Montipora: Show some love for your Monti's

[mitten_reef]

I've seen some beautiful Monti's on N-R. I'm a bit surprised that there's no "lovers" thread dedicated to them yet (not through my quick search anyway). 

 

So here goes some of my current Monti's:

 

Unknown - neon, metallic orange, plating with interesting ridge and nodules, blue polyp under certain light (ID help if you can) 

 

Leng Sy cap: from @Cultivated Reef

 

"Possibly?" Tequila Sunrise - orange polyp, green plate with some upward growth ridges.

 

A small frag of starburst-type: red plate with yellow/orange polyps. Also a red digi frag next to it.

 

Experimenting with Mystic Sunset on the back wall.

 

Share your favorite Monti's here!!!

[Scorched]

The first Monti is Reef Raft Nauti Spiral.  I have one as well and it is one of my favorites.  You have excellent coloration on it.

 

 

[mitten_reef]

24 minutes ago, Scorched said:

The first Monti is Reef Raft Nauti Spiral.  I have one as well and it is one of my favorites.  You have excellent coloration on it.

 

 

@Scorched Thank you for stopping by and sharing the ID.  Please share yours when you get a chance.   

[lobster876]

no montis for me yet but maybe at reefapalooza

[Christopher Marks]

Great idea @micoastreefing! I'd like to memorialize @Asureef's incredible monti caps from his old 40 gallon nano reef. The way the red and green plates weave together...

 

[WV Reefer]

 

[TJ_Burton]

I too have Nauti Spiral, Sunset monti and a pretty nice green cap with red polyps.

 

Here is my Forest Fire

 

[gone_PHiSHin]

don't have any yet but soon hopefully!  i've been looking for a bright orange setosa locally for a while

[mitten_reef]

3 hours ago, Christopher Marks said:

Great idea @micoastreefing! I'd like to memorialize @Asureef's incredible monti caps from his old 40 gallon nano reef. The way the red and green plates weave together...

 

This is an epic example of how the good ol' cap can be so beautiful!!!! The digi's aren't bad either. 

3 hours ago, WV Reefer said:

 

Thank you for sharing. Your monti's are very fluffy!

[Asureef]

Thanks Chris! 

 

Here's a few more from my phone 

 

[Clown79]

Very beautiful pieces you all have.

[mitten_reef]

4 hours ago, TJ_Burton said:

I too have Nauti Spiral, Sunset monti and a pretty nice green cap with red polyps.

 

Here is my Forest Fire

 

Need myself one! Definitely on my to-add list. 

[GregEmmitte]

Those are lovely

[HarryPotter]

Ill take some photos to contribute later!

[mitten_reef]

On 5/23/2017 at 1:26 PM, lobster876 said:

no montis for me yet but maybe at reefapalooza

 

On 5/23/2017 at 2:24 PM, gone_PHiSHin said:

don't have any yet but soon hopefully!  i've been looking for a bright orange setosa locally for a while

 

On 5/23/2017 at 6:29 PM, Clown79 said:

Very beautiful pieces you all have.

 

On 5/23/2017 at 8:33 PM, GregEmmitte said:

Those are lovely

Thank you all for stopping by, hope this thread will inspire you to try some Montipora in your tanks.

On 5/23/2017 at 5:29 PM, Asureef said:

Thanks Chris! 

 

Here's a few more from my phone 

 

Thank you for sharing, your tank looks amazing...I'll be following the new build.

On 5/25/2017 at 9:24 AM, HarryPotter said:

Ill take some photos to contribute later!

Thanks Harry, Drop them here whenever you can! I recall you have some cool Monti's

 

[HarryPotter]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Nano sapiens]

'Sunset Monti':

 

 

 

M. setosa:

 

[spectra]

Great little thread here........

 

 

Hell I love montis  there an old school coral..............no pics but I have poker star, sunset, superman, cistrus mistress and a few others whos name escapes me at this time.....

[TheBig053]

Well my monti cap is pretty sad compared to the others that have been shared in this thread, but I am finally beginning to see some new growth which is exciting.  Here is a photo:

 

 

You can see the new growth from the ring around the edge.  It looks really faded in this photo but is not that bad in real life. Combo of the light and phone camera. However, it is not as dark as it was when I added it to the tank a little over a month ago. Thought this would be a  good place to source some tips or tricks for getting it to color up. Would love for it to get a deeper pink/red color like some of the photos up above. Thanks. 

