Red montipora plate not fluorescing in spots

Jyetman · 06/23/2015, 01:30 PM

When evening actinics are ramping down this montipora cap seems to have patches of darken spots that doesn't fluoresce why? I've had this coral for over a year now and it seems perfectly fine during the day when the LEDs are at 100 percent. Every so often I get tiny white spots that color back up in a few days. My parameters are all in check 1.025, ALK 9 DKH, CAL 460 PPM, 0 PO4, 0 Nitrates.

Dkuhlmann · 06/23/2015, 02:55 PM

Having 0 nitrates might be part of the problem. IME and IMO montipora likes some nutrients as do many other SPS corals. LPS love them more. I guess there needs to be a happy balance of additional nutrients in the water for some and not as much for others. So having >5 or say 2-3 nitrate would be beneficial to them. I run a mixed reef and only have some forgiving SPS and montipora is one of them. NOW if I could keep the turbo snail and hermits from knocking them over they might do much better LOL

Dkuhlmann · 06/23/2015, 03:02 PM

Or maybe it's new growth? I'm very interested in finding out what you come up with on this.

Mcgeezer · 06/23/2015, 06:24 PM

I have had experience in having extremely low nutrient levels only for my corals to suffer as a result of that. Recently, once my GFO began to exhaust, I started noticing more film algae on my glass. Within days, my corals color dramatically increased and the overall health and polyp extension of everything in the tank became substantially noticeable.

It was as simple as using too much GFO in the reactor and stripping all of the phosphate from the water. It sounds counterintuitive, however it works.

ajcanale · 06/23/2015, 08:22 PM

0 nitrates or low Mg would be my guess. Something is off though, unless it started as a microscopic frag, because it should be a pretty big colony in a years time.

06/23/2015, 01:30 PM	#1
Jyetman Registered Member Join Date: Nov 2012 Location: Phoenix, AZ Posts: 1,712	Red montipora plate not fluorescing in spots When evening actinics are ramping down this montipora cap seems to have patches of darken spots that doesn't fluoresce why? I've had this coral for over a year now and it seems perfectly fine during the day when the LEDs are at 100 percent. Every so often I get tiny white spots that color back up in a few days. My parameters are all in check 1.025, ALK 9 DKH, CAL 460 PPM, 0 PO4, 0 Nitrates.

06/23/2015, 02:55 PM	#2
Dkuhlmann Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 8,823	Having 0 nitrates might be part of the problem. IME and IMO montipora likes some nutrients as do many other SPS corals. LPS love them more. I guess there needs to be a happy balance of additional nutrients in the water for some and not as much for others. So having >5 or say 2-3 nitrate would be beneficial to them. I run a mixed reef and only have some forgiving SPS and montipora is one of them. NOW if I could keep the turbo snail and hermits from knocking them over they might do much better LOL __________________ Previous tanks: 200 gal fowlr 9" Emperor Angel and many different butterfly fish 4" maroon clown and several other fish, 50 gal sump, 40 gal mixed reef/fish mostly softies and LPS. Current Tank Info: 40b 750 gph 45 lbs lr, 2"-3" sand, 165w full spectrum dimable LED, 20 gal sump/refugium 30 lbs lr, Bak Pak 2 skimmer, 4" sock temp 79-80, sg 1.026, NH3 0, NO2 0, NO3 <10, ph 8.2, calc 400, mag 1300

06/23/2015, 03:02 PM	#3
Dkuhlmann Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2015 Location: NW Iowa Posts: 8,823	Or maybe it's new growth? I'm very interested in finding out what you come up with on this. __________________ Previous tanks: 200 gal fowlr 9" Emperor Angel and many different butterfly fish 4" maroon clown and several other fish, 50 gal sump, 40 gal mixed reef/fish mostly softies and LPS. Current Tank Info: 40b 750 gph 45 lbs lr, 2"-3" sand, 165w full spectrum dimable LED, 20 gal sump/refugium 30 lbs lr, Bak Pak 2 skimmer, 4" sock temp 79-80, sg 1.026, NH3 0, NO2 0, NO3 <10, ph 8.2, calc 400, mag 1300

06/23/2015, 08:22 PM	#5
ajcanale Registered Member Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: Memphis 10 Posts: 1,098	0 nitrates or low Mg would be my guess. Something is off though, unless it started as a microscopic frag, because it should be a pretty big colony in a years time. __________________ If the spirit moves ya, let me groove ya Current Tank Info: 150g Starphire Pensinula SPS

06/23/2015, 06:24 PM	#4
Mcgeezer Reef gardener Join Date: Jan 2014 Location: DeLand, Florida Posts: 1,205	I have had experience in having extremely low nutrient levels only for my corals to suffer as a result of that. Recently, once my GFO began to exhaust, I started noticing more film algae on my glass. Within days, my corals color dramatically increased and the overall health and polyp extension of everything in the tank became substantially noticeable. It was as simple as using too much GFO in the reactor and stripping all of the phosphate from the water. It sounds counterintuitive, however it works.