Monti Cap Care

[firecrackerbob]

I have had numerous frags of monti cap over the years and they almost always fall into the same pattern of problems in my tank. I get the frag into my tank, it starts to grow, then within three months or so it stops growing, then very slowly bleaches out. once bleached, even a small disturbance to the tank seems to deliver the final blow and kill the frag. So what am I missing on how to care for Monti caps?? lets go back to basics here. if you were going to tell an total newbie how to keep them alive and growing what would you say??

 

Some details about my tank- 4x54w T5, and 2x110VHO(actinic), good flow (I think!), water quality seems good(low nuisance algaes in my tank), but to be honest I have been in the hobby so long now I really dont test much. PH I do test, and is stable at around 7.9. I add Kalk to my top off. dose two part to make up the rest(and mag). I test what I add-ca, alk, mg. I dont do many water changes anymore(~4x a year I do a 50% change), so maybee Im missing some trace elements!?!?, I run carbon and polyfilter. I feed my tank ~2x a week, and have a very low bio load-a chromis and a dottyback in ~120 total gallons, and maybe the big problem, I have a mostly Softie and LPS dominated tank...

 

I currently have a dinner plate size monti cap that is slowly wasting away in my tank right now- please help!...thanks!!!

[icecool2]

They are great indicators for when your alk/cal are off in the tank. Mine do the same thing. If I don't top off with kalk water once a week, I start to see bleaching.

[Alieu07]

What is your nitrate?

[BowieReefer84]

I would test mag/alk/calc. Mag should be at least 1250, alk 7-11, and calc 380-480 IMO. Main thing is stability in ALK. You want to keep it within a 1 point range daily swing (or less) imo.

 

Also, what flow do you have? I find they LOVE high flow. Also, I would blast them with a turkey baster a few times a week just for fun. Have no proof that helped, but my monti caps always grew like weeds.

Edited June 5, 2012 by BowieReefer84

[Jan]

What are your parameters?

[firecrackerbob]

I really only test Ca, Alk, Mg and PH, so Ca=420, alk=~10, Mg=1500, Ph 7.9.

 

Im fairly confident my Alk is probably not super stable, but it shouldnt be too bad either...

[Steve175]

I would look to Alk stability as well. Mine limped along for a long time (even lost a few cap frags) even with Liter meter dosing of 3 part from large jugs. Inevitably, the jugs ran out for a day or two until I noted. I finally broke down and invested in a good quality Ca reactor which runs 24x7 and they are now growing like weeds.