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I don't have any, sorry. My green slimer gets the same thing on the tips from time to time, which just bugs the heck out of me. I cut it off so the coral can heal and grow new tissue over it.

Ok. So things look better for the most part. I still have a couple of corals that are acting funny, so I thought that I would post pictures of what I see, and get some suggestions

First, these two montis are very close to each other. They are also doing the same thing in the same spot pretty much. I cant figure out why!





Then I have this one, which has never given me any problems, and really seems to be in good shape other than whatever is going on at the tips





Things that I can think of that have changed. I have a new reactor for my carbon and gfo. It seems to be an all around better reactor from BRS. I also changed the carbon that I use from standard lignite to the Rox.08. Also, I have checked my lighting with the PAR meter, and they seem to still be just as intense as they should be. However, I wonder if the spectrum could have changed, since I seem to be getting a little more Yellow in my colors

I have the afor-mentioned fish and shrimp, but I do not see the shrimp out when the lights are on, and that is when the montis seem to be reacting this way. I have been keeping my eye on the Butterfly, and it does not seem to bother anything other than my snails.

Suggestions?

Nathan

Originally Posted by melev

Let us know what you catch on video. I'd guess it is the peppermints only because they aren't doing anything good in your eyes.

It's so funny, because I had 2 pepps that were tearing the nems up, but my wrasse ate them. Now I have 6-8 that will not touch them, but I am pretty sure ate my berguia nudis. Now I have a copperband that has no appetite for them.

Unfortunately I set up the flip last night, but I forgot to empty it first and it only took 2 minutes worth.

I have no luck!!!!! Ugh

Let us know what you catch on video. I'd guess it is the peppermints only because they aren't doing anything good in your eyes.

Originally Posted by melev

The three images above my reply make me itch. I hate those things. According to Evil Mark, you can get a wrasse to feast on them. The Yellow Coris wrasse, to be specific.

On your green monti, it could be damage from the hermit crab, it could be fish nipping, or shrimp damage. It could even be something landing on the coral during your dosings or treatments. It's hard to say, but the damage seems minimal.

Ya you are right. Those things just look aweful. I do not think that I have any currently, but I have in the past, and it was aggravating. I was lucky that I only had a bunch of frags when I got them, and it was easy to treat. If I get them now, then it will be a different story.

Now. I have been having some issues with corals, and it came about really sudden. I have always had great luck, and have not had any real issues with TN, and such. It all started with a Blue Tenuis that I have. It started having some TN around the tips that had grown out into the stream of my vortech. Then it moved on to a Lime in the Sky that had also grown into the stream of my other vortech. These have both been fragged, and moved to another spot.
The only thing that was new to my tank at the same time all of this was happening was 25 new snails, and about 15 hermits. Most of the hermits were small, but I did get a few that were larger. As already stated, some of the hermits were climbing around on my corals, and have since been moved to the sump.

Lately, I have been noticing some other strange things on several corals. One thing is the damage shown in the pictures above. This has since gotten better, so I am not all that concerned about it now. Also, I have had some flesh bubbling on my Monti Spongodes. It does not seem to be a major issue but it is still there.

Something quite new, is that my Pokerstar Monti is keeping some of it's polyps retracted, and just does not seem very happy. There is also another Monti that is close to it, that is acting strange.

So I decided that with all the corals acting funny, that it could have been my RoDi, because it was due to have the filters changed out. So i ordered new filters from Melev, and installed them. I emptied out all of my old RoDi water, and made a fresh batch. I then made up a bunch of fresh saltwater. Since then, I have done a 20 gallon, a 30 gallon, and another 30 gallon water change. I am hoping that this will fix any water issues that I may have had.

I am still noticing some things that are not normal, and I have now decided that one of two things must be the cause of them.

#1. I got about 10 peppermint shrimp to try and clean up the Aptaisia in my tank. They are a total failure, as none of them seem to have an appetite for the Nems

#2. I bought a Copper banded butterfly fish to deal with the Nems, but she/he also does not seem to care for them either.

So, one of the two new additions above must be guilty of messing with my corals. I have not been able to catch any of them in the act, but plan to set up my HD Flip tonight in hopes of figuring it out. I am starting to get pretty aggravated now. I would think that I should have it under control by now, so it is disheartening

I do not think that it is any sort of pest/parasite since I am having trouble from the montis and the acros. I forgot to mention that my Pink Lemonade coral had two spots, right at the very tips where its polyps stick out, that were slimed up, and missing a little tissue last night. That is when I decided that it must be the Butterfly. We shall see I guess!

The three images above my reply make me itch. I hate those things. According to Evil Mark, you can get a wrasse to feast on them. The Yellow Coris wrasse, to be specific.

On your green monti, it could be damage from the hermit crab, it could be fish nipping, or shrimp damage. It could even be something landing on the coral during your dosings or treatments. It's hard to say, but the damage seems minimal.

Here is what the nudis always looked for for me. On the underside

Found on the underside of my incrusting monti’s:mad:

Originally Posted by Jessy

If possible remove the coral and dip it for monti eating nudis. Those look like bite marks

HMm! That's strange. I have had those before, and it affected just about all of my montis. It also did not look anything like this. I will check it out!

