is montipora browning reversible

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

As title. 

 

My pretty little freebie green monti has gone really brown. I guess because my phosphates are high. I'm working on lowering them but will it go back to green if I manage to keep the phosphates consistently less elevated? What sort of time period before it returns to green?

 

 😞 

[seabass]

While phosphate might be contributing to the browning, I'm wondering if it isn't just low light intensity.  You don't want to increase lighting suddenly.  But yes, browning is reversible, although it will take some time (probably several weeks).

[Reefkid88]

Yeah we need a little more info on the tank. Size,light,settings,overall parameters,light schedule. 

[Spencer7]

Browning is reversible

[Tired]

Pretty much anything that happens to a coral is reversible, aside from death, and even that one is a bit wigglier than you'd think. 

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

phosphorus 0.507mg/l

calcium 17mg/l

magnesium 1489mg/l

temp 26C

sg 1.026

nitrates 5-10 (i think)

sodium 11563mg/l

iodine 0.041mg/l 

 

light is a nicrew hyperreef 30w and a lominie pixie 30. tank is 5g empty - more like 4g accounting for rock/sand displacement

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

I have no idea what I'm doing with marine shiiiiiittttt 😃😃😃😃 😂😂😂😂😂👌👌

[Tired]

Well, your zoas look happy enough. 

[PJPS]

Higher light.  Fiddling with your phosphate will likely be pointless.  Ramp up your intensity 10%/week, when it starts to recover, go back 10% and wait it out.

 

Your SPS need way more light, but it’ll fry other stuff.  Maybe just place it up your rock work.

[mcarroll]

15 hours ago, InAtTheDeepEnd said:

Those lights look too high – and too many.  🙂   One ought to be enough for such a small tank.  Both of those lights are rated at 30 watts, correct?

 

If you get one light closer to the tank, that might be all it takes.   They probably have 90º lenses, so the diameter of light they put on the tank = double the mounting height.

 

If that's a standard 5 Gallon, then it probably has a footprint that's 16"x8".   If you get that light down to about 4" from the surface, then all the light will be going into the tank vs now where it's probably haled or less of the light getting in there.  

 

After you correct the height, If you want to keep both lights, then I'd recommend getting a lux meter so you can tune them accurately....initially you want NO difference in the amount of light....and intensity could double just from lowering them.  After the height adjustment, THEN start slowly ramping the intensity up IF NEEDED, similar to how PJPS described above.

 

It might not be a bad idea just to take some measurements with a lux meter (lux meter app: $free;  lux meter; ≥$7) to see where your lights are now BEFORE you make any changes.  

 

2¢

[mcarroll]

18 hours ago, InAtTheDeepEnd said:

phosphorus 0.507mg/l

calcium 17mg/l

magnesium 1489mg/l

temp 26C

sg 1.026

nitrates 5-10 (i think)

sodium 11563mg/l

iodine 0.041mg/l 

 

light is a nicrew hyperreef 30w and a lominie pixie 30. tank is 5g empty - more like 4g accounting for rock/sand displacement

ppm = mg/L right?   (Folks here recognize ppm and dKH and that's about it....other units will be confusing, generally speaking.   Even Salifert changed the units on their test kits, from meq/L to dKH, to conform to hobby norms.)

 

BTW, why do you think you NO3 levels are 5-10?  Is that a guess, or is the test hard to read, or...?

 

Sodium test???

 

Hard to believe that iodine number....it generally goes to 0.00 ppm quickly, even with dosing.   Is that from ICP or how are you testing for it?

[mcarroll]

Wait....are ALL those numbers from ICP and that's why the mg/L units?

 

If so, I would make sure you have some hobby kits at home to test for alk at the very least....but maybe nutrient levels too.  The testing methods between home tests and ICP aren't necessarily compatible in terms of generating similar results.

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

Yes, those are icp results

[seabass]

I assume that the calcium number is a typo.  I also wonder if phosphorus is actually phosphate.  If not, it's more like 1.5 ppm of phosphate (which seems very high).

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

8 minutes ago, seabass said:

I assume that the calcium number is a typo; and phosphorus is actually phosphate.

oh yeah Ca was meant to be 417 LOL and no: total phosphate was 1.55446mg/l

 

 

 

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

I've moved all sps up. Need to do more regular wc lol ........ but so frequently low in spoons most of the time 😞

[Tired]

Unless you're absolutely in love with SPS, you might be better served picking corals that don't mind fewer water changes- it's what I do. You have some happy-looking zoas in there, for example. Or, heck, some SPS do fine with high nutrients. 

 

You could also try keeping a clump of chaeto to reduce nutrients. Just plonk it in the background somewhere.

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

no, not hugely taken with sps, the small polyps  and duller colours just don't catch my eye as much as things like zoas - that's why I have so many of them. Even the more 'fussy' zoanthids like the rastas seem really happy though. The leafy green pavona I've got is spreading like crazy as well. I would still say I'm a novice in coral care though so if it's just a matter of accepting that more fussy sps aren't happy in my tank I don't mind. I already know there's some corals which don't like it in there (like acans which always die on me, regardless of what I do....!) 

 

I will say I've long believed everyone, and every tank, has a 'kryptonite coral' that they can't keep no matter what they do - for instance my LFS can't keep pulsing xenia alive in their frag tank and they have no idea why!

[PJPS]

18 hours ago, Tired said:

Unless you're absolutely in love with SPS, you might be better served picking corals that don't mind fewer water changes- it's what I do. You have some happy-looking zoas in there, for example. Or, heck, some SPS do fine with high nutrients. 

 

You could also try keeping a clump of chaeto to reduce nutrients. Just plonk it in the background somewhere.

Montipora and pretty much anything not acro.  Get those SPS thriving and the acros will seem like they aren’t so hard.  Besides, the right mix is what you have time for.  LPS, softies, a plating monti, and a stylo, can make a gorgeous mixed nano.

 

my SPS nano seems fine at 0.35 PO4.  I like it between.1 and .2.  Unless you’re a coral farm trying to maximize growth because 2% extra growth is noticeable to the bottom line, I question how much PO4 really slows calcification (or colour).

[mcarroll]

If you don't have a truly incompatible mix of softies (eg mushrooms) then there are even borderline Acro's that make great "beginner" corals.  

 

Obviously they do require alk stability, so having your testing-and-dosing chops down pat is still a requirement....but they are otherwise quite forgiving.

 

Green Slimer is one of the more famous...

https://www.orafarm.com/product/green-bali-slimer/

 

 

 

[PJPS]

30 minutes ago, mcarroll said:

If you don't have a truly incompatible mix of softies (eg mushrooms) then there are even borderline Acro's that make great "beginner" corals.  

 

Obviously they do require alk stability, so having your testing-and-dosing chops down pat is still a requirement....but they are otherwise quite forgiving.

 

Green Slimer is one of the more famous...

https://www.orafarm.com/product/green-bali-slimer/

 

 

 

You can put Acropora yongei (bali green slimer, staghorn) quite early, I think of it as the mushrooms of acros.  I’ve lost montis in young tanks that yongei lived through.  They could well be easier than birdsnest, now that you say it.
 

Just keep your alk 7-ish and you should be fine. 8 tops, but that’s closer to the ceiling than I run, and my trident tests alk every 6 hours.  I always lose something when I push alk very much.

[mcarroll]

58 minutes ago, PJPS said:

I always lose something when I push alk very much.

Some corals are certainly more sensitive that others.  And things like water flow have a modulating effect to this sensitivity on each coral.  Definitely other variables involved too.