Making your SPS happy

Are you sure you don't have a pest irritating them or a fish picking at them?

 

I have a firefish and a starry blenny. Recently added a royal gramma in the last few days. Also have a cleaner shrimp, a fire shrimp, some hermits and snails.

Not that I've ever seen.

 

Maybe give those troublesome corals a coral dip? Might be a microscopic/ small parasite?

 

What other live stock are you planning on getting? Anything abit bigger? Like a flame angel/ small tang?

 

An Acorpora and a Montipora probably do not share most of common pest found in aquariums. I suppose there is a slight chance there could be some type of arthropod that has not been labeled or commonly discussed on the boards.

One of my all time favorite links.
Aquarium Corals: Stony Coral Parasites: Red and Black Bugs: Identification Guide, Preventive Measures, and a Review of Treatment Protocols — Advanced Aquarist | Aquarist Magazine and Blog

I once treated for RB to my smooth skin Acropora. After treatment with interceptor (a heavy dose) all my Sps, including Stylo, Monti, Pocillpora and Acros showed extreme PE and improvement in coloration. The interceptor had killed every Arthropod pest in the tank, ones that I would have never known where there.

I doubt that is the issue with your tank or else all corals would show some degree of the same condition (if you want to call it that). If it were a fish, shrimp.... The condition would not be limited to those two corals.

Experiment, move the Monti, it's the hardier of the two and the faster grower.

 

Have you ever dipped your corals? If so with what?

Red Bugs are a common pest of both, they will irritate all sps to an extent (often color loss, lack of PE and in more extreme cases death but not always death or atleast not a quick death)..... but if the OP doesn't dip and inspect it is more then possible that both could have a pest, similar or different doesn't matter a pest is a pest and they are always possible without proper dip and inspection/ QT.

If it is a pest or a known tank inhabitant (fish, shrimp, crab....) it could still be limited to several corals, I know my old Flame Angel had a few favorites and some pest don't spread rapidly/ effect corals differently.

 

I dip with Coral R/X Pro.

I haven't seen any signs of bugs, but could have missed them.

My next step will be to move them a bit and see what happens.

Thanks for all the input.

 

Chris please post a reference regarding RB being a pest of Montipora. It has been my understanding that RB are specific to Acropora.

Aquarium Pests: Red Bugs » Reef'd Up Aquatics

Black bugs for Montipora sure, RB might be present on a Montipora with regard to transport and introduction but I do not believe that RB are parasitic to Montipora as they are to Acros. Any information as to the contrary would be appreciated.

When I post RB I specifically mean Tegastes acroporanus.

 

I have seen it with my own eyes on multiple tanks with RB as Red Bugs were very popular around here for quite some time. They may not mess with montis as bad or as regularly but anything that is on them that shouldn't be would be a pest and an irritant that could easily cause the lack of polyp extension.

BTW You even mentioned that when you did the tank treatment for RB you noticed improvements in your monti's. Sure they may have been irritated by something else that was taken out with the interceptor but I wouldn't rule out that they didn't have RB on them causing irritation either

 

6+ wks doesn't sound like a very long time IMO. I've had some sps take months with no growth, then all of a sudden the take off. I wouldn't disturb anything as long as you maintain coloration.