How does a monti cap grow?

[Crystal]

My mom got this really cool deal on a huge monti cap, but only put wet newspaper over it to come home and most of it had died...So for the part that's still alive at the base of it, would it be best to leave the white part on or break it off?

 

[stunreefer Verified Sponsor]

IMO remove all the dead parts, and even cut into the live tissue by a 1/2" or more.

You could leave it and see if it'll regrow, but I suspect it'll keep receeding, which in that case it's best to frag away while you still can.

 

[Crystal]

Does she just break it off with her fingers or should she use a cutting tool....I have softies. Never fragged anything hard before.

 

[Burning Spear]

you may break it with your hand but it will be more precise to use a tool such as a razorblade. The monti cap is a great beginner small polyp stony coral. It will grow like a weed. Make sure you do not let detritus settle on the coral, it does not like that. Do you have photos?

 

[aquarius77]

I would let it alone and see what it does before hacking on it. If it does not come back or gets worse i would do as stun suggested.

 

[Crystal]

No pictures...I will try to get her to send me one...How long do you wait to frag it? It's been 2 weeks since this happened and the white part is not coloring up at all.

 

[killingseed2000]

for a monti i would leave it alone it should regrow over the dead parts. it will take some time , months even, but still faster then if it had to grow with out any skeleton. i have seem them recover quickly even after parts of them die off. i have had parts die off the in a matter or no time were covered again and doing fine. most the ones i have grow fast it seems for the most part.

 

[MitchReef]

Wait...if it's still white (very pure white) and there is not any algae growing over the skeleton then it is NOT dead...It may just be bleached out...algae will cover dead coral skeleton very quickly...It is probably just severely bleached...let it recover...

 

[Crystal]

Ok, it's been a few days since I've seen it, but I've asked her to email me a picture.

 

[Pianoman]

Well I would say by now the white part is dead, leave it there so the new monti can grow on it quicker...

 

[MitchReef]

I had a piece of Monti cap that a friend gave me. It was white as the driven snow, but had no algae growth and he said it was supposed to be purple edged green...I kept it on my frag shelf for 4 months before it started getting ANY color at all, then it slowly started getting color and eventually, sure enough, it WAS purple edged green Monti cap...as long as it is not overgrown it should still be alive....

 

[Crystal]

Talked to her today. She said the white part is getting some algae on it and turning darker...I'm sure it's dead. Would be good to brush the algae off and then just hope that the healthy part will grow back on to it? Or will leaving the dead part on cause harm to the living part?

 

[subielover]

If algae is growing on it, I say its time to frag.