Wanting to get some Monti caps

[myblueseas]

Good day ladies and gents need a little help I currently have a Reefer 170 with the Reef led 90w and I so badly want to get a few monti caps in my tank but my last one died off immediately. So I’m afraid to do it again. So some advice would be helpful here are my stats below these numbers were taken on Tuesday
Alk 12.7
Calcium 425
Magnesium 1450
Ammonia 0
Salinity 1.026
Phosphate 2ppm
Nitrate 5ppm

I currently have one HUGE bubble coral, a small Hammer coral and some Kenya trees I’ve attached pics of the tank hope you can see everything

 

[landlubber]

based on your parameters I don't see why you couldn't give another a try.
SPS corals are often finicky about stability so provided you give them that and medium-strong lighting and flow they will grow like a weed for you.
edit: just wanted to add... definitely keep the monti cap clear of that bubble coral as the sweepers are strong enough to sting the cap and cause a setback

 

[NonstopSoda]

Everything looks good but your phos is a high, phos should be under 0.1ppm i aim for 0.02-0.06.

 

[myblueseas]

Everything looks good but your phos is a high, phos should be under 0.1ppm i aim for 0.02-0.06.

Thanks I’ll try and get it lower

 

[myblueseas]

based on your parameters I don't see why you couldn't give another a try.
SPS corals are often finicky about stability so provided you give them that and medium-strong lighting and flow they will grow like a weed for you.
edit: just wanted to add... definitely keep the monti cap clear of that bubble coral as the sweepers are strong enough to sting the cap and cause a setback

Yeah I’ve seen them out at night I have a nice corner that he can go I feel that would be good for the cap he can have that whole corner

 

[landlubber]

Everything looks good but your phos is a high, phos should be under 0.1ppm i aim for 0.02-0.06.

to be honest given the efficiency of skimmers, refugiums, carbon dosing and the margin of error found in test kits, i personally am more inclined to keep nutrients on the higher end of the spectrum.
An example why is how many hobbyists are dealing with dinos.
Provided your tank isn't showing stress or growing copious amounts of algae a person is able to get away with a little more

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

The challenge I see is that your corals are lower light and lower flow corals. Most monti’s like higher light and flow.

 

[exnisstech]

Everything looks good but your phos is a high, phos should be under 0.1ppm i aim for 0.02-0.06.

Not necessarily. These monti grew from little frags in 20+ NO3 and PO4 0.2 - 0.3

I broke that tank down and moved everything to the tank below PO4 has been over 0.3 since starting the tank in February

 

[Aquariumaddictuk]

I have a reefer 170 & Monti can spread RAPIDLY.
I bought several frags & they soon grow!
Think outside the box e.g mount some on rear wall, some on frag racks in corners etc & it's perfectly viable/maintainable without much shading

 

[exnisstech]

I have a reefer 170 & Monti can spread RAPIDLY.
I bought several frags & they soon grow!
Think outside the box e.g mount some on rear wall, some on frag racks in corners etc & it's perfectly viable/maintainable without much shading

I almost said something I also have a 170 and I'm not sure I would put monti caps in there but I have the luxury of multiple tanks. These orange and green are pieces from my old tank now in a reefer 300. Funny thing is this tank runs N and P barely detectable and they still thrive. I guess they're adaptable

 

[Aquariumaddictuk]

I almost said something I also have a 170 and I'm not sure I would put monti caps in there but I have the luxury of multiple tanks. These orange and green are pieces from my old tank now in a reefer 300. Funny thing is this tank runs N and P barely detectable and they still thrive. I guess they're adaptable

I bought too much Monti early on.
Several encrusting & caps.
Digitata is fine but I'm constantly fragging caps & confusa & giving to LFS.
I find them adaptable just invasive.
Guess it's a trade off.
I can't picture having a reef tank without some red cap in it but it's constant pruning

 

[myblueseas]

I bought too much Monti early on.
Several encrusting & caps.
Digitata is fine but I'm constantly fragging caps & confusa & giving to LFS.
I find them adaptable just invasive.
Guess it's a trade off.
I can't picture having a reef tank without some red cap in it but it's constant pruning

I don’t mind the pruning just love the way they grow and wanting to add some depth to the tank with color so I think I’ll give it another try

 

[myblueseas]

So here’s another question for the group I have a friend who wants to give me a stylo coral I believe it’s either blue or purple what do you guys think would that be good with those parameters

 

[landlubber]

So the short of it is you have parameters that should have the ability to keep any coral be it a softy, LPS or SPS. That doesn't mean every coral will survive despite this.
The long explanation. Beyond these few simple numbers there are intangibles, if you don't keep these very stable SPS corals will likely die. If your salt isn't consistently 1.025-1.026 you will upset corals, if you constantly mettle with the tank (adding fish, adding coral, moving corals, allowing them to be pushed off the rock by inverts, changing dosing schedules/amounts, playing with light schedules etc) your tank will struggle.
Your goal is to leave things alone and one at a time make micro-adjustments and then let the tank adapt so make rational decisions and stick to them.
Lastly, you no longer need to test for ammonia, once a tank is cycled the denitrification process should never allow that test to read a level.

 

[Rjukan]

The challenge I see is that your corals are lower light and lower flow corals. Most monti’s like higher light and flow.

This is what I was going to remark on as well.. that bubble doesn't need much light and it's thriving up top. I'm guessing your light might be too weak for sps. But I'm just guessing.

 

[Ziggy17]

Thanks I’ll try and get it lower

Don’t bother. It’s just fine where it is. The Alk is on the higher end of the spectrum, is that where it is from your RODI or do you dose to keep it that high?

 

[Ziggy17]

I have a reefer 170 & Monti can spread RAPIDLY.
I bought several frags & they soon grow!
Think outside the box e.g mount some on rear wall, some on frag racks in corners etc & it's perfectly viable/maintainable without much shading

I have a RS 300XL and I bought an island frag rack and that’s where the monti caps live now. It’s great as there are on the back wall, and because the rack is magnetic, I made easy subtle adjustments up or down to play with the lighting until I found the sweet spot without adjusting the lights themselves.

 

[myblueseas]

This is what I was going to remark on as well.. that bubble doesn't need much light and it's thriving up top. I'm guessing your light might be too weak for sps. But I'm just guessing.

Don’t bother. It’s just fine where it is. The Alk is on the higher end of the spectrum, is that where it is from your RODI or do you dose to keep it that high?

I dose