Montipora bleaching?

[b2smoov]

So I've noticed my monti slowly turning white. The tank has been running for almost a year now and I've had this coral for about 8 months. It started as a tiny frag and has been growing nicely. It's always had the white ring around the perimeter which as I understand is a sign of a growing coral. I have not moved it since it was originally placed nor have I changed my lighting. I accidentally bumped it about three weeks ago while cleaning the tank and broke a couple pieces off. I put them on frag plugs and they too are turning white. Livestock includes sailfin tang, two clowns, mandarin, bicolor blenny, carpenters flasher Wrasse and a Christmas Wrasse. Inverts include hermits and snails a cleaner shrimp and 3 peppermint shrimp. There are no other corals near enough to sting it. Is my coral bleaching?

Alk 8.5
pH 8.1
Cal 410
Mag 1280
Nitrates 0.0
Phosphate 0.5

Sorry for the long post.

 

[Spare time]

Nitrates at 0 are probably the reason. I'd dose aminos to supplement since your phosphate is a tad bit high and extra feedings of fish food could raise that too. What test kit do you use?

 

[b2smoov]

Nitrates at 0 are probably the reason. I'd dose aminos to supplement since your phosphate is a tad bit high and extra feedings of fish food could raise that too. What test kit do you use?

Hannah for phosphate, nitrate, and alk. Red sea for magnesium and calcium. Salifert for pH. I have nitrates I can dose. Should I shoot for 10ppm? I'll be doing a water change this weekend of about 20%.

 

[ScottB]

Hannah for phosphate, nitrate, and alk. Red sea for magnesium and calcium. Salifert for pH. I have nitrates I can dose. Should I shoot for 10ppm? I'll be doing a water change this weekend of about 20%.

Yes, 10 for nitrates is fine. Zero nitrate (or phosphate) is no bueno. Dosing NO3 will likely help you control PO4 better. Unless that was a typo, .5 on a Hanna is super high. SPS have some trouble laying strong bone at those concentrations.

 

[b2smoov]

Yes, 10 for nitrates is fine. Zero nitrate (or phosphate) is no bueno. Dosing NO3 will likely help you control PO4 better. Unless that was a typo, .5 on a Hanna is super high. SPS have some trouble laying strong bone at those concentrations.

Yes typo .05

 

[Dburr1014]

Mag is low also.
Dosing NO3 might pull down po4, so watch for that.
What type of filtration are you using?
Skimmer, fuge, ect...

 

[b2smoov]

Mag is low also.
Dosing NO3 might pull down po4, so watch for that.
What type of filtration are you using?
Skimmer, fuge, ect...

I have both a skimmer and a fuge. I think I may put my skimmer on a schedule.

 

[Dburr1014]

I have both a skimmer and a fuge. I think I may put my skimmer on a schedule.

Perfect, my system is basically the same.
Po4 0.1
No3 always low.
Dosing NO3 and my fuge pulled down po4 to 0 in about 4/6 weeks. Feeding frozen.
Nitrate limited.
Was dosing 40 ml calcium nitrate per day, slowed it down a couple weeks ago to 20.
Po4 back to 0.04ish feeding pellets/flake.

Now I need to go back to frozen.

 

[AV corals]

I have both a skimmer and a fuge. I think I may put my skimmer on a schedule.

if your nitrates are that low, I would turn your skimmer off when your lights go off for the day and turn your skimmer back on when your lights turn on. I used to battle low nitrates that this really helped along with dosing 5mls of neo nitro every other day for about a week or so to raise my nitrates back to 10-20 range and out of the 2-3 range. Once I tested my Nitrates and got my desired number, I stopped dosing and kept my skimmer on the same off/on schedule and it was like magic my nitrates were steady again

best of luck!

 

[b2smoov]

if your nitrates are that low, I would turn your skimmer off when your lights go off for the day and turn your skimmer back on when your lights turn on. I used to battle low nitrates that this really helped along with dosing 5mls of neo nitro every other day for about a week or so to raise my nitrates back to 10-20 range and out of the 2-3 range. Once I tested my Nitrates and got my desired number, I stopped dosing and kept my skimmer on the same off/on schedule and it was like magic my nitrates were steady again

best of luck!

Appreciate your help. I was just gonna go off from 6pm to 6am but I'll have it mimic my light schedule instead. I dosed neonitro yesterday and got my nitrates up to 6. I'll check again tonight. Of course I'm almost out of reagent. I'll get some more this weekend.

 

[b2smoov]

Perfect, my system is basically the same.
Po4 0.1
No3 always low.
Dosing NO3 and my fuge pulled down po4 to 0 in about 4/6 weeks. Feeding frozen.
Nitrate limited.
Was dosing 40 ml calcium nitrate per day, slowed it down a couple weeks ago to 20.
Po4 back to 0.04ish feeding pellets/flake.

Now I need to go back to frozen.

I feed pellets twice a day with a feeder and usually a cube of frozen in the evening. I don't have a large bioload so I'm hesitant to overfeed. I'm just trying to keep this system happy for the next couple months. I'm upgrading to a 150 in March or April. Just waiting on my tank to be ready.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I feed pellets twice a day with a feeder and usually a cube of frozen in the evening. I don't have a large bioload so I'm hesitant to overfeed. I'm just trying to keep this system happy for the next couple months. I'm upgrading to a 150 in March or April. Just waiting on my tank to be ready.

Too much flow can cause this as will an imbalance with Ca and ALK. Shine a flashlight underneath and assure no nudibranch or other pest underneath the coral.

 

[Spare time]

Hannah for phosphate, nitrate, and alk. Red sea for magnesium and calcium. Salifert for pH. I have nitrates I can dose. Should I shoot for 10ppm? I'll be doing a water change this weekend of about 20%.

5ppm should be fine. You can do 10ppm if you want. Whichever you feel is easier for you to keep relatively stable