Slow Growing Montipora Ideas

Graffiti Spot · Feb 23, 2018

DSC reef said:
Which montipora do you have. I'm sure there's a difference in growth rates between them?

I have kept most every kind of monti, I don't keep them anymore because of how fast they grow and the space they take up. The growth rates definitely vary but I have never had one grow slow especially after it turns to a colony.
The only one I had trouble getting started was a Digi Adam from bc used to have a while back. It's grey with polyps that are half white half grey. It took forever to get going but I would put that on my tank not being stable and angels eating the new growth branches when they shoot up. I don't think it was a slow growing coral, Adam would know though since he had a huge colony back then. This Digi I haven't seen since and have always wondered if it's still out there.

DSC reef · Feb 23, 2018

I've always had issues with digitata too.

NY_Caveman · Feb 23, 2018

Funny, all my research and experience shows that Montipora grow fast. That is essentially why I was curious if there were any exceptions. Some even consider them nuisance corals (as noted above). One theme here that I see repeated is fragments may grow slowly, but once they establish as a colony the growth generally takes off. That is something I have not heard outright before, although has been implied.

Certainly Montipora have some of the most interesting and unique growth patterns. For my 30 gallon tank, though, I do not want “weeds.” As an analogy, I would not put a Hippo Tang in a 30 gallon, so perhaps I should look at Montipora the same way. They can quickly outgrow my tank. The difference of course is a coral can be trimmed, so maybe the answer is to utilize an island to contain the growth and easily remove it from the system if it gets out of control.

I am finding this quite interesting so thanks for all of the input. I am still curious if others have more input on slow growing Montipora.

Graffiti Spot · Feb 23, 2018

NY_Caveman said:
Funny, all my research and experience shows that Montipora grow fast. That is essentially why I was curious if there were any exceptions. Some even consider them nuisance corals (as noted above). One theme here that I see repeated is fragments may grow slowly, but once they establish as a colony the growth generally takes off. That is something I have not heard outright before, although has been implied.

Certainly Montipora have some of the most interesting and unique growth patterns. For my 30 gallon tank, though, I do not want “weeds.” As an analogy, I would not put a Hippo Tang in a 30 gallon, so perhaps I should look at Montipora the same way. They can quickly outgrow my tank. The difference of course is a coral can be trimmed, so maybe the answer is to utilize an island to contain the growth and easily remove it from the system if it gets out of control.

I am finding this quite interesting so thanks for all of the input. I am still curious if others have more input on slow growing Montipora.

I would focus on Digi and other odd branching montis that way they are easier to trim and aquascape. Caps never look good when you have to frag them a lot. Same with other plating monti. But keeping them on the bottom only helps a lot if you have to have some for variety.

NY_Caveman · Feb 23, 2018

Pedoconfuego said:
I would focus on Digi and other odd branching montis that way they are easier to trim and aquascape. Caps never look good when you have to frag them a lot. Same with other plating monti. But keeping them on the bottom only helps a lot if you have to have some for variety.

Nice. I was thinking about that, keeping an Undata like Jedi Mind Trick or Verrucosa at or near the substrate level. It will be a bare bottom tank, so that may have interesting results.

Ranjib · Feb 23, 2018

Setosa,

lbacha · Feb 23, 2018

I have a bare bottom that I'm growing monti's on my undata has doubled in size and my cap hasn't grown at all. It's been 2 months so I'm sure it's all in the colony. The cap is healthy just hasn't started expanding I'm sure it came from different conditions and is getting used to my tank. From past experience once a monti gets used to your tank and parameters it grows fast

DSC reef · Feb 23, 2018

NY_Caveman said:
Nice. I was thinking about that, keeping an Undata like Jedi Mind Trick or Verrucosa at or near the substrate level. It will be a bare bottom tank, so that may have interesting results.

Undata plus bare bottom=amazing!

lbacha · Feb 23, 2018

DSC reef said:
Undata plus bare bottom=amazing!

I'm actually looking to add a mind trick to my tank I think it will look awesome coving the bottom

DSC reef · Feb 23, 2018

lbacha said:
I'm actually looking to add a mind trick to my tank I think it will look awesome coving the bottom

Mind trick and look into tyree true undata. I had a nice colony of that coral it was spectacular to look at. My favorite monti for sure. Sorry to hijack @NY_Caveman here's a pic when it was in its glory

NY_Caveman · Feb 23, 2018

DSC reef said:
Mind trick and look into tyree true undata. I had a nice colony of that coral it was spectacular to look at. My favorite monti for sure. Sorry to hijack @NY_Caveman here's a pic when it was in its glory

Not hijacking at all. In fact this thread needed some imagery.

That is exactly how I was picturing it. Very nice!

therman · Feb 23, 2018

I think I've grown almost every montipora available in the hobby since about 2000.

Slowest of all/most difficult is the "digitata" referenced by @Pedoconfuego from Adam @Battlecorals that he called the Metal-polyp monti. I still have it in several frags and the remnants of this "colony" but it is perpetually unhappy. I have yet to grow anything I would call a robust colony of it after maybe 6 years trying?....this is the closest I got (maybe 2.5" dia) and it has regressed a lot since then. It is not the same species as any other digitata/samarensis in the hobby:

The rest of them all hit a "critical mass" of around 3" in diameter and take off. Orenji is quite slow, but I have about a 6x4" piece that can withstand a few chunky frags from the edge each year.

Orenji a couple years ago. it covers 3 discs and overflows around the edges now:

Beach bum, crazy T, JF halo, JF Outrage, Appleberry, verrucosa and any other really knobby danae/verrucosa type montis with hard skeletons come next, but they all seem to take off over around 3-4" in diameter. Some are very weird and really do best in very low light levels. The ones that withstand higher lighting like the appleberry and verrucosa grow a little faster.

