monti problems

[mielikkishunt]

OK, after the algae explosion, I stopped dosing like I was told I needed to, and got a calcium tester. . and it seems if I used the darn thing right, that I have lots of calcium(it took forever to turn the water blue).

The water is out of limestone well, so that might be why.. .

Anyway, I bought a green montipora(I think that's what it is), but it seems to be very unhappy over the weeks I've had it.I've moved it from a lower point, to a higher point, and back, away from water flow, to water flow, it's lost it's colour.

Everything else is doing well, frogspawn, xenia, various mushrooms(tho they did NOT like the clowns trying to host in themand jumped off the rock they were on), zoas and some other star like coral. . just my monitopora. .

[dobejazz]

What kind of lighting do you have again?

[cronamator]

what is your phosphates as well. monties will tend to "brown out" if the water is high in organic matter, in with alot of lps, is common. are you running a quality skimmer either?

[hng]

Stop moving that thing all around. Corals HATE being moved too frequently. What kind of lights do you have and what kind of lights was the coral kept under before?

[mielikkishunt]

it was under I think they're called metal halide? really bright light,
this is what I have lighting, no hood

Odyssea
New 2008 model
48" 260W (65Wx4) Aquarium Power Compact Light

2x Bulti-in cooling fans.
8 x Blue moon LEDs Module ( 2 LEDs in each module )
3x ON/OFF power switches.
3 individual power cords for timer setup.
3x 65w Straight pins 12000K Daylight PC Bulbs.
1x 65W Straight pins True Actinic PC Bulbs.

Will check phosphates and see if that's the problem :P

[hng]

Those are NOT metal halides, those lights are called power compacts or "PC" bulbs. They are a type of fluorescent lighting and will do well with softies and LPS. You can use them for SPS like montipora, but you have to have conditions juts right in order to be successful. It depends on how deep your tank is and how high off the surface of the water the bulbs are mounted, but without knowing the specifics, I would recommend you move the monti up towards the top third of the tank (in an area with good random flow) and leave it there for at least a month without moving it.

[mielikkishunt]

I know I don't have MH, saying I think that's what they were under, the guy told me it'd do well with the lights I had. It is currently at the top 1/3, the bulbs are maybe 5 inches if that off the water, what's 'good random flow?"

[mielikkishunt]

the phosphate is 0, the nitrite is 0, the nitrate's i'm now working on, don't want to do too much water change at once, but for some reason it spiked(wonder if my roommate overfed last week when I was gone), did about a 10 gallon change yesterday.

[luvmylo]

for now put your monti up high, in lots of flow. You really need to get those nitrates under control if they are above 20. Are you using ro/di water??? Phosphates will brown out any sps. Although it's absolutely possible, I wouldn't do sps with pc lights only because you aren't gonna get the color you want. My first sps was a birdsnest. it was hot pink when I got it, I put it in my 55 with pc's and it automatically turned brown. When I set up my sps tank, I moved the bn to that tank under MH lighting and it's starting to turn pink again for me.

[mielikkishunt]

yep, using ro/di water, the phosphates are 0, the only one that's off is nitrates. . i really pissed off my xenia doing the water change LOL. . I knocked it off it's rock and it was upside down til I could dig it out, poor little xenia

[Fat Tony]

the browning out of the Monti is likely caused by a combination of factors. High phosphates (you had an algae explosion you said.. if there is algae there is phosphate) and low lighting levels. The low light causes the Xooxanthellae to go into overdrive to deliver the same amount of energy that it did in high light levels (Xoox. gives off a brown hue)

[mielikkishunt]

i tested for phosphates last night, the reading was 0, i tested for nitrite's, reading was 0, I tested for nitrates, that was high, everything else is fine

[cronamator]

phosphates(Po4) is nearly undetected except to some the most precise kits. a basic kit will say "0" but its possible its really .12 or something, which for sps is , well rather high. what type of kit are you using? can you run some rowaphos or similar product to bring it to "undetectable levels"?

[OneDummHikk]

Phosphate test kits only test the free, unbound, phosphates in the system. They are nowhere near reliable. You can test for phosphates, read zero, test an hour later, get a reading, and then an hour later get a zero test (personal experience there and why I don't test for phosphates).

A better indication of phosphate issues are algae issues.

[cmjreef]

You never actually mention WHAT your nitrates are... Im sure that's your problem. I assume they are 25ppm or better, in which case, the monti will suffer. Water change weekly with quality water (0 TDS), and maybe use a little carbon and/or phosphate media (GFO) on occasion. Feed lightly and test water regularly until you get familiar with the trends in your tank. Make sure the conditions in the tank are CONSISTENT from week to week, that's KEY!! If the monti is still with you, don't stress, they are very hardy and should pull through. Good Luck.