Sunset montipora question

[Melinda01]

I’m new to corals. I currently have 2 radion xr 15 g4 pros over my 72 gallon bowfront. They are currently set on the radiant setting at 45% for 12 hours. I ordered a couple montiporas three weeks ago. I started at 25% and have gradually bumped the light up to the 45%.
My sunset Monti looks like it is losing color. It is approximately 14in below the lights. But it is directly below the light. I have no par meter yet. The lights are 8in from the top of the tank and the Monti is about 6 in below the water line. My other Monti (a purple haze) seems to be doing well. It is about 5 inches below the other Monti. Could it be getting too much light? Or maybe not enough? The flow is pretty high. As of now I have hydor karolias but I just ordered 2 gyre xf 230’s to be delivered this week.
Btw sorry for the poor quality picture. My phone camera is all I have.
Parameters
SG 1.025
Nitrate 5
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0
Ph 8.2
Alk 9.6
Ca 460
Mag 1480

 

[Crabs McJones]

I’m new to corals. I currently have 2 radion xr 15 g4 pros over my 72 gallon bowfront. They are currently set on the radiant setting at 45% for 12 hours. I ordered a couple montiporas three weeks ago. I started at 25% and have gradually bumped the light up to the 45%.
My sunset Monti looks like it is losing color. It is approximately 14in below the lights. But it is directly below the light. I have no par meter yet. The lights are 8in from the top of the tank and the Monti is about 6 in below the water line. My other Monti (a purple haze) seems to be doing well. It is about 5 inches below the other Monti. Could it be getting too much light? Or maybe not enough? The flow is pretty high. As of now I have hydor karolias but I just ordered 2 gyre xf 230’s to be delivered this week.
Btw sorry for the poor quality picture. My phone camera is all I have.
Parameters
SG 1.025
Nitrate 5
Nitrite 0
Ammonia 0
Ph 8.2
Alk 9.6
Ca 460
Mag 1480

Levels look good, i'd say lighting is most likely the issue. If the other monti is doing good at a deeper depth, i'd either move the troubled monti, or lower your lighting, and see if that helps until you can get a par meter on it to see how much it's actually getting

 

[rhastareefer]

Levels look good, i'd say lighting is most likely the issue. If the other monti is doing good at a deeper depth, i'd either move the troubled monti, or lower your lighting, and see if that helps until you can get a par meter on it to see how much it's actually getting

this. also that monti like a bit of flow so make sure it gets some alternating. I believe that's a mystic.

 

[Melinda01]

Levels look good, i'd say lighting is most likely the issue. If the other monti is doing good at a deeper depth, i'd either move the troubled monti, or lower your lighting, and see if that helps until you can get a par meter on it to see how much it's actually getting

Okay. Thanks! That’s what I was leaning toward but since the setting is only at 45% and montis are SPS I thought maybe it wasn’t getting enough light.
I sent my husband a link for a seneye par meter in hopes he will take the hint and I get one for my birthday in May Then I should have a better idea what the par levels actually look like. Ive been wondering if two xr 15’s are enough for a 72. There are mixed reviews and thought I may need a 3rd. However, if the Monti is actually getting too much light two should be more than enough....

 

[Melinda01]

this. also that monti like a bit of flow so make sure it gets some alternating. I believe that's a mystic.

You are right. I went back and looked at my order. It’s a mystic sunset Monti. Yes, flow could very well be part of the problem. I’ve read that they like a lot of flow. I have the power head about 10 inches away from the Monti directed at the overflow box in hopes that it’ll hit that and create more water movement. . It may actually be getting a bit much. I’m looking forward to getting the gyres so that I can alternate the flow and hopefully keep the corals happy.

 

[rhastareefer]

You are right. I went back and looked at my order. It’s a mystic sunset Monti. Yes, flow could very well be part of the problem. I’ve read that they like a lot of flow. I have the power head about 10 inches away from the Monti directed at the overflow box in hopes that it’ll hit that and create more water movement. . It may actually be getting a bit much. I’m looking forward to getting the gyres so that I can alternate the flow and hopefully keep the corals happy.

