Montipora soft on the edges?

[derek_s]

I was just looking at some of my montis, and noticed that the colors looked a little pale, and upon closer inspection, I found that on the edges where the growth occurs, the skeleton is kinda mushy, like you can scrape it off easily. This is only occuring on my montis, primarily an orange cap, leng sy, and a generic undata type thing.

I recently hooked up my CA reactor, and here are my current stats:

dkh:14
CA: 460
Mag 1225
PH: 8.1
Temp 80.1
SG 1.024

So, I know th dkh is a little high, but this is mostly as a result of dialing in the reactor. The reactor is set up at 1 drop ever 6 seconds, ph 6.7.

Any ideas? Is it the high dkh? Just weird that it is only showing in some of my montis, seemingly.

The dkh has risen to this point slowly as well, over teh course of a week, from about 10 dkh.

Is this possible

 

[derek_s]

NO ideas?

Is there some way to safely lower alk? Or should it just be allowed to decrease slowly on its own?

 

[jade76]

i think your soft on the edges........:shades: lol. you set yourself up for that one.

 

[jade76]

i cant tell you why the monti's reacting like this , but...like you said that, dkh is outa control, and that mag is a little low too. I dont run a reactor so Im not sure, but some water cahnges might help to bring the dkh under control..?? Id bet this might be your culprit.

 

[glxtrix]

Yeah your alk is a little high...but nothing out of control. I can only thing that if it raised faster than you thought....then that may be a possibility. Ah the learning steps of a reactor, arent they fun! My alk shot up that high as well...knowing how much to drip vs what bubble rate to run....what a headache!

 

[FutureInterest]

The edge of a fast growing monti cap is always a lil soft. Not like playdough but its not as hard as an acro tip.

 

[glxtrix]

yes, it is possible it is growing faster than normal....anyone who puts on a reactor will notice a huge growth spurt then it'll slow up a little and go to a constant growth....perhaps that's just whats happening here? Good observation there Jin

 

[grouper therapy]

your swing from a lower alk to a much greater alk too fast will most definitly cause soft tips or edges on most sps. Try to bring your alk down slowly and keep your calcium and ph up as much as posssible. do not do any drastic changes as this will only increase the problem. there was a great thread on rc about this exact problem. if you have any questions just call me ( david k.)

 

[derek_s]

Hey David, wondered if I'd ever see yu on here. I actually did try to call you, but as you know, you never answer

I think the problem must be the alk, as this softness coupled with the pale looking skin cant be a good groth indicator.

Lee, if you are using a PH contoller, does the bubble rate really even matter in the reactor since it is somewhat constantly maintained by the controller at a set PH? I would think the only adjustment in that case would really be the drip rate in the aquarium, which I thought was really low to begin with at 10 drops a minute. At any rate my bubble count in the reactor is 60 bubbles a second when the relay is activated.

Last night I turned the drip completely off to let everything bleed down naturally.

 

[derek_s]

AS an added question, I need a better valve to control the drip rate. That little LEE's blue airline valve is just too hard to adjust. Any b etter solutions?

 

[glxtrix]

Actually you should open up everything to let it all flush out...that way all the built up co2 in the chambers will flush out thus almost resetting the pH inside the chambers. I have a needle valve on my effluent line right before it hits the tank, those are the only way you can dial in a nice drip....it;s like a small version of a gate valve vs a ball valve. Bubble rate vs drip rate, man this is not fun....bubble rate if in creased will generate lower pH in the chambers if the drip rate is not fast enough thus causing higher alk being dripped into the tank. Finding that perfect bubble rate to drip rate for the demands of your tank can take a good bit of time.

 

[chemically_balanced]

glxtrix;226999 wrote: Actually you should open up everything to let it all flush out...that way all the built up co2 in the chambers will flush out thus almost resetting the pH inside the chambers. I have a needle valve on my effluent line right before it hits the tank, those are the only way you can dial in a nice drip....it;s like a small version of a gate valve vs a ball valve. Bubble rate vs drip rate, man this is not fun....bubble rate if in creased will generate lower pH in the chambers if the drip rate is not fast enough thus causing higher alk being dripped into the tank. Finding that perfect bubble rate to drip rate for the demands of your tank can take a good bit of time.

THAT'S WHAT SHE SAID.

Funny thing is as I read this I actually understood it.

 

[tdwyatt]

corvettecris;226981 wrote: I think the problem must be the alk, as this softness coupled with the pale looking skin cant be a good groth indicator...

Actually signs of very good rapid growth. The pale edges occur because the zooxanthellae and photoprotective pigments lag behind development in the coenenchyme at growth tips and skeletal extension resulting from desemosome deposition of skeletal matrix, followed by the calcification process adding in the calcium carbonate (aragonite). Think of the skeletlization process as building scaffolding for a brick building, and the calcification process as the actual laying of brick and mortar. It will be somewhat soft, in particular in foliose Montipora </em>species under rapid growth conditions.

This is nothing to worry about, is a good sign that your tank is doing well, and that you are approaching oligotrophic conditions in the system with good lighting and good current for your rapid growth in your specimens.

Be proud of your current husbandry(<span style="font-size: 11px"> and keep your hands out of the tank!</span> )

 

[ralph atl]

you have a picture? can you look at the cap's edge with a magnifying glass? What you are saying sounds fine to me, unless you have tissue or polyp loss. any algae? is it completely around all the edges, one part?

 

[derek_s]

I will try to get a close up. I think there is some tissue loss on some parts of the cap, particularly the ones tht are recieving less light. Not bad, but not noramal looking.