Sunset Monti dying? Any opinions?

[GFX360x]

Hey all, this is my first post on a new account after being out of the hobby for a while. A little background info: After taking about a 7 year break from corals and reefing in general (kept my saltwater tank running after giving up on the corals) I've found myself at home with the time so I upgraded my 75g tank to a 125 and started chasing those amazing colors again.

I've started off with 4 frags.

Dragon Soul Favia, Neon Mummy Eye Chalice, some Green Star Polyps and the one I'm struggling with, Sunset Montipora.

Looking for some insight into the sunset monti. Acclimated and went in the tank it looked great for about 5 days. I was late in topping off the system with freshwater so my salinity got to about 1.028 for a day but has been brought back down to 1.026.

After day 5, I noticed the tissue was starting to turn white on the side. The polyps are still coming out on all of the surfaces except the white part. Has this frag started to die? All 4 were in the bottom of my tank directly under a smatfarm led fixture. 15/80/60/80/10/20 are the light settings. (No par readings yet) 19" water depth and the lights are mounted 8" off the water.

My readings have been fairly consistent as follows:

PH: 7.9-8.13
Alk: 9.8
Calc: 429-520 (just dosed tank w/fusion)
Mag: 1486-1550

I moved the frag from the rack up to a spot about 10" down this morning midway between 2 fixtures in case it wasn't getting enough light. Not much noticeable change in color. Attached are the pics of all 4 frags couldn't get a super clear shot of the sunset.

 

[Mark Novack]

Did you dip the Monti? That is not a nudibranch favorite but possible. They don't normally eat from outside to inside. It could also be new growth. Entrusting monti creeps outwards with a whitish border. They can also take time to settle in. Unlike the laminar plating species, these can sit a few months and then suddely start growing.

The Ca Mg levels are not clear. That is a large margin. Retest? Ca 450 and Mg 1450 is as high as I would go.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

If it was low in the tank then it might be starving for light, monti likes a lot more light than the others you got. So I dont think moving it down was a good idea, I would move it up into more light, and they like more flow than the other 3 as well. Also, the salinity change might have bothered it.

You just had for 5 days, and in 5 short days it went through a salinity increase then decrease and then it was moved, that is definately not a 'stable' environment. Give it time.

 

[GFX360x]

Did you dip the Monti? That is not a nudibranch favorite but possible. They don't normally eat from outside to inside. It could also be new growth. Entrusting monti creeps outwards with a whitish border. They can also take time to settle in. Unlike the laminar plating species, these can sit a few months and then suddely start growing.

The Ca Mg levels are not clear. That is a large margin. Retest? Ca 450 and Mg 1450 is as high as I would go.

After re-testing and comparing with Trident test, after dosing the CA and MG are at 494 and 1488 respectively. I suspect they will be more in the normal range today. Will keep an eye on it for changes in either direction, I've never had a monti and have shied away from SPS in general.

If it was low in the tank then it might be starving for light, monti likes a lot more light than the others you got. So I dont think moving it down was a good idea, I would move it up into more light, and they like more flow than the other 3 as well. Also, the salinity change might have bothered it.

You just had for 5 days, and in 5 short days it went through a salinity increase then decrease and then it was moved, that is definately not a 'stable' environment. Give it time.

I moved the monti up in the tank closer to the surface. I'm thinking the salinity yo-yo may have stressed it and will keep my fingers crossed it comes back. ATO is good to go now to prevent that swing from happening again.

Appreciate both of your input.

 

[jsker]

Your Alk, Ca, Mg are very high.

Should be
Alk 7.8 to 8.5 the high side
Ca 400 to 420
Mg 1350 to 1400.
The high parameters could be the issue, I would also suggest to test for phosphates and nitrates. The Monti might be starving or there are too high of nutrients. You would know if the nutrients are high by the look of the tank (algae everywhere)

 

[Mark Novack]

Don't fear SPS. In a mature and stable tank they are actually hardier and faster growing than most LPS.