell me what BBG digi is? My frag is exposed to 220 PAR, so not sure if your reply applies to my situation.

 

[jda]

Bubble Gum Digitata. 220 PAR is not a lot of light.

 

[Reefcowboy]

Montis usually react to too low nutrients this way. I was running gfo and an ATS and my montis started to fade lose color and retract polyps.

I got rid of the gfo and due to a bit higher fosphates they colored up and look really good, especially, my forest fires. Are you carbon dosing?

When lighting remains the same and corals that were in that system thriving start to bleach, it usually is indication of nutrients dropping too low... the more nutrients=higher capacity to withstand light.

 

[SuncrestReef]

Bubble Gum Digitata. 220 PAR is not a lot of light.

Yes, I know 220 PAR is not a lot. I have other SPS in my tank at 350+ PAR. My comment was in reply to the prior post who said this coral can be sensitive to more than 250 PAR.

 

[SuncrestReef]

Montis usually react to too low nutrients this way. I was running gfo and an ATS and my montis started to fade lose color and retract polyps.

I got rid of the gfo and due to a bit higher fosphates they colored up and look really good, especially, my forest fires. Are you carbon dosing?

When lighting remains the same and corals that were in that system thriving start to bleach, it usually is indication of nutrients dropping too low... the more nutrients=higher capacity to withstand light.

I have 6 other montipora digi's that are all doing fine, in addition to over 20 other types of SPS that are all doing fine. This is the only coral in my entire tank that is showing any signs of problems, which is why I posted this thread.

 

[jda]

I would caution you not to chase too much for just one coral... you can end up harming a lot of others.

If you are worried about the light, then move it. This is usually safe. I think that you are probably OK on the light, but perhaps there is a hot spot there that it does not like... just guessing.

 

[29bonsaireef]

Yes, Bubble Gum Digitata. Forest Fire has a more dark green base and deeper red polyps. Only speaking on my experience with this piece. Drop it lower and see if it helps, not suggesting you change your lighting intensity.

 

[Trevor40]

My guess is it could use a little more nutrients N and PO4. Although if the rest of your corals are doing well then I wouldn't worry too much about it.

 

[TX_Punisher]

Same thing happened to mine after an alk and sg spike.

 

[brandon0921]

This is exact issue has been going on in my tank for many months now. I’ve just about given up on chasing it since everything else looks great and I’m running out of ideas. Interesting point others have brought up about nutrients being too low, I may experiment with that a little.

Following for the discussion.