Montipora ??? Losing Color

B

bimmerzs

I'm not sure of the actual full name of this coral. I bought it from a member, it's in the montipora family and has purple polyps which are visable in the photo, it's much thicker than the standard monti caps I've seen. This piece was doing fine until I upgraded tanks almost 2 weeks ago, now it appears to be bleaching. I am pretty sure it's too close to the light, it's 11" from my light but only 3" under water. My calcium levels are wayyy high also and calculates out to 580 mg/L where it usually ran around 400 mg/L. I dose the 2 part Bionic which I am stopping. My alk usually runs around 8 when I get it tested at the LFS(yes I need my own test kit) so not sure where it's at right now. I just started back dosing 4 days ago because my zenia was not looking right and I have just recently tied their health to alk levels, they perked right up after the first round of dosing. Will the high Ca levels cause the bleaching or could it be the level of light is receives

Parameters:
Temp 78 degrees
PH 8.2 (really need a pinpoint)
Ammonia - 0.0
Nitrite - 0.0
Nitrate - 20
Calcium - 580 (yes it's too high)
Alk - unknown(usually 8)
Mag - unknown
 
It's location is different, it's much higher than before. The polyps still come as you see. When I first put this in my original tank it reacted in a similar fashion (but not to this degree), then it colored back up. I now am concerned and don't want to lose it. I will do water changes to get the Ca back in line, buy a Alk test kit so I can assure thats in line as well. Is there anything I can do other than that or is it a goner whe it starts to bleach.

**edit** Same lights
 
I'm a firm believer in gradually introducing any coral into our system, espcially those obtained by shipment. Suggest you place coral in lowest part of tank with lowest flow in order to slowly acclimate. I usually leave the coral at this low level for about a week, then gradually move upward, depending on where you eventually plan to place coral. May not be necessary for extremely hardy corals, but I would still introduce in this manner.

Good luck.
 
@Matt wrote:
It is not necessarily a goner and probably bleached due to the increased light. I would try and lower it down closer to where it was in the previous tank and try not to move it anymore. said:
If I remember right bfronc used 250w Mh, so I don't think lighting is an issue. I would definitly take a look at the alkalinity and magnesium.
Click to expand...
 
This where I'm at, would this cause my issue??
Parameters:
Temp 78 degrees
PH 8.2 (really need a pinpoint)
Ammonia - 0.0
Nitrite - 0.0
Nitrate - 20
Calcium - 520 (still a bit high)
Alk - 8.6 (this is after dosing last night) should I bump this closer to 11??)
Mag - 528 (very low)
Phosphate 0.5mg/L

TIA
 
I have a phosban reactor plumbed in but not filled with media yet, I wanted to see what happened when my DSB's and fuges started kicking in. Nitrates have not moved since the switch over, I used about 60% of the original water and the trates were higher especially after sitting in containers for 5 days. I only ran the skimmer on the container with livestock and there was very little LR in with them. I thought everyboby had "measurable" phosphates since I read about everybody running phosban type media in their reactors. I have a 25% water change scheduled for tomorrow, still have water brewing in anticipation of a small cyle that didn't happen. That should knock out the 20ppm or at least bring it below 10ppm and correct high CA. I'll do a second one Saturday if necessary since I fly out sunday on biz stuff. Test kit is saltwater master liqid test kit by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals(same as LFS) for the main 4, CA test by same, PO4 by nutrifin which may not be the best since I picked it up at petco I think late one evening. What do you suggest in order to get Magnesium in check, I know corals need that to grow also..right?

TIA
 
personally, I don't think nitrate levels heavily affect corals until you start reaching the 40ppm range. As far as the mag. is concerned, ESV makes a pretty good product, and we use Kent at home to dose mag and it's been fairly good, too. I believe the fact that it's getting alot more light is causing the bleaching. You should move it lower and slowly adjust it to increased light levels. Like Matt said, it's not a goner but action needs to be taken. Once it's adjusted to more intense lighting I'm sure it'll do great.
 
Are you sure your Mg tested at 528? I would try to test with another kit. It will be very difficult to maintain your Ca and Alk if your Mg is that low.

