Monti Plate turned brown but showing green polyps?

[jayteerq]

Monti plates are one of my favorite corals and this current one that I am having issues with came neon green but overtime it started to turn brown completely. Over the last few weeks, it has been I guess recovering and now starting to show green polyps. Does anyone have advice on how I can give it a better chance at survival and success? I am running three AI primes on a 4 foot tank running max intensity and I have the plate as high as I possibly can parameters are stable and all of my other corals are doing well. No SPS besides birdsnest

 

[Reefing Madness]

 

[jayteerq]

Thanks! I wanted to bump it yesterday but didnt want to be annoying haha

 

[Sdoutreefer]

What does your flow look like? Is you Alk stable? What does your PAR look like at your montis?

I bought a frag of pokerstar Monti from my LFS. It showed a little bit of orange with green polyps when I bought it. I put it in my tank, and a day or two later, it turned really purple/gray. 3 weeks later, it has finally colored up really nicely (for what its worth).

 

[jayteerq]

What does your flow look like? Is you Alk stable? What does your PAR look like at your montis?

I bought a frag of pokerstar Monti from my LFS. It showed a little bit of orange with green polyps when I bought it. I put it in my tank, and a day or two later, it turned really purple/gray. 3 weeks later, it has finally colored up really nicely (for what its worth).

My flow is as strong as I can get it before upsetting LPS. My Alk fluctuates between 8.9-9.3 throughout the week. My Par is my only concern, im running 3 ai primes on a 4' tank. I have my monti mounted up as high as possible. For what it's worth I do have other monti's that seem to be okay in color and showing polyps, as well as a birds nest growing well.

 

[Sdoutreefer]

My flow is as strong as I can get it before upsetting LPS. My Alk fluctuates between 8.9-9.3 throughout the week. My Par is my only concern, im running 3 ai primes on a 4' tank. I have my monti mounted up as high as possible. For what it's worth I do have other monti's that seem to be okay in color and showing polyps, as well as a birds nest growing well.

Hmm... My first thought is that the flow isn't strong enough. What does your Mag look like?

Are you broadcast feeding anything? Do you have access to live-phyto? I do spot feed all of my SPS nightly, and then broadcast feed live-phyto about an hour after the lights are out. I've been getting an awesome reaction out of all coral.

 

[jayteerq]

Hmm... My first thought is that the flow isn't strong enough. What does your Mag look like?

Are you broadcast feeding anything? Do you have access to live-phyto? I do spot feed all of my SPS nightly, and then broadcast feed live-phyto about an hour after the lights are out. I've been getting an awesome reaction out of all coral.

My mag is high at 1500 but stable there. Doesn’t ever venture away from 15s. I broadcast feed reef roids. It was actually super brown no polyps showing a month ago. Now it’s still brown but showing green polyps and a white rim around the edges. Not sure if that’s signs of growth or not lol

 

[Sdoutreefer]

My mag is high at 1500 but stable there. Doesn’t ever venture away from 15s. I broadcast feed reef roids. It was actually super brown no polyps showing a month ago. Now it’s still brown but showing green polyps and a white rim around the edges. Not sure if that’s signs of growth or not lol

That is definitely signs of growth.
I would just let it be. If it's coloring up, I wouldn't worry about it. If it starts to go backwards, then something is off. It might just be acclimating very slowly to a lower PAR level.

 

[UMALUM]

Brown in sps without stn or shutdown usually indicates a bacterial issue. Montis don't need a ton of light to stay healthy but good flow is a must. I would start with a lugols bath it can only help and they love potassium iodine.

 

[Jeffbear]

I have a huge Monti Green Cap. At a certain point in it's past it turned a dark color like yours looks. I never pinpointed what might have caused it. I do know that after the "browning" we will call it, It's growth took off exponentially.

 

[Sdoutreefer]

Brown in sps without stn or shutdown usually indicates a bacterial issue. Montis don't need a ton of light to stay healthy but good flow is a must. I would start with a lugols bath it can only help and they love potassium iodine.

I had no idea browning of SPS is tied to a bacterial issue. That is good to know!