I can’t keep SPS

[aqua.reefer]

I have a monti that i believe is bleached. this is what it looked like and where it’s now. Any way to save it?

 

[Pod_01]

My experience tells me PO4 of zero leads to dead corals.
Some take longer to react others shorter and Monti are on the quick side and they tend to react badly to sinking PO4 as well.

From my experience when I increase PO4 to 0.06-0.1 Monti tend to bounce back.
From your picture it does not look good. That might be STN/ RTN.

Here is a picture of bleached coral:

Good luck,

 

[PocketGoose]

Agree with the above post...I've had issues with low PO4 and SPS. Is your alk normally around 7? Any major changes? Media added/removed?

Also, you CAN keep SPS Just keep at it and continue to learn!

 

[aqua.reefer]

My alk usually bounces between 7.8-8. 7.1 is on the lower end. What’s stn/rtn?

 

[hunterallen40]

My alk usually bounces between 7.8-8. 7.1 is on the lower end. What’s stn/rtn?

Slow tissue necrosis and rapid tissue necrosis.

It's where the skin flies off the coral slowly or rapidly. This is usually how SPS go, in my experience.

I 100% think it's your phosphates. You should not ever let them bottom out. I prefer to run mine around 0.1, and have had really great results keeping SPS with that phosphate level.

 

[CoralB]

Agreed !! , your phosphates zeroing out is probably the cause . If you have reefroids start feeding .monitor the phosphates and and keep them above zero and stable. Might it be able to save it once it starts bleaching at this point .

 

[Epic Aquaculture]

Unfortunately that coral probably won't recover. How long has the tank been set up and what lighting are you using? Do you know how much PAR the Monti was under? Your numbers look good for the most part except for Phosphate which you want to get raised to .03-.1, and I would also try to keep Alk closer to 8.

 

[aqua.reefer]

Tank has been up for 1.5 years. paar is 300 i have 2 AI primes over my 4ft tank

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

the coral is not bleached, its dead, its growing algae. A bleached coral is still alive.

as mentioned, 0 phosphate is bad.

Also I'm sorry but I really doubt that 300 par with an AI16, thats a nano tank light, I have it on my 15 gallon at 80% for soft corals.

Where ever that monti came from, it came from high flow tank, you can see how the plate curves in its growth which is achieved with high flow, this coral likes high flow.

What is that under the monti, it looks like a mushroom? if the mushroom is happy with the light and flow, it makes sense that monti is unhappy since monti likes the opposite of mushroom

 

[aqua.reefer]

the coral is not bleached, its dead, its growing algae. A bleached coral is still alive.

as mentioned, 0 phosphate is bad.

Also I'm sorry but I really doubt that 300 par with an AI16, thats a nano tank light, I have it on my 15 gallon at 80% for soft corals.

Where ever that monti came from, it came from high flow tank, you can see how the plate curves in its growth which is achieved with high flow, this coral likes high flow.

What is that under the monti, it looks like a mushroom? if the mushroom is happy with the light and flow, it makes sense that monti is unhappy since monti likes the opposite of mushroom

I had my lfs come in and do a par test part of the test he configured the light setting on myAI app. underneath it is a frog spawn. I have 2 4k ice cap gyre and it was placed right in front of one of the gyres to maximize flow. i’m not sure if this helps but i have to AI16’s which was recommended by waterbox as plenty and confirmed by lfs with par reading.

I’m open to suggestions on lighting, I even asked my LFS if i should buy another light (was thinking a 32) he said no what I gave was sufficient for 4ft tank.

 

[Pod_01]

As I said the main cause is zero PO4.

But this will limit you if you want to grow SPS:

2 AI primes over my 4ft tank

And that is interesting:

I even asked my LFS if i should buy another light (was thinking a 32) he said no what I gave was sufficient for 4ft tank.

So out of curiosity did they say what those lights were sufficient for in your case?
I can see them being sufficient for soft corals and fish in 4ft tank.

I had one AI prime on a 10gal tank and I figured it was adequate. Maybe you have shallow tank!!!!

For reference I have Reefer 250, 3ft tank and I have 2 Radion XR15 G5 and one Mitras LX7206. Sometimes I think I need more lights.

 

[aqua.reefer]

As I said the main cause is zero PO4.

But this will limit you if you want to grow SPS:

And that is interesting:

So out of curiosity did they say what those lights were sufficient for in your case?
I can see them being sufficient for soft corals and fish in 4ft tank.

I had one AI prime on a 10gal tank and I figured it was adequate. Maybe you have shallow tank!!!!

For reference I have Reefer 250, 3ft tank and I have 2 Radion XR15 G5 and one Mitras LX7206. Sometimes I think I need more lights.

LFS said they’re good for mix reef i have 2 AI prime 16’s he did the par reading and told me where I could place Sps vs Lps based on par read out. I have also thought i needed more lights but he said i don’t. I figured he knows what he’s saying since he would make money if i bought additional equipment. He’s actually be good in not trying to oversell me when my intuition is to spend more $. it’s a water box 65.4 so 4ft long 19 inches deep

 

[Pod_01]

he did the par reading and told me where I could place Sps vs Lps based on par read out

I would assume the SPS location would be under the light and higher up on the rock scape?

If that is the case, that can work.

There are many ways to keep a tank, in SPS forum you will get SPS centric response. We want full tank of SPS so lot of lights.

Good luck,

 

[aqua.reefer]

I would assume the SPS location would be under the light and higher up on the rock scape?

If that is the case, that can work.

There are many ways to keep a tank, in SPS forum you will get SPS centric response. We want full tank of SPS so lot of lights.

Good luck,

thank you same to you yes it was directly under one of the pods.

 

[jda]

If your other corals are OK, then you are not phosphorous limited. It is too easy for folks to blame phospahte when it is not even close to the only source of phosphorous in the tank. If the tank was truly limited on phosphorous, then your LPS would be mad too.

A pair of primes over a 48 inch tank seems like way too little for me. This can explain why the LPS looks OK and the monti not so in the photo.

Make sure that your salinity test is accurate. Montis can suffer under low salinity when LPS do not.

 

[littlebeard]

How many sps have you tried?
Did it rapidly bleach in a day or slowly over several days or weeks?
How did you acclimate it?

How did you test phosphates?

How old is the tank?

I'm sorry to say that coral looks dead.

What other corals do you have?

 

[aqua.reefer]

Little update on this. I stabilized my parameters and have in fact been able to keep thriving SPS.