If that reading is accurate, it's going to take a lot of Mg supplement (I use ESV B-Ionic magnesium) to raise your levels to an acceptable range.

Try this calculator.

http://reef.diesyst.com/
 
Gonna cover all bases here, waterchange tomorrow to mainly get CA in -line, re-arranging aquascape and moving the piece lower now. Goal is to have everything pretty close to where it was before tank change-over. I still think it's better to wait till everything starts getting established and working, so I'm not shooting at a moving target so to speak. I will continue to dose Alk and start for mag. I think the shallw depth that it's at right now is not exactly helping, it adapted to the 175W from the 250
it was under prior to me buying it. The physical distance from the light is basically the same however since it's only 3.5" below the waters surface, it's receiving a higher % of light due to the refractive qualities of water. Thanks for the input, more is welcomed of course.
 
@TCU Reefer wrote:
Are you sure your Mg tested at 528? I would try to test with another kit. It will be very difficult to maintain your Ca and Alk if your Mg is that low. said:
Got it tested at the LFS, they broke open a new kit as well. I've been dosing Bionic 2 part for Ca and Alk so....
Click to expand...
 
Yea..I went to this site last night but didn't have Magnesium or Alk numbers yet. I need to buy my own test kit for before I try to '"adjust" anything. Man that Mag is gonna cost me, Mag is used up by corals so I would think that the large water change I'm doing tomorrow will be replenshing some of that.
 
Water changed but no test yet.. I was reading and began wondering if the brand of salt I use is contributing to my low mag. I currently use Coralife which is what my LFS uses. It struck me that LFS don't necessarily maintain the "optimum" parameters like we strive for in our home systems, they keep the water clean and SG low to reduce disease so that they can get the livestock out the door relatively healthy(not saying this is bad). I don't recall hearing how they have to dose this tank for low this or that etc. Does anyone know if Coralife salt's mag levels are known to be low. I did join the GB for Reef Crystal's salt since it's rated pretty high.
 
Montipora apparently need a good amount of Magnesium in the water. I've got mine around 1290 currently, and the montipora in my tank are finally doing pretty well. Mg should be three times the Calcium level of your tank, so you'd need to bring it up substantially, assuming the numbers you posted are accurate. It would be nice if someone had a Salifert Mg kit you could test with, just to verify those numbers.
 
I am skeptical of the Mag test results done at the LFS. As mentioned before and according to my research, it would be pretty hard to have the high calcium levels I have, with mag that low. My head hurts...trying to reserch the different additives so since I only have a couple of SPS pieces my calcium demands will not be high. I have B-Ionic 2 part but I don't believe it helps out my mag levels. I'm going to try to find a test kit for mag. What is a good product for increasing mag levels.

Cheers!
 
I buy Magnesium by the 50# bag when we have group buys, but you can buy it in liquid form from most LFS. Odds are it comes in powder form too.
 
Ok... The monti is regaining a little color since I moved it down, I did my research on Magnesium and it's overall role in the ocean, I also found out that if my mag is that low, I would have to do a ridiculous amount of large water changes to bring it back in line and like was mentioned Alk and Ca levels would be very hard to maintain. I have bought some epsom salt and plan to use it short term in order to get my levels up. Wonder if anyone uses the magnesium recipe that uses epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) and the de-icer product(magnesium chloride) together. I need a source for the sulfide that id free from impurities.

Cheers!
 
@bimmerzs wrote:
Wonder if anyone uses the magnesium recipe that uses epsom salt (magnesium sulfate) and the de-icer product(magnesium chloride) together. I need a source for the sulfide that id free from impurities. Cheers! said:
Ron,
I use the Magnesium Recipe that uses the MagFlake and Epsom Salts. If you need you can come over and get what you need of the MAgFlake to make a couple of gallons of the mixture up.

It took almost half a gallon of the mixture to get my Mg level up where it needed to be.
Click to expand...
 
Excellent,

I was a bit scared of adding something in my tank that I can buy at autozone plus noone has the de-icer this time of year. Thanks for the offer, I can stop by tomorrow...what's a good time for you.

Cheers!
 
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