Tyree undata and Jedi Mind Trick grow faster than those, but do take a long time to hit critical mass, and for even 1"+ frags to encrust and look good. Jedi Mind Trick seems a good bit faster than the Tyree for me.

The UWW Rainbow Sunburst, and the CC Pop Rocks are both more traditional encrusting montipora that are quite slow compared to the M. tuberculosa types (i.e. superman, poker star, etc.). They are faster than any listed above though.

CC Pop Rocks under blue LED...sorry my camera/photoshop skills aren't great compared to the Facebookers. It is orange with green, yellow, and darker purplish flecks:

Sunset is finicky for me too, though not terribly slow growing. Some people seem to do really well with it though.

Hope that helps?

Tim

therman · Feb 23, 2018

Oh, @Battlecorals I think the Orenji might be an undata. Same hard growth with smooth ridged texture and plump polyp-free margins as the Tyree and Jedi Mind Trick.

NY_Caveman · Feb 23, 2018

therman said:
I think I've grown almost every montipora available in the hobby since about 2000.

Slowest of all/most difficult is the "digitata" referenced by @Pedoconfuego from Adam @Battlecorals that he called the Metal-polyp monti. I still have it in several frags and the remnants of this "colony" but it is perpetually unhappy. I have yet to grow anything I would call a robust colony of it after maybe 6 years trying?....this is the closest I got (maybe 2.5" dia) and it has regressed a lot since then. It is not the same species as any other digitata/samarensis in the hobby:

The rest of them all hit a "critical mass" of around 3" in diameter and take off. Orenji is quite slow, but I have about a 6x4" piece that can withstand a few chunky frags from the edge each year.

Orenji a couple years ago. it covers 3 discs and overflows around the edges now:

Beach bum, crazy T, JF halo, JF Outrage, Appleberry, verrucosa and any other really knobby danae/verrucosa type montis with hard skeletons come next, but they all seem to take off over around 3-4" in diameter. Some are very weird and really do best in very low light levels. The ones that withstand higher lighting like the appleberry and verrucosa grow a little faster.

Tyree undata and Jedi Mind Trick grow faster than those, but do take a long time to hit critical mass, and for even 1"+ frags to encrust and look good. Jedi Mind Trick seems a good bit faster than the Tyree for me.

The UWW Rainbow Sunburst, and the CC Pop Rocks are both more traditional encrusting montipora that are quite slow compared to the M. tuberculosa types (i.e. superman, poker star, etc.). They are faster than any listed above though.

CC Pop Rocks under blue LED...sorry my camera/photoshop skills aren't great compared to the Facebookers. It is orange with green, yellow, and darker purplish flecks:

Sunset is finicky for me too, though not terribly slow growing. Some people seem to do really well with it though.

Hope that helps?

Tim

Excellent. Thanks for the detail!

Graffiti Spot · Feb 24, 2018

Therman thanks for adding the picture and info on that Digi I was referencing. I didn't get mine from Adam but I would guess it came from his lineage? No way to tell, but that monti is the only one I would put my display without worries of inevitable domination. I feel better knowing others had the same experience with the Digi. Please let me know if you get any frags of it in the future i would love to try it now that I got rid of all my big angels.
By the way that cc monti is wild looking, doesn't look like the normal monti growth or color though what's up with that piece?

therman · Feb 25, 2018

Pedoconfuego said:
Please let me know if you get any frags of it in the future i would love to try it now that I got rid of all my big angels.
By the way that cc monti is wild looking, doesn't look like the normal monti growth or color though what's up with that piece?

I will check and see, I might have a small piece somewhere I could spare. Would just be a little encrusted blob on a disc. They seem to sit and do nothing for months.

The CC Poprocks is a pretty standard orange Montipora nodosa, which used to be pretty common in the hobby back in the early 2000s. I imagine they are still available occasionally as wild or mariculture, though maybe not if the country they were imported from shut down coral exports. This one is really unusual with the different colored flecks that appear as it grows larger though. I cannot think of another coral with coloration that behaves quite like it. Maybe some of the jawbreaker type mushrooms? I've never grown those, but I thought I heard the coloration is size-dependent.

NY_Caveman · Mar 8, 2018

Slightly off topic, but I saw a nice piece today at Manhattan Aquariums. I thought it was some kind of Montipora, but was actually a Turbinaria. Looked like this:

The guy said it grew really slowly also. So not a slow growing Montipora, but still an interesting alternative SPS.

By the way, Manhattan Aquariums has a ton of nice corals and the prices are reasonable (especially for this area). Everything looked clean and healthy. I learned also, same owner as UniqueCorals. I will be returning for sure once my aquarium is up and running.

SKYHIGGh · Nov 18, 2018

I have six total in my tank from the four that I hope too turn into one

Digi the slowest thing of life

the tyree rainbow and season greetings is slowgoing so to speak.

reef tech the fastest. Mystic second fastest

My X factor is slow growing purple outwards ledges but fast encrusting if that makes sense

All bought classic Montis from Harry’s frags.

Reef tech star burst
Tyree rainbow
Mystic sunset
Seasons greetings
X factor
Green digi

I love Montis!

SKYHIGGh · Nov 18, 2018

NY_Caveman said:
Slightly off topic, but I saw a nice piece today at Manhattan Aquariums. I thought it was some kind of Montipora, but was actually a Turbinaria. Looked like this:

The guy said it grew really slowly also. So not a slow growing Montipora, but still an interesting alternative SPS.

By the way, Manhattan Aquariums has a ton of nice corals and the prices are reasonable (especially for this area). Everything looked clean and healthy. I learned also, same owner as UniqueCorals. I will be returning for sure once my aquarium is up and running.