orange cap monti-help!?

[saltank]

Noticed last night that two spots of my awesome orange cap montipora seems to be bleaching. Everything else in tank is fine. The spots are shaded by upper parts of the coral and don't seem to get much light anymore - could this be the cause?

water params are fine, can't figure out what could've happened, unless this is normal? It was a frag I got about 16 months ago, the size of a quarter, now it is easily bigger than my fist.

Only thing that has happened recently is I accidently broke a piece of it off while cleaning the tank. The fragged piece is doing fine in another area of the tank.

Any thoughts, suggestions out there?

Thanks

 

[Anonymous]

It could be the fact that it is shaded that is causing the problem. Is it new growth? My orange cap is lighter where it is growing.

 

[saltank]

Thanks for reply, no it is not new growth. Actually older growth that now is shaded by new growth.

I did notice a recently purchased snail in it and removed it. Could a snail be a pest of this coral?

 

[Anonymous]

Not that I am aware of. If it is a common algae eating snail then I would strongly doubt it.