Does light change the growth pattern...

[whyzee429]

..of plating montipora?
For example: placed up high in the tank, my orange monti is pretty much flat with a few ridges. Placed low in my tank a green one is growing its own finger like protrusions. I'm wondering if the pattern is altered by light or if it's just the genes of the various types.

 

[Troylee]

Not that I know of... Flow plays the biggest factor in that.. I would say that's why your bottom one that's getting less flow most likely is growing the way it is..

 

[mesamech]

^^+1^^ on flow having an effect, also the other corals in the general vicinity and water chemistry

 

[whyzee429]

Unfortunately, the bottom one looks the coolest, And is growing pretty fast as of late.

 

[Troylee]

The top might be getting to much light... How is the color on it??? They don't like lots of light... Low light and high flow will sculpt some cool caps with great color...

 

[Madreef]

Light and flow both can have an effect on how a coral grows; assuming the coral is the same species. I think it matters what kind of light you using. For example t5 will have a more even effect on a tank and coral will receive similar amounts of light depending on how high they are in the tank. With MH or with some LED fixtures it depends on how far the coral is from the light itself. Hopefully that makes sense. A par or quantum meter is a great tool to have in order to aide you in placement as well as knowing when to change out light bulbs

 

[whyzee429]

It makes perfect sense, madreef. One of these days I'll look into a par meter as I dive deeper into this hobby.

Troylee, the color seems fine, but I have no past experience to compare it too. It's on the highest spot in the tank. The edges are white which suggest continued growth. I would like to move it lower but a complete aquascape might have to be in order first.

Obviously, it is going to need to be lowered so it has room to grow. I just recently moved a koralia to help "blow" water over the top of it. Any suggestions?

 

[UCedumacasion]

I've always had flow be the determining factor, I've got my cap in like two inches of water (at some points) and my lights like 3-4inches above that. My monti grew flat out until it couldn't grow out anymore, then it curled.

 

[whyzee429]

So, like most things in this hobby, it's a trial and error thing! I changed the flow, so I'll wait to see if there are any changes before I change the placement of the monti in question.

 

[Nuocmam]

I have a monti cap low in the tank that is growing downward. It's at least 10" across.

 

[Gitsoe]

I have a cap that sits under loc line of the bulk head and the shape is growing the same as the pipe because it's casting a shadow, I'll take a pic tomorrow.

 

[whyzee429]

That'll be an interesting pic!

 

[shred5]

Light defiantly affects the growth and shape of sps corals. Corals will encrust more and have more horizontal growth in less light. They are trying to spread out to gather more light and also prevent self shading.. I used to see this when people tried to keep sps under less light like vho’s .


Corals will also grow towards a light especially ones that like high light. I have observed this many times before.


Dave Polzin

 

[whyzee429]

Learn something everyday! My thought would be that corals reach for that light but it's makes sense that a monti cap would stretch out like a dinner plate to catch more light.

 

[Gitsoe]

you can sort of see how the shade effected the growth

 

[whyzee429]

Its kinda cool to see growth patterns of monti's and not just awesome frag pics.