[Asureef]

4 hours ago, TheBig053 said:

Well my monti cap is pretty sad compared to the others that have been shared in this thread, but I am finally beginning to see some new growth which is exciting.  Here is a photo:

 

 

You can see the new growth from the ring around the edge.  It looks really faded in this photo but is not that bad in real life. Combo of the light and phone camera. However, it is not as dark as it was when I added it to the tank a little over a month ago. Thought this would be a  good place to source some tips or tricks for getting it to color up. Would love for it to get a deeper pink/red color like some of the photos up above. Thanks. 

 

Looks like gets getting too much light.  

[mitten_reef]

18 hours ago, TheBig053 said:

Well my monti cap is pretty sad compared to the others that have been shared in this thread, but I am finally beginning to see some new growth which is exciting.  Here is a photo:

 

 

You can see the new growth from the ring around the edge.  It looks really faded in this photo but is not that bad in real life. Combo of the light and phone camera. However, it is not as dark as it was when I added it to the tank a little over a month ago. Thought this would be a  good place to source some tips or tricks for getting it to color up. Would love for it to get a deeper pink/red color like some of the photos up above. Thanks. 

 

14 hours ago, Asureef said:

 

Looks like gets getting too much light.  

What's your peak setting for Prime HD at mid day? going from stock LED to a Prime would cause a bit of light shock. It seems like you just had the new Prime HD installed not long ago? Maybe it just needs a little more time to adjust itself to the new light.  Honestly, red cap is indestructible, just keep up the maintenance, and you'll get good growth and color in no time. I'll be interested in an update on the cap in a few weeks. 

 

I dropped by your tank thread to see the sideview of where the Monti really is (top down here is hard to tell how high it is in the tank). I don't really think it's too high up in the rockworks. Nice looking set up so far!

[Asureef]

20 minutes ago, micoastreefing said:

 

 

 

I dropped by your tank thread to see the sideview of where the Monti really is (top down here is hard to tell how high it is in the tank). I don't really think it's too high up in the rockworks. Nice looking set up so far!

 

I placed it at about half way point as you can see in one of my old fts.  Doing the same with my new setup.  

 

[TheBig053]

Thanks for the input. I added the Prime HD  on May 3 and began with the blues/violets at 20% and r/g/cw in the 5-10% (dont remember exactly where I started with these). I have been increasing the power at 2-3% per day since and reached the desired intensity this past weekend. Here are the current intensity intensity settings. 

 

 

 

I was originally running a 12 hour total photo period with 4 hrs ramp up and ramp down. I think the issue may have been with the 4-hr peak period. I just adjusted the ramp times to shorten the amount of peak power time to 3-hrs.  Should this be even shorter? 2-hrs?

 

The light is about 7" above the water line and the cap is 5-6" deep.  Been changing about 20% water each week and testing levels twice a week. Everything has been pretty stable with the exception of more Ca being used as more LPS corals have been added, but it has never dropped below recommended levels nor any wild swings between water changes. 

 

Not dosing anything at the moment. I am beginning to research this and likely will be implementing this when I get back from vacation at the end of June and look to add more SPS.

[mitten_reef]

12 hours ago, TheBig053 said:

Thanks for the input. I added the Prime HD  on May 3 and began with the blues/violets at 20% and r/g/cw in the 5-10% (dont remember exactly where I started with these). I have been increasing the power at 2-3% per day since and reached the desired intensity this past weekend. Here are the current intensity intensity settings. 

 

 

 

I was originally running a 12 hour total photo period with 4 hrs ramp up and ramp down. I think the issue may have been with the 4-hr peak period. I just adjusted the ramp times to shorten the amount of peak power time to 3-hrs.  Should this be even shorter? 2-hrs?

 

The light is about 7" above the water line and the cap is 5-6" deep.  Been changing about 20% water each week and testing levels twice a week. Everything has been pretty stable with the exception of more Ca being used as more LPS corals have been added, but it has never dropped below recommended levels nor any wild swings between water changes. 

 

Not dosing anything at the moment. I am beginning to research this and likely will be implementing this when I get back from vacation at the end of June and look to add more SPS.

I'd listen whatever @Asureef said above, he has a lot more success with monti cap than I do. ? 

Judging by what you shared on lighting, the 70% blue channels might be too strong for such a shallow tank like yours. Might be worthwhile dialing it back 5-10% for a while and see how the coral responds, or play around with the placement, or both. 

[mbarton2010]

Where are you guys getting these colorful montis? I can only find the orange and sometimes green around me