Hardiest Montipora Recommendations?

[Tamberav]

I'm going to RAP this weekend and looking to make a further jump into SPS. I have a few digis doing great and a Monti cap that's finally looking settled in and growing, but not quite at the acro level of stability in my ~7 month old tank.

I'm planning on adding stylo and pocci frags for sure based on my research, but I'm also interested in more montis. My biggest source of confusion has been the watering down of the word hardy, to a point where I'm not positive, for example, what species of encrusting Monti is the most likely to succeed, because I'm sure someone with a well-established SPS tank thinks any Monti is hardy lol.

Any recommendations of Montis that in your experiences have been on the hardy to bulletproof side? What light/flow conditions did you keep them in? Thanks!

I accidently left a reef raft spiral monti on my kitchen counter (not in water, just on the counter) overnight and it was fine.... so I would suggest that one lol

ORA mint pavona is also very hardy and has a unique growth form.

Others:

branching green psammacora
Monti setosa

 

[cdw79]

So for you the spiral montis are pretty hardy @Tamberav ? Seems like people have more varying experiences with them based on this thread at least

 

[Tamberav]

So for you the spiral montis are pretty hardy @Tamberav ? Seems like people have more varying experiences with them based on this thread at least

Ya seems pretty bullet proof. It even spend 12 hours on my counter hanging out


The bright yellow varieties are not as hardy and seem to grow much slower.

 

[billyocean]

Same one up top and down below..different light/different colors..it's a fruity pebbles I think.

 

[Ancient Mariner]

I think I've seen your pic somewhere before lol, what a takeover!

So in that case, then, just avoid the green Pocci and the spreading issue seemingly isn't a huge deal?

Just as a counterpoint to the Pocillopora warnings, I have 11 colonies including 3 greens. I have had zero pop up/bailout/spread-like-weed colonies in 2.5 years. They are super hardy and I think are very beautiful in a group.

 

[cdw79]

Those are awesome looking! How long did they take to grow out? Definitely looking to snag some rainbow pocci- maybe it's just the frags but they seem prettyyyy similar to green looks-wise, but maybe they get more "rainbow" as the grag grows?

 

[Ancient Mariner]

Those are awesome looking! How long did they take to grow out? Definitely looking to snag some rainbow pocci- maybe it's just the frags but they seem prettyyyy similar to green looks-wise, but maybe they get more "rainbow" as the grag grows?

All my pocillaporas are 2 to 2.5 years old. I was having so much trouble with Acroporas at one point that I decided to make my reef predominately Pocillopora. So I bought a bunch when they went on sale. Most are ORA. The above pic was taken with my 14K halides which definitely washes out the colors. Here’s the pink&green and green under Reefbrite LED XHO 50/50:

 

[X-37B]

Jedi mind trick monti grew very thick in my 120.
Potato chip coral very hardy and cool looking.
Here they are in my 120.

 

[Ancient Mariner]

All my pocillaporas are 2 to 2.5 years old. I was having so much trouble with Acroporas at one point that I decided to make my reef predominately Pocillopora. So I bought a bunch when they went on sale. Most are ORA. The above pic was taken with my 14K halides which definitely washes out the colors. Here’s the pink&green and green under Reefbrite LED XHO 50/50

Oh, I forgot the “toxic” green one I got from Vivid Aquariums:

 

[cdw79]

Would it be wroth trying to pick up a Green Slimer or other very well known / highly aquacultured strain? Nt sure what else would come to mind here but maybe the closest thing to bullet proof in the aquacultured acro world? I'd like to not be senseless but also would like to eventually be testing the acro waters again, maybe with something a little more forgiving than Pinky the Bear? Albeit my PAR is in the process of being upped from ~215 at 85% intensity to whatever it'll land at at 105% intensity so hopefully will be more in acro range in the next month and change

 

[Ancient Mariner]

Would it be wroth trying to pick up a Green Slimer or other very well known / highly aquacultured strain? Nt sure what else would come to mind here but maybe the closest thing to bullet proof in the aquacultured acro world? I'd like to not be senseless but also would like to eventually be testing the acro waters again, maybe with something a little more forgiving than Pinky the Bear? Albeit my PAR is in the process of being upped from ~215 at 85% intensity to whatever it'll land at at 105% intensity so hopefully will be more in acro range in the next month and change

Yes, I’d go for a famously easy acro like the Green Slimer. Another surprisingly hardy survivor is the Cali Tort (pictured above with the toxic green Pocillopora). It survived when all others struggled or died. This was when I was having success with Montipora digitata and Pocillopora.

