Im freakin out (Monti digi issue)

Ive had this problem on Acros where the flesh is shaded. This IMHO looks to be the case here. The area where the flesh is gone appears to be shaded.

 

Your alk is pretty low for your CA levels to. Are you having ph/alk swings?

 

What do I do then? As it grows, it will happen sooner or later, right?

 

The params are all stable. Ive heard/read I should try to keep the alk 8 at the most, since I run the biopellet.

 

For future reference, as you are new to SPS, the first thing you should do when you see a dead spot on a coral, is to get rid of it. It is very possible that whatever is causing it (burn, disease, etc) is going to spread. It often helps to just get rid of it right off the bat. You should cut at least a quarter inch into the healthy tissue. You don't necessarily have to throw it out, you can glue it to a plug and see how it does. Sometimes infections spread fast, and you want to get rid of it asap. This applies to other types of corals as well.

And don't lose hope on SPS. I have been very lucky with it and have 20-30 species in my tank at the moment. My digi is very finicky, more than many others. Something easier, and less expensive, to try would be some birds nest, a monti cap, slimer, etc. Many people say slimer is easy - but I have no luck with it!

Btw I think your alk is fine, mine is 5-6 lol. My tank sucks it up and I haven't gotten around to dosing. If you give some more info (how often you do water changes, type of salt, RODI/tap, other unrelated issues, fish, lighting/lighting schedule, etc) that would help us figure out what is going on. You may also want to check on your test kits. People often find their problem there. I read recently about a guy whose kids played with the refractometer...

Best of luck!

 

Thanks for the input, Gabby! It helps a lot to understand!

Weekly about 10%

Used to be Coralife but I had to change it to Seachem due to the local availability :-X

RO/DI all the way

Not that I think of...

Two tangs, two O. clowns, two chromis, one firefish, misc CUC.

All DIY 60 LEDs fixture
Royal Blue 9:30~8:30 (11 hours)
UVs, Blue, turquoise 10:15~7:45 (9.5 hours)
Cool and Neutral White 11:00~7:00 (8 hours)

 

Hmm. Water changes are always good. I do about 20% weekly, but 10% is fine. Are you using Seachem reef or marine salt? I would take a water sample to your LFS asap and have it tested (usually free) to see if your tests are accurate. Make sure the salinity is right as well, as hydrometers can be inaccurate. If the levels are correct - they are fine. My Ca is 420 ppm, Alk is 5 dKH, and Mag is 1095 ppm. I know, I know. I need to dose. But I haven't had a problem with my SPS besides red bugs. Whats the temp of the tank?

After you get it checked, you will have eliminated the water as the problem, which is a big elimination. It is not RTN, as this will occur within a day or two. There is also STN (slow tissue necrosis), but I am not too familiar with that. Maybe someone else will chime in. The next culprit is lighting. Possibly bleaching too much light.. Personally what I would do, and have done in the past, is to frag it and move around the frag to see if a different height in the tank would be a better fit. If you frag it, those digi's seem to hate glue or something. Every time I accidentally bump it and make some frags, I glue them to plugs. They either hate the air exposure or the glue, because they turn whiter for a day. They always are fine the next day. It is obviously not doing well right now, making changes is really the only option (even though SPS is not fond of change and loves consistency).