Rainbow Encrusting Monti

Huskymaniac · Mar 16, 2018

So my frag turned into a pretty large colony. Whats odd is this purple area it is getting around the edges where there seems to be less polyps? Any ideas what this is? Its not new growth.

nautical_nathaniel · Mar 16, 2018

It could be a number of things such as it's a slower growth area and the polyps have to fill in the area with time, it's a high flow area and the polyps are more spaced out as such, critters irritate this part of the coral often, or the par value may be different from the rest of the colony surface and this is how it's reacted.

Huskymaniac · Mar 16, 2018

Should i just leave that area or should I frag it?

nautical_nathaniel · Mar 16, 2018

Huskymaniac said:
Should i just leave that area or should I frag it?

I think it's fine but I wouldn't let it grow too close to the side of the tank and possible impact flow in that area. If you do want to make frags of that coral then that would be a good place to pull from.

mtraylor · Mar 16, 2018

It looks typical of a plating montipora, nothing to worry about. Usually the edges, the new growth will be different color. Fragging it, is your choice. The coral is growing, plating looking for a new edge to attach too. Also your monti does not look like a rainbow monti, more of a plating monti. Rainbow monti is an encrusting monti. They are usually bluish base body with green polyps. The edges or new growth will have orange, green, and yellow polyps. A small frag will have a nice rainbow of assorted polyps because its so small and almost all of it is new growth.

Youe coral base is for sure purple all the way with green polyps...plating coral I believe.. Its a nice piece, but I don't know the name of it.

Huskymaniac · Mar 16, 2018

Its definitly a rainbow monti from liveaquaria. It started plating after it had no where left to encrust so just grew outwards. The base of the coral is blue but my lights are preventing me from taking a normal picture. This is a frag from the same colony. Its got a powder blue base. I know it looks white. Have no idea why my pics look like this.

ZaneTer · Mar 16, 2018

Sorry husky while it is a beautiful monti it does not look like my rainbow monti. Mine is the standard green orange and purple. I will try to get my wife to send me a pic of it this afternoon. Still the specimen you have looks very nice and should sell very well.
I should have added all new growth in mine is red to orange and becomes green as it matures.

mtraylor · Mar 16, 2018

Huskymaniac said:
Its definitly a rainbow monti from live aquaria. It started plating after it had no where left to encrust so just grew outwards. The base of the coral is blue but my lights are preventing me from taking a normal picture. This is a frag from the same colony. Its got a powder blue base. I know it looks white. Have no idea why my pics look like this.

Oh ok. Yeah you bought a coral from liveaquaria named "rainbow monti". I'm not for sure if your pictures are not letting us see the detail...or maybe that is just what they called it. I have never seen a encrusting montipora plate first off that far. Maybe a little build up, but nothing like that. Here is a couple pics of mine.

This is when I first bought it. Notice the rainbow of polyps and bluish base.

Now I left this on the plug to encrust. If you leave an encrusting coral with an edge it will not plate, it will follow down and if not reaching anything I guess it could go out a bit...but not plate as yours has. Here is the coral later after encrusting.

Now on your new growth, you will get the yellows, oranges, red....etc etc .... thus why they call this a rainbow.. This is typically what people think in a rainbow monti.

ZaneTer · Mar 16, 2018

The post above is definitely what we all call a rainbow monti.

Huskymaniac · Mar 16, 2018

Thats exaclty what mine looks like. Its gets multicolored under less intense lighting. The higher the light the more uniform it gets. Divers Den sold it as a rainbow monti and its one of their aquacultured corals. Maybe a different subtype but similar coloration. My camera doesnt take good pictures unfortunatley.