 

[X-37B]

Green slimer stags are hardy.
I grew this from 2-1/2" frags.
I put these in my 120 at month 2-3.
This is them after being fragged many times at 32 months.

 

[cdw79]

Sweet! I'll look out for bth. Any more?

 

[X-37B]

Sweet! I'll look out for bth. Any more?

This cactus coral is super hardy. I should have put it on the back wall instead of the bottom. Caution as it will kill whatever it come in contact with and is weed like in growth so give it room.
From this frag to this top green is the cactus and bottom is the potatochip.

 

[bnord]

I personally wouldn't get a green pocci..very invasive. They look great but I've heard horror stories even when people isolate them. The other colors supposedly aren't like that. Montipora grows well for me in various light and flow. Always start lower before moving up..or ask the vendor where they have theirs placed. 7 months is plenty of time in a tank for acros. All they need is stability and good flow/light. Just make sure your phos/nitrate isn't bottomed out.

Ditto on the pocillipora comment - I have this in my display, and let some Xenia get loose in my lagoon - spend more time cleaning up poccilipora by a long shot - please heed advice - smile agree Caps can come in various morphs and can get you well down the road -

 

[X-37B]

Ditto on the pocillipora comment - I have this in my display, and let some Xenia get loose in my lagoon - spend more time cleaning up poccilipora by a long shot - please heed advice - smile agree Caps can come in various morphs and can get you well down the road -

Agreed on the pocilliporas.
Another hardy weed like coral is the purple stylophora. They will grow from a small frag to colony size very fast so give them some space.
You can see mine in the back. It grew onto the back wall from a 1" frag and needs room.

 

[adsf430]

Yea Stylos and Birds nests grow like weeds and are easy.

 

[Ancient Mariner]

Sweet! I'll look out for bth. Any more?

How about an ORA Sprung’s Stunner (Hollywood Stunner)? Although technically classified as LPS it’s extremely hardy, tolerates low light , and grows like M. capricornis . It does send out sweepers and grows fast, so give it space!

 

[Dennis Cartier]

This cactus coral is super hardy. I should have put it on the back wall instead of the bottom. Caution as it will kill whatever it come in contact with and is weed like in growth so give it room.
From this frag to this top green is the cactus and bottom is the potatochip.

Wow, that is some growth!

I am planning a similar technique on my 500G tank. I have starboard covering the bottom, and I want to grow encrusting corals on it to provide interest and contrast. I am planning to place a layer of tiles down first with smaller hexagon tiles over that to give some elevation changes and to act as removable buffers. If anything gets out of control, I should be able to lift the frag tile and banish it to my frag system. The tiles will both help to control the encrusting corals and to hold the Starboard down should, I remove too many of my rocks at once.

The corals I intend to use are cyphastrea, lepastrea, stylocoeniella and montipora. The cyphastrea and lepastrea get along quite well within their own family, so you can have different morphs in close contact and it amounts to a pushing match. Ditto for montipora and stylocoeniella.

I was planning to look into pavona for some of their bright yellow morphs, but will take your experience into account and tread carefully.

 

[Reefbuds]

I've got an orange branching Monti, probly forest fire that hasn't colored up completely, and a Metalic blue branching Monti. Also have a green Monti cap that bleached out a few months ago. It's alive again somehow and growing again. Also have an orange encrusting Monti that has been a slow grower but hardy.
They are definitely more finicky than birds nest, stylos or Pocci but not really bad like across. Seems like once they settle in to your tank they start really growing, the only one I had issues getting settled in was the orange branching Monti. Also had a setosa almost bleach out and stop half way, it's making a strong comeback tho. Not sure what causes it but when they aren't happy they go downhill quick it seems