Purple Monti Cap question

[Jakemac]

Hi all,

I have a piece of monti cap that I placed on my rock thinking... well it'll take a while to grow so i have time. Fast forward about 2 months and now its taking up my entire planned sps section. My question is, where its encrusting is fine but the rock that i laid it on, will it encrust on that?

So new growth I know will encrust on the rock but the old skeleton was laid flat on the rock, will that grab on or if i try to take it off will it just snap off at the new growth. I just want to move it to a better place.

 

[Bpb]

It will encrust quite a bit as well as plating and spiral growth. Purple cap is easily the fastest growing sps I’ve ever witnessed and I’ve played that game a few times. It always completely dominates the entire scape inside of one year even with frequent pruning. I’ve had it in my tank since I first started, longest lived colony I have and I’ve had it be large enough to completely fill 2-3 five gallon buckets when broken up to sell off, and kept a dime sized piece only to have it grow that big again within a couple years. This time around I put it on the sandbed in the shade. Without fail, a few months later, it’s 8-10” across and tall and now almost reaching the bottom front glass and creeping up the rocks. Hindsight I regret it now because of how difficult that rock will Be to remove once it gets too big. It’s very pretty though

 

[nautical_nathaniel]

Over time it may start to encrust on the rock just to support it's own weight. My red monti-cap isn't as prolific as purple monit-cap, at least not in the way you're describing it's growth, but it has first built its underside and encrusted downhill towards the base of the rock it is on. I suspect that the top of it is about to take off, in terms of growth, because the edge is starting to show that lighter growth area color.

 

[Jakemac]

It will encrust quite a bit as well as plating and spiral growth. Purple cap is easily the fastest growing sps I’ve ever witnessed and I’ve played that game a few times. It always completely dominates the entire scape inside of one year even with frequent pruning. I’ve had it in my tank since I first started, longest lived colony I have and I’ve had it be large enough to completely fill 2-3 five gallon buckets when broken up to sell off, and kept a dime sized piece only to have it grow that big again within a couple years. This time around I put it on the sandbed in the shade. Without fail, a few months later, it’s 8-10” across and tall and now almost reaching the bottom front glass and creeping up the rocks. Hindsight I regret it now because of how difficult that rock will Be to remove once it gets too big. It’s very pretty though

But say you have a plate. You lay it on a rock and glue part of it down to make it stay. Will it grab onto the rock where you laid it down. Im not talking about new growth i mean once you lay it down the rock its sitting in underneath will that grab?

 

[Bpb]

Yes it will encrust over the rock to hold on and build a strong foundation.

 

[Jakemac]

Yes it will encrust over the rock to hold on and build a strong foundation.

So whats the best way to pry that off? I want to move the whole plate and have it grow somewhere else. Its just such a nice piece... Heres a picture of what i mean:

I just wish i could pry that off ( i know some will probably be left from encrusting) and move it over to the more open area.

When I look under the plate it doesnt look like the main body is attached, just the front part where its starting to take around the bridsnest.

 

[kenniole]

I wish I had that issue with my purple monti.. everything else is growing like wild fire but the monti has barely shown 1/4'' of growth in 2 months. it's also not as purple as yours

 

[HB AL]

Just pry off as much as you can, take your time and maybe a good percentage stays together. not like it's gonna die if you start breaking big chunks off.

 

[Bpb]

You won’t be able to get that whole piece off in one

 

[rkpetersen]

But say you have a plate. You lay it on a rock and glue part of it down to make it stay. Will it grab onto the rock where you laid it down. Im not talking about new growth i mean once you lay it down the rock its sitting in underneath will that grab?

I can't say for sure about whether a cap monti will do so, but other corals that grow in a plating fashion will. Here's a picture of the underside of a Sprung's Stunner chalice that has been in my dt for about 3 months. It came in on a frag plug which I just laid in place (you can see it in the background). It's more than doubled in size, and as you can see here, it's extended to and fused with the rock on the underside in at least two places (right center and far left), despite the absence of any polyps or coloration. If I tried to take it off intact now, it might come off okay, or it might be a disaster.