Is This a Bleaching or Receeding?

[Dreichler]

I’ve had this rainbow monti frag for about 3-4 months now.  It’s grown decently, but for the past 2-3 days, none of its polyps have come out, and the outer areas where there should be growth kind of look like it’s bleached or the polyps are receeding in, but I can’t tell.  I do weekly 20% water change and dose very minorly for Alk and maybe 6mL of NO3PO4X per week (2mL every other day or so) just to keep nitrates and phosphates low.  Parameters all check out just fine but my pH seems a little low at 7.8-7.9.  Not sure if this is bleaching due to me moving it up a little higher in the tank in the past 14 days or if there is something else bothering it.  I’ve got a mixed reef and everything’s else is thriving.

[jambon]

I am no expert but it may want a place to expand off the frag. The color may vary depending on the light it receives but it does want to expand and encrust onto something. My digitata did just that. It is possible you placed it too high as it takes time for coral to respond to moving.

[Wakireef]

Try to find a calm spot for it which still recieves enough light. Let it sit there for some time.. just my two cents worth.. 🙂

[mcarroll]

 I think there are a few problems.

 

For one, you are still manually dosing. There needs to be very little day to day variance in alkalinity.

 

For another they do not like to be repeatedly handled and moved.

 

Another is the nutrient levels in your tank – if they are close to zero, in particular phosphates, that will be a problem.  Minimum level for PO4 I'd recommend is 0.03 ppm.  0.10 ppm would be safer in a new tank.

 

Carbon dosing is also not suggested unless this is an old tank.

 

Polyps-in, to me, is an indication that he's trying to shade himself. He's not doing that because he doesn't like light, he's doing that because right now he's trying to photo-acclimate in a tank that has no phosphate available for him. Phosphate is a necessary ingredient. Nitrates probably are too.

 

Place him permanently where he's going to be, make sure he has good flow, and resolve the nutrient limitations that you are aware of. If you confirm that phosphate is limited (zero or near-zero on a test), he may respond almost immediately if you add some phosphate fertilizer.

[Dreichler]

18 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

 I think there are a few problems.

 

For one, you are still manually dosing. There needs to be very little day to day variance in alkalinity.

 

For another they do not like to be repeatedly handled and moved.

 

Another is the nutrient levels in your tank – if they are close to zero, in particular phosphates, that will be a problem.  Minimum level for PO4 I'd recommend is 0.03 ppm.  0.10 ppm would be safer in a new tank.

 

Carbon dosing is also not suggested unless this is an old tank.

 

Polyps-in, to me, is an indication that he's trying to shade himself. He's not doing that because he doesn't like light, he's doing that because right now he's trying to photo-acclimate in a tank that has no phosphate available for him. Phosphate is a necessary ingredient. Nitrates probably are too.

 

Place him permanently where he's going to be, make sure he has good flow, and resolve the nutrient limitations that you are aware of. If you confirm that phosphate is limited (zero or near-zero on a test), he may respond almost immediately if you add some phosphate fertilizer.

Tank is about 5 years old.  I run chemipure blue for carbon and I mainly just dose about 2-3mL kH every other day to replenish used up alk.  I’ll try to bring my phos/nitrates back up just a tad bit because I agree that’s probably the issue.  It’s one of the newer additions to the tank so I’ll just put it back where it was.  Thanks.

[Clown79]

I don't think proper manually dosing is an issue. Not everyone uses dosers and still have Params not fluctuate.

 

It may be too much light or lack of nutrients.

 

I myself didn't have any luck with a rainbow monti. It wasn't happy in any of my tanks. I tried it in 3 over the span of a few mnths.Yet my other monti's are great. 

 

[jambon]

I just remembered I had a rainbow monti it took a long time to adjust it's color. Maybe 6 months, it spread quite a bit but it was just brown. Anywhere the light hit it differently the color changed. I don't dose... I rely on water changes but I have few hard corals...

I have a picture here ... the  rainbow is below the candycane but a poor picture. I was told the digitata is a Forest fire but the background was light.