Tamberav Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 First and foremost your eyes lol. Basically anything but the Hanna checkers or API kits. Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted July 10, 2014 Author Share Posted July 10, 2014 I'm not seeing any extension on the polyps of the monti. Is this normal (it had polyp extension the first day). Is the white growth or something else? Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted July 10, 2014 Author Share Posted July 10, 2014 Anyone (look at my previous two posts)??? Quote Link to comment
Roshan8768 Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 It should be showing good polyp extension if it has been in your tank and it is in a location with good light and flow. You need to get your alk up to at least 7dkH and then dose to keep it there. LPS (and SPS) corals don't do well with swings in alk. Personally, I just started dosing and I am trying to keep my tank at 425-430 Ca and 8 dkH. Stability is key!! 1 Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted July 11, 2014 Author Share Posted July 11, 2014 What about the white on the edges (which is also SLIGHTLY noticeable on the higher ridges of the coral in the middle)? Is that normal? I just want my first SPS coral in this tank to do well. The chalice looks fabulous and so do the rest of the corals (the candycane is still nicely recovering). I started dosing yesterday (because of the low alk) but am doing it carefully and adding the alk supplement over a significant period of time (dripping it in). The coral was like this (white edges) before I started yesterday. The monti was in a frag tank lit by LEDs. It's now on the sandbed under my T5HOs. Could the lights be causing bleaching with it that low??? Quote Link to comment
Chadf Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 It's growth or damage from transport, as long as it isn't spreading it's fine. 1 Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted July 11, 2014 Author Share Posted July 11, 2014 This is what the monti looks like this morning. The middle is the area I'm not sure about (the edges haven't spread so I'm not concerned about that as much) because I don't know what would cause this... It hasn't spread since yesterday but I would like to find out what is going on (unless y'all think it looks OK). Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted July 14, 2014 Author Share Posted July 14, 2014 OK guys, I really don't want to have anything happen to my Monti-cap so that's why I keep asking about it. This is a pic I just took (close to the water surface to give you a good look at it): How does it look? If not good, what could be causing it??? Current parameters are: pH: 8.1, dKH: 7, Calcium: 475, Nitrate: 7ppm, Ammonia: 0, Nitrite: 0, SG: 1.025, Temp: 78-80 Tank still has same equipment as is listed in first post. Tips??? Quote Link to comment
Alex B Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 It looks ok. The outside ridge is new growth. Most monti caps will show white on the edge where they are growing. The inside looks a little rough, but I don't see any tissue loss. If your not seeing polyp extension move it up a bit so it gets more light, and flow. Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted July 14, 2014 Author Share Posted July 14, 2014 It looks ok. The outside ridge is new growth. Most monti caps will show white on the edge where they are growing. The inside looks a little rough, but I don't see any tissue loss. If your not seeing polyp extension move it up a bit so it gets more light, and flow. Why would the middle look rough? Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted July 14, 2014 Author Share Posted July 14, 2014 Anyone else??? Why would the middle be so rough looking? I don't want to lose this coral and it has gotten this way over the past several days (4-5). Quote Link to comment
Roshan8768 Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Its not showing polyp extension because it isn't happy. Moving it to a location with more light and flow should help. There's no one reason why it isn't happy looking at your parameters... just move it and hope it improves 1 Quote Link to comment
Alex B Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Anyone else??? Why would the middle be so rough looking? I don't want to lose this coral and it has gotten this way over the past several days (4-5). Monti's tissue gets like a white/grey color when they are not happy. They usually get this grey coloration on the tissue before they start loosing tissue. Monti's will tell you when something is wrong in a sps tank. They are the first to show signs of stress. Good luck and your best bet is to move it up a little bit and see what happens. 2 Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted July 14, 2014 Author Share Posted July 14, 2014 The lights have not come on yet but I moved it up. Monti caps really turn white if they need more light/flow? That's weird. It's not bleaching (from too much light)? I'm glad I'm getting responses. Just asking questions to learn more about it. Quote Link to comment
