Encrusting Montipora Placement

[Djm4ng0]

Hi nano reef I have this encrusting montipora ( I think lol) that has been sitting on my sandbed for a week. I recently placed him on my top rock a couple days ago where the light is bright and lots of flow. I've noticed this past day the color is starting to turn whiter. Is this bad placement for the montipora? Should I place him more towards the bottom in the shade? I've put a couple pics and a picture with a suggestion on where I think I should place him? What are your guys thoughts? Thanks.

[Djm4ng0]

Also if anyone can ID this type of montipora I would be very appreciated.

[Critteraholic]

If you moved it from sand to rock top in one day, you've shocked it.  It looks like it's bleaching.  Also, too much light could bleach it as well.

 

I would put it back on the sand bed in it's old spot till it recovers. Then start moving it up an inch or two every week or two.  Let the coral tell you what it needs.  It takes awhile for them to acclimate to new light parameters. Or new lights.

 

Not knowing your par levels, I can't tell you the best place to put it. But medium to high is what they prefer.

 

Sorry, I don't know what its name is, but it does look like an encrusting monti to me. 

 

Good luck! 🙂

[Djm4ng0]

3 hours ago, Critteraholic said:

If you moved it from sand to rock top in one day, you've shocked it.  It looks like it's bleaching.  Also, too much light could bleach it as well.

 

I would put it back on the sand bed in it's old spot till it recovers. Then start moving it up an inch or two every week or two.  Let the coral tell you what it needs.  It takes awhile for them to acclimate to new light parameters. Or new lights.

 

Not knowing your par levels, I can't tell you the best place to put it. But medium to high is what they prefer.

 

Sorry, I don't know what its name is, but it does look like an encrusting monti to me. 

 

Good luck! 🙂

Ok great thank you very much I really appreciate it I’m new to the hobby so any new advice or help is always appreciated!!

[Clown79]

It looks to be a monti cap.

 

I had mine up at the top but my lights were not run at 100%. I had an ai prime.

[Djm4ng0]

19 hours ago, Critteraholic said:

If you moved it from sand to rock top in one day, you've shocked it.  It looks like it's bleaching.  Also, too much light could bleach it as well.

 

I would put it back on the sand bed in it's old spot till it recovers. Then start moving it up an inch or two every week or two.  Let the coral tell you what it needs.  It takes awhile for them to acclimate to new light parameters. Or new lights.

 

Not knowing your par levels, I can't tell you the best place to put it. But medium to high is what they prefer.

 

Sorry, I don't know what its name is, but it does look like an encrusting monti to me. 

 

Good luck! 🙂

So I tried moving him back to the lower end of my tank and a tiny piece of it snapped off 😕

i guess I shouldn’t have glued him directly on the rock without a frag plug cause now he’s completely super glued to the rock...

im going to try and move the rock in a way where it gets a little more shade hopefully he doesn’t die off

[Djm4ng0]

6 hours ago, Clown79 said:

It looks to be a monti cap.

 

I had mine up at the top but my lights were not run at 100%. I had an ai prime.

I’m using a Fluval marine nano 12w and at the height of the day my blue lights are at 100% and white lights at about 20% idk if that is good lighting or bad lol

[Clown79]

1 minute ago, Djm4ng0 said:

I’m using a Fluval marine nano 12w and at the height of the day my blue lights are at 100% and white lights at about 20% idk if that is good lighting or bad lol

I don't know much about that light so i am really not sure.

 

My light was full spectrum and 1 was directly above my monti but my lights at the time were set up with blue 65%, uv 75%, v 75% rb 65%, white 10%

 

 

[Critteraholic]

1 hour ago, Djm4ng0 said:

So I tried moving him back to the lower end of my tank and a tiny piece of it snapped off 😕

i guess I shouldn’t have glued him directly on the rock without a frag plug cause now he’s completely super glued to the rock...

im going to try and move the rock in a way where it gets a little more shade hopefully he doesn’t die off

Sorry to hear it broke. But keep both pieces! You can let them grow into 2 colonies or with a little dab of gel super glue you could glue the piece back on.  Don't know if you know this or not, but water sets super glue. It's one of those good thing bad things.

 

Do you have a chisel or sharp screw driver?  You could chip the rock off underneath the frag - gently!  And then put it where you want it. 

 

Until you know exactly where you want your coral, or the coral tells you where it needs to be, it's always good to keep it on a plug or piece of rock so that it's easier to snap it off the rock without causing mayhem. 😁

[jservedio]

1 hour ago, Critteraholic said:

Do you have a chisel or sharp screw driver?

That's not going to work with a wafer thin monti cap - especially not a little frag like that. That's actually the method I use to kill them back when they encrust onto things I don't want them on. The skeleton is far too soft and brittle for that.

 

Caps grow incredibly fast - by far the fastest growing coral I've ever had. Just move what you can and leave the rest! That's maybe a few weeks of growth.

