Montipora question

[porpoiseaquatics]

Hi all! So recently I purchased a couple of really nice pieces of red montipora. My tank params are all within acceptable range. I'd doing at least a 5 gallon water change a week running water at 1.025 sg. Lighting is supplied by a 400 w 20k MH pendant. No other lighting at this time.

The first red monti that I got was just that...red. Now it's turned more pinkish orange. The second piece was definately red and I noticed this morning that the outer edges are beginning to turn the same color as the first.

Both were located high in the tank in order to maximize light and water flow. Was this a bad location or is there something else afoot here?

 

[ga_daisy]

Tagging along....I've got an orange cup that is doing NOTHING and isn't as bright as when I first got it.

I do have two Idaho Grapes that if I dial back the hours of photo, they will start to get a washed out look and instead of being a nice deep purple; they will turn a dusky mauve/pink color.

 

[molson]

You may want to try them at a mid level point in the tank, they generally require moderate light levels where many other SPS need much more.

 

[gclackum]

I have found that the lower the light intensity the duller and darker the colors appear. I think with the monties I've grown the light has been less important than flow. I do see more growth with more light.

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

dawgdude;404782 wrote: Ive actually had completely opposite experience personally. I have had a few monti digis that CAN take ultra high light under a 400w, but most of mine do best lower in the tank. I see more growth and more color when moving the corals down.

From the sounds of it loosing color this is bleaching which can be caused by a param, temp swings or photo inhibition from to much light.

I would move it down in the tank personally and also what are all your params?

pH, trates, kH, calc, mag, phos? What size tank? Do you have a chiller and how close is the halide to the water?

Thanks dawg.......that's what I was thinking so I've moved them lower in the tank. The MH is about 10" or more off of the water...they were within 5" of water surface so that makes it about 15" or more to the light. It's a 92 g corner (drilled) reef. I don't know all my params at the moment but Calcium was between 400 and 450 at the end of last week. I've not retested yet. Don't have a phos kit to measure. It's on my list to purchase but since I'm using RO/DI water metered at 0 ppm output....I wasn't even considering that as a possibility. Trates are practically zero (undetected by my kit), pH may be a little bit low at 7.8. specific gravity is 1.025 (refractometer reading not a hydrometer). I also don't have a mag kit to measure.

 

[mojo]

Water quality and lighting (too much or too little - hard to say without seeing it) are suspect.

A 5g/week water change won't do much on a 92g tank + sump... I'd suggest going to at least 10%/week for a while, if not 20%.

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

Thanks Mojo.....I think I will.

Dawg....where should phos be sitting? Will a shop test for it if I take a sample in?

 

[drnecropolis]

Come to think of it.. The only place I have ever seen a photometer was online.. Hmmm wonder if one of our amazing sponsers can get them without jumping through a bunch of hoops..

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

dawgdude;405492 wrote: Shot for .03 or less. Some shops might, however you really need a photometer to get that accurate and I havent run across a store that has one of those.

Holy Crap Batman!!! Do you know what those things cost? No wonder nobody has one.....geeezz...just a simple one is $200 plus the regents. It would be cheaper just to treat for phos than to buy one just find out if there is any.

 

[ralph atl]

 

[schwaggs]

mysterybox;405571 wrote: it's more accurate than the photometer .

Can you provide some details on this statement? The Photometers I have seen are accurate to + or - .04 ml/l. You are saying the Hatch kit has a finer resolution and is more accurate than that?

The reason ask is that I have a Photometer on my list of equipment to buy. If the Merch kit is more accurate, I can save some $$$.

BTW a Milwaukee with reagents can be had for $160

 

[ralph atl]

Schwaggs;405581 wrote: Can you provide some details on this statement? The Photometers I have seen are accurate to + or - .04 ml/l. You are saying the Hatch kit has a finer resolution and is more accurate than that?

The reason ask is that I have a Photometer on my list of equipment to buy. If the Merch kit is more accurate, I can save some $$$.

BTW a Milwaukee with reagents can be had for $160 http://www.eseasongear.com/mimilrph.html">http://www.eseasongear.com/mimilrph.html</a>[/QUOTE]


here is some info, but you can research more.
[IMG]http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1701071">http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1701071</a>

 

[soarin']

I'm no sps expert, but I want to chime in with my experiences here, because I was having the same problem -- my montiporas were pale as all heck. I got a brown digitata, and a red/orange plate, and the brown digitata turned to a very light tan, and the plate was a very light orange.

More recently I got sexy shrimp, and I have been feeding a lot to keep them happy, much more than I ever have, and I found that my montiporas are all coloring up. I got a new plate montipora (a deep rich orange) that never lost its color, and the original plate montipora that had turned more of a color like 'creamsicle' is now deep and rich (even though it's in a corner where it doesn't get much light at all).

The brown digitata is looking much richer and darker.

Sometimes in our quest for clean water I think we get way too clean -- one of the reefers here had two tanks, one where the SPS was not doing well at all, with no problem algae at all (and a massive skimmer and GFO columns in the basement under the living room) and another tank with a smaller skimmer, a few spots of problem algae, and SPS that was doing fine.

So it seemed that the tank with dirtier water had better SPS growth -- the tank with the water that was super clean had very pale SPS, including a very light orange monti cap.

So that's my $.02.

 

[acroholic]

Most montis are fine with lower light. Actually some do better with lower light. I think Caps can take higher light no issues. My Idaho Grape gets blasted in my SPS tank, along with an orange and a green. I've been trying to kill these things for a while now, but they keep coming back. I think of Monti Caps as the GSP of the SPS world!
Dave

 

[porpoiseaquatics]

So here's a little update. I've moved these guys all over the tank...lower, higher, in flow, out of flow, etc etc etc.

Params.....SG @1.026 (measured with a refractometer)
Ammonia: 0
PH: 7.9 (probably a little low and I'm surprised)
Nitrate: 15
Nitrite: .2
Alk: 5.6 kh
Calcium: 400
(still no phos test) I've got to work on that one.

They both are still pink in color. I guess luckily neither appear dead. I'm almost at a point where I'm thinking somebody should take these off my hands before they do die. Everything else is doing well. All softies, mushrooms, zoas, palys, SPSs....no problems. As a side note however, I haven't been able to keep a clam alive and I lost a green bubble tip anenome after 3 days (came from another member's tank). If both of these specimens had come from the same place....I would have different thoughts but both came from seperate providers so I'm at a loss.

 

[drnecropolis]

That nitrite should always be 0.. I would work on that first and for most!

 

[hackman72]

If the color is stable at the moment, I'd be inclined to think that you may want to leave them there and see if it starts to return. I've bleached corals before and taken a while to get the color back.

 

[gametrackers]

They are not dieing. Put the montis on the bottom of the tank where there is good flow for about a week. Then move it up a little for about another week. Then place it mid depth in your tank. Before you know it, it will be growing crazy. They are really hardy SPS corals and easy to maintain. They are main source of nutrition is photosynth, but you could add some sort of phyto depending on what you like. Also, when they start growing they will eat up calcium and alk. so make sure your balance is good. Also do you see any polyp extension wont be much but you should be able to see it?