Orange Monti Cap

[erid]

I have a frag that is growing well, but it lost it's bright orange color. It looks pastell now. I'm using 14K 150W bulbs and the frag is placed high with good current. What do you think it is? ???

 

[Phyl]

I think it is up too high, for now. I'd move it lower and get it some shade until it acclimates. Move it up slowly. Sounds like too much light.

 

[ocmsolidsnake]

Id like to add a question on to this, I won the oragne and purple caps at the meeting by default lol, and Right now I have them on a frag rack under 175's, are they large enough to move into the rockwork, or should they be left to grow more up high?

 

[Phyl]

Either way is fine, but don't put them under too intense lighting right away without acclimating them, or they'll probably burn out. I like the way the cap looks when it grows out in place as it takes on the shape of the rock and grows around it. So I'd put it in my tank right away and let it take shape there.

 

[erid]

Thanks Phyl. It's been in my tank since August. I still see orange polyps, but the base is very pale.

I'll move it tonight.

 

[mladencovic]

Orange caps definitively don't like too much light. Mine require at least 8-10" of water under 150W MH. Green caps (with pink/purple rim), on the other hand, will show green and pink color only when placed above 10" depth (150W MH). Lights are ~ 8" above water.

 

[erid]

I'll pick up some more Epoxy today.
I hate to see things grow but loose color. When I got it from Jrod he had it about mid tank under 250s! Sometimes this hobby can be frustrating...

Now that I think of it, I'm going to relocate my green birdsnest too! It still has green polyps and it's growing very well, but sometimes we convince outselves that our water is perfect, and that there is no reason why our corals will be negatively affected.

I'll keep you posted. Thanks for the opinions.

Erik

 

[mladencovic]

I'll pick up some more Epoxy today.
...

If it is a Epoxy putty, be careful how you use it with motis. It heats up as it cures and kills coral tissue next to it. When mounting plated frags, the contact surface area tends to be a bit larger and a lot of coral tissue can easily die. Very large areas in proportion to the whole frag which can then kill the whole frag

Theses are examples of mistakes I made with epoxy:

http://68.36.163.41/aqua/img/corals/history/C29_20061121.jpg
http://68.36.163.41/aqua/img/corals/history/C4_20061121.jpg

These days, I exclusively use crazy glue for attaching corals to LR rubble and expoxy for attaching LR rubble to the rest of the rockwork.

 

[erid]

I know, thanks

It's funny that you mention it. I actually have a base of crazy glue that the existing epoxy s adhering to.

That is golden advise, I thank you for that. ;D

Erik R.

 

[erid]

Color is much much better now. Thanks for the tips Phyl!

Erik

 

[erid]

I think that a fogspawn touched the side of the Orange Cap a few days ago.
I trimmed the effected part off with some wire cutters and the problem spread until the whole cap died. ??? It just got all of it's bright color back...

*6 Mos. of growing down the drain... What a mood killer.

What did I do wrong?

Erik

 

[Phyl]

When you trimmed the cap did you cut into the good part? I find that if part starts to go you really need to trim it back beyond the damage so there is good flesh to the edge. Is it possible that the death coincided with a change in alk/ca/mg/ph/trate/PO4 along with the touch of the frogspawn?

The good news is that cap is pretty wide spread around here. You should be able to replace it and get it growing again.

Sorry it wiped out on you. If it is any consolation it has probably happened to the vast majority of us at LEAST once.

 

[erid]

I actually trimmed it twice; the 2nd time when I noticed that it was still receding after the 1st cut.

As for the paremeters, yes. But for the better. I recently added a couple of sacks of charcol and one of Phosphate remover. My Cal was a little low so I raised it back to 450ppm with turbo calcium this weekend.

Thanks,

Erik R.

 

[Phyl]

Pushing your Ca that high may have dropped your Alk as well. Have you been watching that parm along with the raise in Ca? I've also read something about PO4 remover needing to be added with caution as it could have an affect on your PH, I believe. You may want to double check that.

Though Cap is usually tough enough to withstand parm swings though.

 

[JerseyWendy]

Erik,

So sorry to hear about your orange cap. What a bummer. Before long I will have to give mine a "haircut", and you'll be more than welcome to the trimmings. Plus I'll enjoy another visit.

---
Wendy

 

[erid]

Thanks Phyl. I'll have to keep a closer eye on the cal. Generally I test once a week. Once in a wile I'll skip a weekend though. I figure the two part will keep it stable.

Wendy I look forward to it. That's favorite my t-5 tank!

Speak to you soon,

Erik

 

[RichT]

Although I haven't tried it myself, I've read where reefers have actually used, with success, crazy glue gel along the leading edge of the recession and stopped it from getting worse so the coral could recover. I imagine it would depend heavily on the reason the recession started in the first place though.

 

[erid]

Thanks Rich. I have a frogspawn approx 6" to the left of where I had the Frag mounted. It has been splitting and growing well and it touched my Orange Cap. It left a white dot that I watched for a few days. When I noticed that it started to spread, I cut that area off plus little more. Then cut it another time when I noticed more dead area.

That is how it all started.

Erik

 

[Hawkeye]

baxreef had to banish his frogspawn - it had grown huge and was stinging his other corals. He even posted a video on his tale of the tank of the fs sending out tendrils / sweepers at night!

I guess the good news though is that your fs is growing rapidly!