who else here can't grow "forestfire"?

[Patx]

I have other "easy" sps that are doing very well, pink cadillac, Myagi tort, sunset monti, red monti, ponape birdnest.
I tried the "forest fire" 3x in 2 years. (in the same area as the other sps)
it keeps the shape "for a certain time" then the polyps close, the tissue disappears, the skeleton is invaded by coraline but there is always a "patch" staying alive...
it is usually at this time that I transfer it to my "refuge/frag/xenia/cheato tank.
it regains color, the polyps open then stagnate.
I now have 3 frags of forestfire a little alive...

No nudi...

New...

To...

Then...

 

[Patx]

Alk: 7,6-8,2
pH: 8.0-8.3
Ca: 390-440
Mg: 1275-1380...
Po4: 0.05-0.1
No3: 10-20
Sg: 1.026

PAR: I don't know... but.. other sps around...

 

[thedon986]

I have a bubblegum that died almost completely back and is now putting out new growth I have quite a few acros and other sps that didn’t do that.

 

[Patx]

More accurate :

Tadam !

I believe in you!

 

[Justfebreezeit]

Super odd. Any other montipora doing well?

 

[Reefer Matt]

Could be an issue of where you are getting your frags if they keep their alkalinity at a much different level than yours. Also could be too high lighting and/or too low flow in that spot. I’d get a frag from a different vendor and choose a lower par/ higher flow spot if they don’t make it.

 

[Patx]

Super odd. Any other montipora doing well?

Red digi doing good.
Sunset monti perfect

 

[iseethruyou2]

Your probably running higher par than where you’re getting it from. Could just be frying them and they recover in the tank with lower light.

 

[Patx]

Could be an issue of where you are getting your frags if they keep their alkalinity at a much different level than yours. Also could be too high lighting and/or too low flow in that spot. I’d get a frag from a different vendor and choose a lower par/ higher flow spot if they don’t make it.

3 different vendor... same story.

About the same patern each time.
Received frag... go to waiting tank 1-2 week (same system)
place in DT... 1-2 week ...
polyp start to retract.
1-2 week loosing color/ tissue disappears.
Back to waiting tank...

 

[Patx]

Your probably running higher par than where you’re getting it from. Could just be frying them and they recover in the tank with lower light.

Could be... i juge par whit my eye... 2 tank look pretty close to me.

 

[Patx]

I could try one that survived low in my DT.

 

[cilyjr]

Your probably running higher par than where you’re getting it from. Could just be frying them and they recover in the tank with lower light.

Plausible,
That said, I have a much par than most. I never acclimate coral. I've had a few do portly for a week or so but never die back, just look kind of washed out for a bit.

 

[iseethruyou2]

Plausible,
That said, I have a much par than most. I never acclimate coral. I've had a few do portly for a week or so but never die back, just look kind of washed out for a bit.

Digis aren’t a high light sps to begin with. I usually place them in the bottom of sps tanks. 200 par is plenty

 

[Patx]

When i received them, they are glowing bright red....
In waiting tank they are more on the orange side.

The red is more "when par is on the low side" ?

 

[cilyjr]

Could be... i juge par whit my eye... 2 tank look pretty close to me.

That's not possible. You will need a meter.

Example. When my tank ran 8x hydra 32s it looked about the same as now with 6 reefi Uno 2.1. With the meter I know I'm getting about 850 par at 1 inch as apposed to 500 with the old lights.

 

[cilyjr]

Digis aren’t a high light sps to begin with. I usually place them in the bottom of sps tanks. 200 par is plenty

True, but I have them growing high and low. I'll admit the bubble gum ditchie that's lower looks better. But the higher one is fine as well

 

[Patx]

Center and left are FF
Other red are digi

Camera always put more red, but you get the idea

 

[Patx]

Will cut the plate and transfer the FF in DT in a low light spot.

 

[C. Eymann]

The main reason many people have issues with forest fire and bubblegum "digitata" is because they are not actually the notoriously easy Montipora digitata.
Bubblegum and forest fire "digis" are actually Montipora samarensis/ altasepta, very few, if any vendors in the US sell them under their correct species, whereas it is becoming increasingly more popular to see both being sold as the correct species in Europe, Germany in particular.

Visual differences are the presence of pronounced coenstrum ridges and more immersed corallites, compared to digitata's smoother coenstrum and corallites that appear more flush/ not as immersed.

It's pretty obvious these species are quite a bit more finicky than the actual, fairly hardy Montipora digitata.

Hope this clears up the conundrum a bit