Our mission

Monti sliding downhill? =

iCon

iCon

Supporting Member
BARcard
Of course it would be my favorite... The JMT ..

Noticed polyps weren't extending today.
Checked for nudis.. No signs, nothing.
All other montis are fine.
Color of JMT is flat.
Dipped in CoralRx...
Noticed a patch on the edge where the flesh looked loose, basted and spots all around the edge started coming off. Even some random spots toward the center of the coral. No uniformity at all, really.. If I could imagine leprosy, this would be what it looks like on a coral, beginning at the edges. If you've ever played with a really old leather basketball and the leather started cracking off from use outdoors...That's what the flesh looks like on the outer (smooth) portion of the coral. The bumpy/mountain range part seems fine minus PE.

Sorry for the low quality pic and lack of white balance
5549091008_14ddb672c2.jpg


Definitely not bleaching and not nudis as far as I can tell.

Checked Mg earlier and it was around 1150 which is weird because I just did a water change yesterday. Will check Ca/Alk in a sec and Mg again... Using Aquavitro and been doing 10% changed weekly for the last month. Upped from every other week.

As I see it - There are 2 options..
Frag it, hope some of the frags make it and start over with trying to grow a big colony =( Already lopped off a good chunk from the left.
Do nothing, hope it recovers and keep trying to grow a big colony of this guy

So far, I've done a little of both of those so I guess there was a 3rd option.

Any thoughts appreciated.
 
Will do. Though it's been growing just fine there since I got it. Might as well toss in new GFO and carbon while I'm at it.. :(

fwiw...
Mg - 1400
Ca - 460
dkh - 11
 
Well, tried to snip off a piece of the coral that seemed untouched and ended up splitting the colony right down the middle. :( So, the colony is back to the 1.5" square it was when i first got it and I now have 7/8 frags that will hopefully make it...

Checked on the frags this morning and there was a lot of sliming but couldn't really tell if more flesh had come off. Didn't seem like it.


Any thoughts about cause of loose flesh? Sort of at a loss on this. No system shocks, no new additions, no nudis
 
Thanks for the input anathema and Mr. Ugly...

Re-calibrated refractometer... It was reading 1.025 instead of 1.026. Tested water and it read 1.026/1.0265. Even broke out the hydrometer I haven't used for almost 2 years and it read 1.0255

All frags in different areas of the tank have continued to lose flesh, particularly noticeable at edges. No other montis seem affected... Acros/birdsnest/LPS all seem fine... Puzzled... :~

Another refractometer is making its way over here now though I'm now in doubt that's the cause

I read a little on stray voltage but I think this would show effects throughout the tank, not just one piece.

This sucks... I have no idea how those of you with huge colonies made it through tank crashes without going nuts...

Any other thoughts and comments are much appreciated.
 
High PO4?

Usually when I see the fastest growing part of a monti having problems, I suspect stuff that can be related to calcification problems.

So low alk, low Mg, high PO4, s.g.

Maybe double check your alk and Mg tests/readings.
 
Will check those as well. Now that you mention PO4s.. What about a sudden drop in PO4s? I've been running GFO for maybe 6 months or more now and noticed an overall reduction in algae growth. There used to be sheets of algae on the back wall and hair algae on the overflow and now next to zero. Granted, I siphon it out of the tank during water changes but it hasn't returned. When first starting with the GFO, I gradually introduced it but for the last few months have been switching out a cup or so every month. Last time I changed the GFO would have been March 5th...And then of course I changed it out again yesterday.

So sudden drop in PO4s 3 weeks ago leads to RTN now? Seems plausible... :(
 
Hmm... too low of PO4 can be a problem as well.

A cup of GFO about 2 weeks ago, and another cup yesterday...

Sounds like a lot if you've already running a cup/month for several months.

What system volume?
 
Mr. Ugly said:
Hmm... too low of PO4 can be a problem as well.

A cup of GFO about 2 weeks ago, and another cup yesterday...

Sounds like a lot if you've already running a cup/month for several months.

What system volume?
Click to expand...


Thanks for the continuing help. I didn't realize low PO4s could pose a problem. I thought as close to absolute zero was best as long as you took it there slowly.

Changed 1 cup 3 weeks ago. I change GFO first weekend of the month. Second cup changed was after all this started happening...Monday?

Tank is ~50g. Maybe an upgrade will solve all my problems.. :) As for frags throughout the tank.. Some looked worse with more tissue loss and some looked stable but no PE.
 
Thanks again. So at this point... If the cause was too rapid a drop in po4s.. What can I do from here? :/

TIA
 
Well, be careful of jumping to conclusions.

Can you do an accurate PO4 test?

If you want to raise PO4, you can empty out your GFO reactor. Feed the tank more. Ask your fish to poop more :D
 
Mr. Ugly said:
Well, be careful of jumping to conclusions.

Can you do an accurate PO4 test?

If you want to raise PO4, you can empty out your GFO reactor. Feed the tank more. Ask your fish to poop more :D
Click to expand...


Hmm. Yes, I have the ability to do an accurate PO4 test :D FWIW: flesh stopped coming off most pieces but still no PE. Other montis showing less PE than usual... PO4s or Mg... Gots to be one or the other.. I'll figure it out (I hope) Thanks sir ugly
 
Mr. Ugly said:
Well, be careful of jumping to conclusions.

Can you do an accurate PO4 test?

If you want to raise PO4, you can empty out your GFO reactor. Feed the tank more. Ask your fish to poop more :D
Click to expand...


Laxative
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top