 

OP if it ends up dying and you live east of the Mississippi, PM me.

[Clown79]

1 hour ago, jservedio said:

That's not going to work with a wafer thin monti cap - especially not a little frag like that. That's actually the method I use to kill them back when they encrust onto things I don't want them on. The skeleton is far too soft and brittle for that.

 

Caps grow incredibly fast - by far the fastest growing coral I've ever had. Just move what you can and leave the rest! That's maybe a few weeks of growth.

 

OP if it ends up dying and you live east of the Mississippi, PM me.

They grow so fast. Mine was a monster. If a piece broke off, it didn't phase me 

[empresto]

Disclaimer: Not knowing anything about the light that you describe, I can't really know what kind of light your coral is getting in any location in your tank or if it is too much light it or any other coral.

 

That out of the way, in my experience, montis like yours (I have plenty if you ever need more 😉 ) do go a bit pale with changes to light.  Judging from your picture, it doesn't look too bad yet.  I recently upgraded my light on my main display tank from 2 Current USA IC Marine lights to one Radion XR15 Pro.  Even with the acclimation cycle the Radion offers (ramping up from a low percentage to the full scheduled lighting over 30 days), my montis initially when quite lightly colored (a couple spots really looked totally white/dead, especially the really high points of the coral that were 'shaded' with the way the old lights spread/didn't spread their beams) but they now have the best coloration I've ever had from them.  They're also back to growing about a millimeter every couple days.

 

I don't know what you paid for that frag, but truthfully, I'd probably just leave it where you're wanting it to be and it will most likely become a nuisance in your tank with how fast it grows 😉 It will certainly shade out those zoas below it!

[Djm4ng0]

7 hours ago, Clown79 said:

I don't know much about that light so i am really not sure.

 

My light was full spectrum and 1 was directly above my monti but my lights at the time were set up with blue 65%, uv 75%, v 75% rb 65%, white 10%

 

 

This is my lighting throughout the day but I doubt it’s of any use lol!

[Djm4ng0]

6 hours ago, Critteraholic said:

Sorry to hear it broke. But keep both pieces! You can let them grow into 2 colonies or with a little dab of gel super glue you could glue the piece back on.  Don't know if you know this or not, but water sets super glue. It's one of those good thing bad things.

 

Do you have a chisel or sharp screw driver?  You could chip the rock off underneath the frag - gently!  And then put it where you want it. 

 

Until you know exactly where you want your coral, or the coral tells you where it needs to be, it's always good to keep it on a plug or piece of rock so that it's easier to snap it off the rock without causing mayhem. 😁

The piece that broke off was so small it was like a tiny little pebble rock. It would’ve been nice to make another Montipora coral though. It just floated away and honestly I can’t even find it anymore in my tiny 7 gallon tank it’s probably settled underneath one of my rocks lol! Yeah now I know not to take it off the plug till I fully know where it’s going to be permanently. Thanks for the info

[Djm4ng0]

5 hours ago, jservedio said:

That's not going to work with a wafer thin monti cap - especially not a little frag like that. That's actually the method I use to kill them back when they encrust onto things I don't want them on. The skeleton is far too soft and brittle for that.

 

Caps grow incredibly fast - by far the fastest growing coral I've ever had. Just move what you can and leave the rest! That's maybe a few weeks of growth.

 

OP if it ends up dying and you live east of the Mississippi, PM me.

I moved the whole rock in a way that the monti gets more shade than light. And I’m in Southern California lol but I appreciate the offer and info🙂

[Djm4ng0]

3 hours ago, empresto said:

Disclaimer: Not knowing anything about the light that you describe, I can't really know what kind of light your coral is getting in any location in your tank or if it is too much light it or any other coral.

 

That out of the way, in my experience, montis like yours (I have plenty if you ever need more 😉 ) do go a bit pale with changes to light.  Judging from your picture, it doesn't look too bad yet.  I recently upgraded my light on my main display tank from 2 Current USA IC Marine lights to one Radion XR15 Pro.  Even with the acclimation cycle the Radion offers (ramping up from a low percentage to the full scheduled lighting over 30 days), my montis initially when quite lightly colored (a couple spots really looked totally white/dead, especially the really high points of the coral that were 'shaded' with the way the old lights spread/didn't spread their beams) but they now have the best coloration I've ever had from them.  They're also back to growing about a millimeter every couple days.

 

I don't know what you paid for that frag, but truthfully, I'd probably just leave it where you're wanting it to be and it will most likely become a nuisance in your tank with how fast it grows 😉 It will certainly shade out those zoas below it!

Wow thank you for the offer I greatly appreciate it!! I’m in Southern California I would definitely buy from a fellow reefer if I ever need it!

And honestly your feedback is a big relief and hopefully my monti will start to thrive soon, thank you very much.

And I paid 10 dollars for the coral at a local fish store.