Montipora looking unhappy

[Gouramiboy9142]

So all has been going well with my corals in the span of about a month that I've had them, but for about a week now my Spongodes monti has been looking a little upset. I noticed it's polyps weren't as extended as before and it looks like it's losing some color. All of my other corals are doing great and my parameters are all in order, so it's a little confusing. Anyone have any possible solutions? Thank you all in advance


- Diego

[Gouramiboy9142]

What it looked like about 2 weeks ago (above) vs. now (below)

[bribo12]

It could be many things. What is your alk, nitrate, phosphate? What kind of lights do you have? Any fish that would bother it?

[Gouramiboy9142]

Originally Posted by bribo12

It could be many things. What is your alk, nitrate, phosphate? What kind of lights do you have? Any fish that would bother it?

So I tested the aquarium, and everything (alk, phos, calc), etc.) was fine except for the nitrates, which were a little high. I did a 20% water change, so hopefully now everything will be fine. As for lights, I use the Current ramp timer pro 48" strip (since I have a 55-gallon tank) and the fish I have are a Midnight clown, a yellow watchman goby, a melanurus wrasse, and a purple firefish. I've observed each of them with the corals, and none of them have laid a fin on the corals (the wrasse actually helps keep them clean of parasites)


- Diego

[bribo12]

I’m still not sure what fine is...in order to help posting numbers and what kits you use for those numbers helps us to see where a potential problem could be. Like I said it could of been something like an alk or phosphate swing. Is that the only SPS you have in the tank? It could also be your lights as I don’t believe the current orbits are that strong. How long have you had the coral?

Edit- is this the light? The 48” version that’s only 48 watts? https://current-usa.com/orbit-marine-led/

[Gouramiboy9142]

Originally Posted by bribo12

I’m still not sure what fine is...in order to help posting numbers and what kits you use for those numbers helps us to see where a potential problem could be. Like I said it could of been something like an alk or phosphate swing. Is that the only SPS you have in the tank? It could also be your lights as I don’t believe the current orbits are that strong. How long have you had the coral?

Edit- is this the light? The 48” version that’s only 48 watts? https://current-usa.com/orbit-marine-led/

Ok to be specific, before the water change the params were as follows:

Nitrates: 10 ppm
Phosphates: 0.02 ppm
Calcium: 15
Magnesium: 1500
Alkalinity: 480
Salinity: 1.025

As for the other questions, it is actually one out of 2 sps corals in my tank, the other being an orange pocillopora. It and the monti both placed high in the aquarium, and I have had them both for about a month by now. Strangely, the pocillo and all of my other corals seem to be flourishing, but the monti has been the only one looking unhappy. And no, mine are a little different and look a little more up-to-date.


- Diego

[Gouramiboy9142]

I'm not too knowledgeable on the different variants of current lights, but the LED's on mine are a little bit different. If it helps, I could send a pic of the box for the lights for more specific info.


- Diego

[bribo12]

Are your calcium and alk numbers switched? They don’t make sense otherwise. Alk at 15 would be ridiculously high and calcium would make a lot more sense at 480. What kit are you using for alk? Poccilopora is pretty unkillable lol. If your lights are a more up to date version they may be fine. Has the spongodes grown at all? Losing flesh? Getting pale? Brown?

[Gouramiboy9142]

Originally Posted by bribo12

Are your calcium and alk numbers switched? They don’t make sense otherwise. Alk at 15 would be ridiculously high and calcium would make a lot more sense at 480. What kit are you using for alk? Poccilopora is pretty unkillable lol. If your lights are a more up to date version they may be fine. Has the spongodes grown at all? Losing flesh? Getting pale? Brown?

Oh yes, I did mix the numbers up haha! Sorry about that! And the kits I use are the salifert ones. And the monti does look like it has gotten its longest branch extended by just a little bit since when I first got it, but it's not really losing flesh. It does look more like it's just turning pale.


- Diego

[Gouramiboy9142]

Update - As of this morning the spongodes' polyps have fully come out again, so hopefully it starts regaining some color soon.


- Diego

[bribo12]

Sometimes corals are just weird! Is double check your alk again as 15 is extremely high and would probably kill corals. You could have possibly had a small alk spike which made the Monti mad. Otherwise it seems like your parameters are in check. Now just give it some time to recover

[Chris A.]

It looks rather dark. The chances are your nitrate is 5 ppm or higher. SPS corals require low nitrate to thrive. Also phosphate will not help. For SPS, both parameters need to be round 0.02 ppm. Then its true colours will develop. Use Salifert test kits. The symbionts inside the coral have multiplied and this causes nutrient scarcity. Neither the coral nor zooxanthellae get properly nourished. They go dark in coloration because they are gorged with symbionts. All “zoos” are brown. Polyp extension is an energy requiring process. The coral will not extend its polyps if is low on energy or it is not feeding. What can help the coral is increasing the dKH with sodium bicarbonate to around 13. You’ll need to test every couple of days and add more. This compensates for the nutrient enrichment and permits the coral to continue to grow, however, it will not restore the colour and IMO will not permit the coral to be restored to full health. If it was the same colour when you bought it, the shop's nutrients are too high for SPS also.