Weird Digi Growth

[VR28man]

i’ve had this Standard orange digi have so many problems over the past two years. Mostly my own fault due to lighting; it would quickly get shaded by a single kessil. Now I keep it under two T5s, in the lowest flow portion of my tank (2 mp40s at 50%, 30x12x18 inches) and high up on the tank. it’s grown into this from barely a half inch frag a year or so ago.

Can anyone explain what conditions cause this kind of a growth pattern?



And i do mean the digi; the cap in the picture is growing just fine.

 

[Retro Reefer]

I would guess it’s related to flow. Why do you keep it in a low flow area?

 

[ScottR]

I would guess it’s related to flow. Why do you keep it in a low flow area?

+1 Monti of all sorts can have weird growth patterns based on flow. I wouldn’t necessarily say it’s a bad thing if it’s healthy.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

A years growth for a digi should be a bit more than that. I would guess it’s been unstable or stressed at times and just hasn’t had the opportunity to take off. Normally low flow with digi will make them branch long and Skinny with funny looking twists mixed in some branches. This just looks like it hasn’t taken off yet although there are growth areas on the sides so it could be close.

 

[VR28man]

Thanks, all. I'll just wait to see. I agree that it looks like it's getting ready to take off.

It's not really in "low" flow, as the 30x12x18 (29 gallon) tank has two MP40s, running at 50% as they normally do in the day that means the overall turnover is like 150x (more now with my canister filter and extra jebao). But my (very happy) acros are closest to the MP40s, while the Digi is well away, which is what i mean by "lower flow" area. .

 

[VR28man]

I knocked it over when I was clearing out some stuff in the tank just now. From the top, it’s appearances actually OK, just a bit thin and flat.

so, I don’t think I have too much to worry about.

 

[jda]

So it is growing horizontally? That is the question? Sometimes they do this to get more space and then they start to branch up again. Sometimes they grow a bit downward too, but they always seem to grow up once they have "reached out" enough.

 

[VR28man]

Yeah, partially about it growing horizontally. Before it was just a stub that grew up and sometimes out, I'd never seen it grow out horizontally. (the stubby growth in the center growing out horizontally is also a bit weird I think)

But I did a quick google image search, and there are lots of cases both domestic and wild of this, so I don't think there's much for me really to be worried about.

e.g. from @Jake Adams

An ode to purple Montipora digitata in the aquarium, and in nature | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

Purple Montipora digitata is hands down, one of the most beautiful and colorful small polyp stony corals available for aquariums, bar none. There, we’ve said it, professed our love for a coral that no…

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