Monti bleaching

Dana Riddle · Aug 8, 2019

Bleigh said:
So the monti is either getting a brownish tint where it was white or it's turning back red. The parts that were pink are much redder also and the polyps seem more red and extended than they did a few days ago. Are monti's really this sensitive to low alk? Fingers crossed that it keeps showing some improvement.

I don't have a alkalinity analyzer/doser hence make additions manually. The entire volume of this system is about 140 gallons and I mix and add the supplement according to directions. Still, the alkalinity is anything but stable. All corals (including Montiporas) are thriving, except for one chalice that has a patch of zoox loss. I should mention I analyze alk with a Hach digital titrator that reports to a part per million.

Cheche · Aug 8, 2019

Bleigh said:
So the monti is either getting a brownish tint where it was white or it's turning back red. The parts that were pink are much redder also and the polyps seem more red and extended than they did a few days ago. Are monti's really this sensitive to low alk? Fingers crossed that it keeps showing some improvement.

I like to heard that is getting better.. good luck and happy reefing ..

reefproaquatics · Aug 8, 2019

Do you have any other montipora in the tank? If so are they showing similar symptoms? Did the piece lose color all at one or did it occurbin patches? It looks like a relatively small piece. Have you considered/look for montipora eating nudibranches? They would decimate a smaller piece relatively quickly. it might be worth taking a look at the underside of the frag where they tend to hide and lay their eggs.

Bleigh · Aug 8, 2019

reefproaquatics said:
Do you have any other montipora in the tank? If so are they showing similar symptoms? Did the piece lose color all at one or did it occurbin patches? It looks like a relatively small piece. Have you considered/look for montipora eating nudibranches? They would decimate a smaller piece relatively quickly. it might be worth taking a look at the underside of the frag where they tend to hide and lay their eggs.

I do have some other monti's. A christmas tree, spiderman, and I bought a flower petal during the WWC sale before I realized something weird was going on.

I first noticed the red monti was paler. When white spots started, I made a post. I noticed that the Christmas tree was getting paler next and the spider-man wasn't extending polyps. The Christmas tree is already coming back to it's original color and has WAY more polyps extending. The spider man is having some polyps extend too, but not like the christmas tree. I think the red monti is coloring back up, but it may just be dieing and turning brown. There might be something else going on too, but I def think the low alk is at least party to blame. Not to mention that since I was mixing the salt at about 80% of what it should have been (refractometer needed to be calibrated) I'm sure other minerals were starting to dip as well. The corals look SOOOO much happier since I have been slowly bringing the salt water up to the correct concentration.

My TDS meter will be arriving today. I am eager to find out whether my RODI water may be part of the problem too. (That was the thought beore I realized how far off my refractometer had gotten). It wasn't long after I started mixing my own water that I had this issue. I bought the same salt as the LFS had, but that's not helpful if I'm not mixing it correctly.

Honestly, it would have taken me so long to work through all this and it's such an easy fix. I have NO clue how people reef successfully without having a group like this. Thank you all again!