Your thoughts on why my monti caps are bleaching.

[Mykesocalreef]

My three monti caps are not as deep in color as I feel they should be. I have a grafted cap, starburst and the other is green with orange polyps. I almost feel as though they could be bleaching.

Tank 100 gallon BB.
Lighting: ATI 48" 8 bulb dimmable with one 48" reefbrite in blue only
reefbrite- 12:00-10:00
ch1 50% 2:00-8:00 2-Blue plus
ch2 50% 4:00-4:30 5-blue plus, 2 coral plus and 1 purple plus
lights are 20" above water. Frags are about 6" deep

Sal: 1.025
Alk: 9 DKH
Cal: 450
Mg: 1400
Temp:78
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

What are your nitrates and Phosphates at?

 

[Mykesocalreef]

Unfortunately I do not have a test kit for phosphates. I haven't checked nitrates since setup.. I can test nitrates when I get home from work and let you know.

 

[Ty Hamatake]

What are your nitrates and Phosphates at?

Definite +1 for this. My caps all started bleaching pretty bad, along with the rest of my SPS and it turns out I was inadvertently running an ULNS. Started dosing nitrates and got my phosphate up and I'm finally starting to see improvement. Slowly but surely.

 

[Mykesocalreef]

So using my API test kit, nitrates look to be between 0 and 5 ppm.

 

[Waters]

Unfortunately there is a big difference between 0 and 5 IMO you want them between 5 and 10.

 

[Ty Hamatake]

So using my API test kit, nitrates look to be between 0 and 5 ppm.

@Waters is right. The difference between 0 and 5 nitrates could be the difference between bleached coral and a great looking tank. I don't have any data to back this up, but personally I like my tests to read at least one number lower than what I'm testing for (I'm sure that was not the correct mathematical nomenclature so here are some examples). Testing for calcium you're looking for a number around 400, so I like a test that gives me results in 10s. Testing for NO3 (nitrate) we will say 3, so I prefer a test that has some sort of denomination of tenths. And so on... I have nothing against API, though a lot of people do, but I would still get a new test kit. Also, I'd grab one for phosphates as well. This is all personal opinions from personal experience. I hope you end up getting it figured out!

 

[malira]

My three monti caps are not as deep in color as I feel they should be. I have a grafted cap, starburst and the other is green with orange polyps. I almost feel as though they could be bleaching.

Tank 100 gallon BB.
Lighting: ATI 48" 8 bulb dimmable with one 48" reefbrite in blue only
reefbrite- 12:00-10:00
ch1 50% 2:00-8:00 2-Blue plus
ch2 50% 4:00-4:30 5-blue plus, 2 coral plus and 1 purple plus
lights are 20" above water. Frags are about 6" deep

Sal: 1.025
Alk: 9 DKH
Cal: 450
Mg: 1400
Temp:78
Any ideas would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

How old is your tank?
You do need nitrates and phosphates.

Nitrates @ 5 ppm, 10 is fine.
Phosphates (this is where you will get variances) between .02 and .10 ppm. Some go higher. There is a balance.

What do you feed? Frozen cubes have phosphates. I dose phytofeast for phosphates.

I and many, many reefers dose stump remover for nitrates. There are threads that explain this process.

How old is your tank?

 

[malira]

If you plan on being in this hobby for a while. Look at hanna testers. For phosphates tests look at getting a phosphorus test. It's a simple conversation to phosphates.

Also the hanna alkalinity tester.

The others you can easily go with Red Sea, Salifert, or Nyos.

 

[tripdad]

How are you measuring salinity? Can you verify with a second source? I use my monti-caps as a canary coral, they get dull and pale if salinity is off considerably due to error. Just a thought, good luck.

 

[Mykesocalreef]

I use Red Sea for ca and mg. Hanna for alk. Refractometer for sg. My tank has been running for a year. I feed mysis, pellets, and live blackworms. Once a week I feed reef frenzy.

 

[Acrofiend]

Low nutrients or too much light. Leaning towards both.

 

[Mykesocalreef]

Low nutrients or too much light. Leaning towards both.

You think it might be to much light? Duration, intensity or both?

 

[Waters]

It is probably only too much light if you don't have enough nutrients...which it appears you don't. I would either increase your nutrients, or decrease intensity.

 

[Cory]

I suspect metal contamination of some sort. Check your pumps for corrosion. Also copper.

 

[Mykesocalreef]

My last water change was last week and was a full cleaning. Pumps, sump, return, heater and skimmer. Nothing looked to be any different, everything in good shape.

I suspect metal contamination of some sort. Check your pumps for corrosion. Also copper.

 

[Mykesocalreef]

It is probably only too much light if you don't have enough nutrients...which it appears you don't. I would either increase your nutrients, or decrease intensity.

So I'll drop the percentage to 35% should I shorten the duration as well?

 

[Mykesocalreef]

I'm going to take a look online for phosphate tests. Any recommendations on the easiest most reliable test kit or instrument?

 

[saltyfilmfolks]

should I shorten the duration as well?

no. I dont think so.

 

[Mykesocalreef]

no. I dont think so.

Thank you! I will drop it to 35%. What do you use to check your phosphates?