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Bleaching Montipora


KMHREEFER
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Over the last few days I have noticed all different types of my Montipora turning pale and starting to bleach.  No change in my water parameters and not sure what it could be.  Lighting has not changed and no parameter swings.  

Calcium is a little high at 460

alkalinity is at 9

magnesium is about 1280

lighting is 2 16 inch SB reef lights, blues 100% and whites at about 50-60%

have never had any issue with phosphates or nitrates, but going to test tonight to see if something is off.  Nitrates were 2 and phosphates were about .05 as of last week when I tested.  I’ve considered it could be nudis, but I’ve looked during lights out and have yet to see anything.  Only thing I’ve added over the the last few weeks that’s new is a little acropower each day, but well below the suggested amount.  Hoping maybe somebody has any ideas...

 

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Have you made any recent adjustments to your lighting (intensity, duration, height from water)? Do you have any other SPS in the tank, how are they? What is your flow? Are you dosing? If so how? 

When you say bleaching, is it a tissue necrosis (STN or RTN) or just paling out? These are two separate issues. 

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The lighting hasn’t changed other than about 5%  lower on the whites.  Thought a little drop might help with stress and acclimation after getting so many frags from the swap.  I have 3 current USA wavemakers all at about 70% on different flow modes and everything seems happy.  I have about 25 or so new frags, 15 of which are sps and they are all doing great, only the montis I’ve had long term seem to be affected. Have 2 confusa frags that seem to be ok though.  The red went from a deep red to a light pink in about 3-4 days on my red cap and reverse superman and my Jedi mind trick went from nice green and purple to a very light green.  There is very little polyp extension as well.  From what I’ve read, nudis affect the Monti in patches, my entire colony is doing this which makes me think it may not be nudis, plus I can’t find any.  All are encrusted on large rocks cemented together with other coral attached so removing for a dip isn’t possible.

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I forgot to mention that I did raise my alkalinity from 7.8 to 9 but have done this over a two week span.  I don’t think that’s considered a fast increase but have stopped 2 part dosing for the last 24 hours and let it drop a little naturally to the low 8 range. I’m hoping this could be the cause but never had any issue with anything like this before.  I know that lower alk is recommended for lower nutrient tanks so gonna give it a try and see how things do.

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I guess my next question would be what are your nitrates and phosphates?

Usually when you start running a higher alk you want to have a higher nitrate load. The idea is that with the higher alkalinity the coral will build its skeleton faster. However, extra nutrients will be required as well. This part seems to be missed a lot. The higher nutrients are needed for coral color and health.

With the addition of 15 new SPS pieces, I would be mindful of how fast your system starts using alk and calcium. It can sneak up on ya. 

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Going to check my parameters tonight and see what they are after allowing them to naturally drop with the doser off the last 48 hrs.  My phosphates were at .06 and nitrates were still in the 2-4 range so I’m hoping lowering the alkalinity a little bit and adjusting my doser to keep it in the low 8 range will help things color back up before it dies completely.  The rest of my montis look off but haven’t gotten any worse, just seems to be the reverse Superman for now, hoping a water change this weekend and an adjusted alk will allow things to get back to par.  Still no signs of nudis after looking with a light during lights out so that’s a plus.  I know how hard they are to get rid of so not having to deal with that allows me to breathe a little easier.

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So I just replaced the batteries for my tds meter on my ro/di and it was reading 7.  I’m sure this is the reason for my recent dust algae outbreak on the glass and rocks but might this also be harmful to the montis?  Everything else seems to be ok, tank just looks a little dirty.  I have new resin on the way and should be here by mid next week.  Gonna hold off on my water change till I can get some new fresh ro water made.  Only high tds going in will be for my top off, hopefully all will bounce back.  Tanks been up for three years and this is a first for sps issues, then again, sps is a new adventure for me and I’ve heard some horror stories that make my problem look like nothing. Lol

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