Just make sure you're not blasting it directly and not from just one side, it needs to vary a bit. I have one pump pulsing (mp10) with another one coming on and off (sicce voyager 3) in a longer duration fighting it

 

[Melinda01]

Just make sure you're not blasting it directly and not from just one side, it needs to vary a bit. I have one pump pulsing (mp10) with another one coming on and off (sicce voyager 3) in a longer duration fighting it

That’s why I’m looking forward to getting the gyres. You can alternate between them, customizing flow cycles and there are multiple flow variables to choose from. Right now there isn’t much variation with my hydors.

 

[bif24701]

Gyres are great. Montis can take a lot of light, some more than others but my mystic seems to like both light (250-300+ PAR) and flow. Pale corals can also be to starving if not enough nutrients. Nutrients isn’t just NO3/PO4, but also organic stuff. Do you have a way to test PO4, do you run GFO? GFO can quickly starve corals of PO4 if it’s being removed quickly before corals can uptake. I keep at least a detectable amount all the way up too .10ppm but try to keep a stable .01-.03. 5ppm Nitrates seems ok for your lighting which I am inclined to think at 45% and 14” below water may not be getting ~200 PAR but I could be wrong.

 

[Melinda01]

Gyres are great. Montis can take a lot of light, some more than others but my mystic seems to like both light (250-300+ PAR) and flow. Pale corals can also be to starving if not enough nutrients. Nutrients isn’t just NO3/PO4, but also organic stuff. Do you have a way to test PO4, do you run GFO? GFO can quickly starve corals of PO4 if it’s being removed quickly before corals can uptake. I keep at least a detectable amount all the way up too .10ppm but try to keep a stable .01-.03. 5ppm Nitrates seems ok for your lighting which I am inclined to think at 45% and 14” below water may not be getting ~200 PAR but I could be wrong.

I don’t run GFO but do vinegar dose. However, I have cut it back to just 5mL a day. Maybe I should stop? Actually I’m kind of afraid to because now I’m feeding the corals and critters with no fish (recent velvet outbreak). In May I’ll be adding fish.
I do also check phosphate approximately every other week with a Red Sea kit. On the 10th it was 0.02. The lighting has me confused because I thought the fading was supposed to be a sign of too much light but 45% at a gradual increase seems unlikely to me as well. But obviously I’m no expert. Lol. Maybe because it is directly below the light so it is getting blasted.... The birds nest that was added at the same time and looks pretty happy. (Tips are a bit white). It is not far below the mystic Monti but not centered under the light.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Mine has been on the bottom of the tank.
I have a second frag in the other tank I’ve moved around for the last year. (180 -200 in the sand there)
Personally , I think they prefer lower light.

Bottom of the tank large colony.
100-ish and the colony is slight shaded

 

[Melinda01]

Mine has been on the bottom of the tank.
I have a second frag in the other tank I’ve moved around for the last year. (180 -200 in the sand there)
Personally , I think they prefer lower light.

Bottom of the tank large colony.
100-ish and the colony is slight shaded

Very Nice! Guess I’ll have to move it down some, give it some time, and try to find a spot that it appears happy. I just don’t want to mess with the corals much because I’ve read that moving them can create more problems than leaving them and letting it get used to the location.

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

Very Nice! Guess I’ll have to move it down some, give it some time, and try to find a spot that it appears happy. I just don’t want to mess with the corals much because I’ve read that moving them can create more problems than leaving them and letting it get used to the location.

Yup. Always go slow.

I actually had glued it to a sand dollar and set it on the sand there to acclimate. And it took off. So I left it.

 

[Melinda01]

Yup. Always go slow.

I actually had glued it to a sand dollar and set it on the sand there to acclimate. And it took off. So I left it.

Looks like it is doing really well! I’ll move mine down tomorrow and see how it does Hopefully it’ll take off too! I love the colors!

 

[Melinda01]

Gyres are great. Montis can take a lot of light, some more than others but my mystic seems to like both light (250-300+ PAR) and flow. Pale corals can also be to starving if not enough nutrients. Nutrients isn’t just NO3/PO4, but also organic stuff. Do you have a way to test PO4, do you run GFO? GFO can quickly starve corals of PO4 if it’s being removed quickly before corals can uptake. I keep at least a detectable amount all the way up too .10ppm but try to keep a stable .01-.03. 5ppm Nitrates seems ok for your lighting which I am inclined to think at 45% and 14” below water may not be getting ~200 PAR but I could be wrong.

The gyres just came in!! Any advice or opinion on what settings, patterns, etc would be best? There are so many options! They are xf230s and going into a 72 gallon (hopefully soon to be mixed reef) tank.