Thanks,
Nathan

If possible remove the coral and dip it for monti eating nudis. Those look like bite marks

Originally Posted by melev

Running 400w is fine, if you don't mind the electricity consumption. With these reflectors, heat is rarely a consideration because of the height. PAR is dictated by the wattage and Kelvin of the bulb. Over my own tank, the 400w 20,000K's PAR is close to the 250w 10,000K bulbs. I just scanned over your blog, and don't see what color bulbs you plan to use. The nice thing about the pendants is that they run all moguls. Getting a variable ballast like teesquare suggested will give you some room to play. Marine Depot sells such a ballast, which another person blogged about in the past 60 days.

Marc, I talked to Mike at RS, and he also suggested the Mini Wide pendants. My thoughts are a lot like yours I beleive, so can you tell me why you did not think the MWs are a good idea?

This is how I feel. I am trying to light a 4' x 3' tank with these pendants. The pendants create a spotlight effect, so it is standard to raise them high. I plan to raise them a bit higher than most, to spread them out more, and also to get them as far out of the way as possible. Now, it just seem logical to me that a reflector with a 16" diameter that is spread out, will still cover a smaller area than a 20" diameter reflector. Does anything I am saying, make any sense?

Marc, I plan to run Radiums, so we will just see how I like them. I may just start out with 250w bulbs, but do it with ballasts that are capable of pushing the 400watters. This way, if I don't like the PAR I get from the 250w, then all I will need to do is swap out the bulbs

I guess my biggest question is whether the Mini wide will be able to cover the area, and also direct enough light into the tank. I just feel like the large will definitely do that.

Nathan

Originally Posted by melev

Gotta be careful with kalkwasser. That's all I'm saying.

ya! It has always served me well, but I let the maintenance slip on my ATO switch. Good thing I had the dual switched one, or it would have been really bad.

For my new tank, I have purchased a medical doser that is outfitted with a little programmable computer and a timer

http://reefdosingpumps.com/products/admiral1.html

I am going to try out the two part method this time

Later
Nathan

Gotta be careful with kalkwasser. That's all I'm saying.

Exactly.

You are right of course.... it is the BOTTLE CAP's FAULT!!!!

If that darned thing would not just come off so easily in my hand!

T

Running 400w is fine, if you don't mind the electricity consumption. With these reflectors, heat is rarely a consideration because of the height. PAR is dictated by the wattage and Kelvin of the bulb. Over my own tank, the 400w 20,000K's PAR is close to the 250w 10,000K bulbs. I just scanned over your blog, and don't see what color bulbs you plan to use. The nice thing about the pendants is that they run all moguls. Getting a variable ballast like teesquare suggested will give you some room to play. Marine Depot sells such a ballast, which another person blogged about in the past 60 days.

I know you want to blame liquor for everything, but sometimes it is innocent of all wrong doing.

Why not consider the 400w -bulbs, and run them with a variable wattage output ballast. That will allow you to adjust from 250-400 watts without changing anything. Especially useful after bulb changes if you let them go a little longer than optimum....

Looks like it ate some of Melevs "Liquor Chili" - and has gas as a result <G>!

T

Originally Posted by melev

Did you read the Lumenbright article in Reefkeeping Magazine yet? The Large is 4" larger at 20" in diameter. The Mini is 16" in diameter. If they are close to the tank, a spotlight effect occurs, but as you raise them up, the desired spread is created. Mine are 12" from the base of the pendant to the top of the plastic trim, which puts the bulbs at 18" from the water's surface.

You've stated you want yours at 24" off the tank. If it is set up like mine, that would put the bulb at 36" from the water. That's a heck of a distance for the light to penetrate. Matter of fact, while I was at the Georgia Aquarium and looking at the corals in their reef tank, I felt they weren't getting enough light. When we were above the tank (behind the scenes), they reflectors were off the water more than 12" and one of the reasons the light was lessened. And those were 1000w bulbs.

Is there a specific reason you want them up at 24"? Could it be lower for the majority of the time, with the option to elevate them up to 24" when the need arises?

I'm 100% positive the Mini Wide at that height would be a waste of light and would flood the room instead of the tank.

Yes, I have read it about 3 times, at least. When I say that I want to mount 20-24" above the surface. I am talking about the bulb, so the bottom of the reflector will actually be 16" or 20" from the surface. Part of the reason for the height is the wattage of bulbs too.
The way I see it, if I go with the 250 watters, then I am not going to get the PAR that I want, or that I will have mount them too close to the water in order to get them.
So my next step up is the 400 watters, and mounting them that high gives me some room to play around with the height. I plan to make a light hanger out of square tubing, that will have a bolt on each side, and some holes drilled at varying heights. Then I can raise or lower the lights to hopefully get them just like I want

I think that the 400 watters in the Lumen bright large will be great for the 4' x 3' area

Hope I am making sense

Did you read the Lumenbright article in Reefkeeping Magazine yet? The Large is 4" larger at 20" in diameter. The Mini is 16" in diameter. If they are close to the tank, a spotlight effect occurs, but as you raise them up, the desired spread is created. Mine are 12" from the base of the pendant to the top of the plastic trim, which puts the bulbs at 18" from the water's surface.

You've stated you want yours at 24" off the tank. If it is set up like mine, that would put the bulb at 36" from the water. That's a heck of a distance for the light to penetrate. Matter of fact, while I was at the Georgia Aquarium and looking at the corals in their reef tank, I felt they weren't getting enough light. When we were above the tank (behind the scenes), they reflectors were off the water more than 12" and one of the reasons the light was lessened. And those were 1000w bulbs.

Is there a specific reason you want them up at 24"? Could it be lower for the majority of the time, with the option to elevate them up to 24" when the need arises?

I'm 100% positive the Mini Wide at that height would be a waste of light and would flood the room instead of the tank.