montipora setosa

sdietz2469 · Mar 21, 2008

hi guys......
i have a frag of the montipora setosa that i cant seem to get to do anything..... i run 2-400 watt 20k radiums on coralvue electronic ballasts, with 4-110 watt super actinic vhos, in my 4' by 2' by 2' reef tank, with approx 6000gph of water movement..... i have tried placing him in several different places in my tank, but nothing....... any ideas as to where to put him..... high flow- low flow, high light- low light......

here are my water parameters....
ammonia-0ppm
nitrates- 0ppm
nitrites-0ppm
dkh-9-10
cal-450+
ph-8.2 night/8.4 day

any help would be appreciated.....
shane

chadfarmer · Mar 21, 2008

mine grows good but not like other montis

150w de

bottom of my tank 24 inch tank
medium flow

143gadgets · Mar 21, 2008

I LOVE your lighting combo! Have any pics of your tank? Sorry to be OT>

dieselab · Mar 21, 2008

I have mine up high about 10" under the lights. Try and leave it alone for a couple months. They are a slower grower compare to other montis.

sdietz2469 · Mar 21, 2008

gadgets-
i dont have my camera right now, but i will snap some pics of my tank and send them to you asap.....

i want to blast it with light, but dont want to burn it, and when i moved it up high, it started to bleach.... i now have it off th the side with no MH hitting it, under a shelf, but fear it will wither there.....
shane

surfn · Mar 21, 2008

mine grows pretty slow. mostly encrusting. hasn't put up any real branches yet. i also agree with putting it somewhere and leaving it alone.

i found mine to look pale in higher light, so i moved him half way down near my sunset monti. seems to color up better down there. but still slow growing, only encrusting. its just recently started to form a bunch of little nubs....so i'm hoping to get some branching in the upcoming months.

here is what it looked like when i first got it, just a fraglet.

at 5 months, completely encrusting the frag plug.

at about 11 months, starting to encrust over the frag disc (i glued the plug onto a disc to let it grow out some more)

Dejavu · Mar 21, 2008

I don't think mind did any thing for the first 2 month. Noe it just encrusting. I agree just find a place for it and leave it be. I have mind at the bottom under a 400 watt

Christel Mei · Mar 21, 2008

MH VHO combos are awesome lighting setups!

Nice looking montis there Surfn!

THE BEAUT · Mar 23, 2008

Mine went from this

to this in 10 months

mine is high up under 6T5s and is actually having some real good growth.

FateX8 · Mar 23, 2008

just curious but why does everyone like this setosa sooo much? its just an orange on orange encrusting right?
maybe it looks nicer when its larger?

surfn · Mar 23, 2008

FateX8 said:
just curious but why does everyone like this setosa sooo much? its just an orange on orange encrusting right?
maybe it looks nicer when its larger?

no, it has very strange branching formations. but since most people only have a piece the size of a dime, you don't see pics of them branching that often.

http://www.upscales.com/merchant.ihtml?pid=522&step=4

http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=1333961&highlight=setosa

THE BEAUT · Mar 23, 2008

It is def not orange. The brightest pink youve ever seen.

revhtree · Mar 23, 2008

I need a frag...

FateX8 · Mar 23, 2008

oh its pink?! looks orange in every pic ive seen in them...sooo misleading! that actually does sound nice but it reminds me of another monti, m. spongodes does something similar to that but its more branching straight upward that all over the place like those do, but also no where near as colorful as the setosa

Bdimas · Mar 23, 2008

Mine is orange. Not as orange as my Orenji but deffinatly orange. It looks just like Surfn's pic.

surfn · Mar 23, 2008

FateX8 said:
oh its pink?! looks orange in every pic ive seen in them...sooo misleading! that actually does sound nice but it reminds me of another monti, m. spongodes does something similar to that but its more branching straight upward that all over the place like those do, but also no where near as colorful as the setosa

i wouldnt go as far as saying its perfectly pink, or perfectly orange. the color reminds me allot of the color of Armor of God and Devils Armor Zoas. the color is wicked bright, and can't be classified as orange or pink, but somewhere in the middle.

IME, it tends to turn more pink if you blast it with light...to the point of almost bleaching it where it starts to look pale. put it very low light, it looks very orange. put it somewhere in b/w and you get a little of both.

THE BEAUT · Mar 23, 2008

Interesting, i got mine from Matt at Reefready and in his pics it looks pink to me. Wierd mine has never even had a hint of orange in it. Maybe just a little more red than pink at some stages. Wonder where all these Setosas have come from. I am sure lighting plays a big role.

dieselab · Mar 23, 2008

scrboy · Mar 23, 2008

surfn · Mar 23, 2008

THE BEAUT said:
Interesting, i got mine from Matt at Reefready and in his pics it looks pink to me. Wierd mine has never even had a hint of orange in it. Maybe just a little more red than pink at some stages. Wonder where all these Setosas have come from. I am sure lighting plays a big role.

i'm pretty sure its all about the lighting. mine supposedly came from reefready lineage also. as i believe there is only 1 original colony of the setosa if i read correctly. so everyone's frags should have come from the same original colony at some point.