Alex B Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 No your monti is not bleaching. With your lighting it would be almost impossible to bleach a monti on your sandbed. When Monti's are stressed they get like grey splotches on the tissue. Hard to explain if you have never seen it. Maybe google and try to see some pics. That's what seems to be happening to your monti. If it's not corrected you might start seeing tissue necrosis. Don't move the monti all the way to the top right away. Move it half way up now, wait a few days, and then move it up to it's final spot. Remember sps is a high flow, high light coral. With the right acclimation you will be amazed at how much light they can handle. 3 Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted July 15, 2014 Author Share Posted July 15, 2014 I try to keep my nitrates below 10ppm (and I'm so far successful) but I want to know, what is an acceptable level for a monti cap? My alk is now 7dKH and has been for a couple of days, so it is stable now, which is great! pH is also staying stable ever since I started using outside air. Quote Link to comment
pismo_reefer Posted July 15, 2014 Share Posted July 15, 2014 On first glance, it looks light a 'low light' issue. edit- I'm 100% sure that monti doesn't have enough light.... Judging by the length of those clove stalks. Just looked at yer lighting, and yea... 20H, with those bulbs, no bueno on the sand. 1 Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted July 15, 2014 Author Share Posted July 15, 2014 I've bleached mushrooms before so they have to go on the sandbed. The clove polyps have been there since last year so I think they're OK. But thanks for the info. The monti is now halfway up the rocks (and may go up higher, but we'll see). Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted July 22, 2014 Author Share Posted July 22, 2014 My chalice coral has been doing great, however, I see a small area of receded skeleton on one part. This part has been facing the rockwork and there are a few aiptasia. Is it possible that the aiptasia have caused that or is it likely something else? It is very minor but I want to make sure I know what the deal is. The candycane coral is still doing well. I also got a large red mushroom yesterday (it is amazing color). So, what would cause a chalice coral to recede slightly around the edge? Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted July 24, 2014 Author Share Posted July 24, 2014 Anyone? It just looks less "puffy" than normal and the edge is showing a bit. What would cause that? PIc is not that great (taken on my tablet) but here is a current pic. Quote Link to comment
Roshan8768 Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 It needs more light... you do not have too much light if you have the fixture listed in your equipment. That thing needs to be at the top of the rock work asap Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted July 24, 2014 Author Share Posted July 24, 2014 I'm not so sure that is the problem because I moved the monti cap up in the tank and within two days, it had bleached out more (moved it halfway up, left it a few days, moved it up to top of rocks then). I've heard that chalice corals do not like a lot of light. Any ideas though? Quote Link to comment
Acielot Posted July 24, 2014 Share Posted July 24, 2014 Not puffy lps ime means too much light/flow or the water quality is off. Quote Link to comment
Fishgirl2393 Posted July 24, 2014 Author Share Posted July 24, 2014 I'm doing a water change tonight so I have water mixing right now. I just tested levels of the new saltwater (to get a baseline) and they are: Alk 9dKH, pH: 8.4, calcium over 500 (Salifert kit). This is Oceanic salt. My tank seems to have low alk even with these parameters. I've dosed alk supplement (Kent ProBuffer dKH) at a level of 1tsp a day for quite a while, testing before I add it. The levels have been 7dKH but no higher. I don't understand why. I also figured that the magnesium might be low, however, with the new water mixing to 9dKH, I don't see how that could be so. Any suggestions? I wonder if the alk is not the reason why the chalice is somewhat upset. Quote Link to comment
Roshan8768 Posted July 25, 2014 Share Posted July 25, 2014 I'm not so sure that is the problem because I moved the monti cap up in the tank and within two days, it had bleached out more (moved it halfway up, left it a few days, moved it up to top of rocks then). I've heard that chalice corals do not like a lot of light. Any ideas though? I was referring to your monti cap... it definitely needs more light. I would leave the chalice where it is, it doesn't look too bad. Just because the monti cap bleached does not mean that you have too much light... there are other factors like alkalinity stability, flow, that could just as easily be the cause. At this point I would just work on keeping the water chemistry constant and stable so that you can eliminate that as an issue 1 Quote Link to comment
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