2 corals encrusting near each other. What to do.

[mfaso24]

As the title says, I have an Acropora and a monti cap that are just about starting to encrust into each other and I'm not quite sure what I should do. I actually didn't realize just how close they were until I went to take the picture below.

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[kevin_e]

Let it be, imo. They will fight for space. The monticap will likely lose every time. IME, you will see a small white area where the montipora dies, which it will then regrow over until it happens again.

 

[mfaso24]

Let it be, imo. They will fight for space. The monticap will likely lose every time. IME, you will see a small white area where the montipora dies, which it will then regrow over until it happens again.

Really? I totally thought the monti would have won. If the acro wins I wouldn't mind so much since I have a pretty large green and red monti on the opposite side.


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[FoothillCorals]

You never really know who will win. I have seen acros sting the monti but I have also seen monti caps grow over / around the acro.

My money is on the acro in your situation. Though tong term I would be concerned about that monti blocking flow to the acro.

 

[mfaso24]

You never really know who will win. I have seen acros sting the monti but I have also seen monti caps grow over / around the acro.

My money is on the acro in your situation. Though tong term I would be concerned about that monti blocking flow to the acro.

Right now, it appears the monti is growing down and out as opposed to up and cupped, so I don't see any concerns with flow in the future, but time will tell. I will try to keep posting on the thread to update/get advice about this battle as it happens.


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[Lilmatty5dimes]

I would say the monti would crawl up the acro and eventually kill it. Buddy had a garf bonsai and a red monti cap crawled all the way up.

 

[kevin_e]

I would say the monti would crawl up the acro and eventually kill it. Buddy had a garf bonsai and a red monti cap crawled all the way up.

That's interesting, because my Acropora nana also battled with a red cap and lost every time. Eventually the nana started growing over the dead monti skeleton.

I guess you just never know.

 

[mfaso24]

That's interesting, because my Acropora nana also battled with a red cap and lost every time. Eventually the nana started growing over the dead monti skeleton.



I guess you just never know.

That's what I would think would happen. Now I don't know what to do. I definitely don't want to lose the acro. It's been growing so well.


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[Wazzel]

In my 60 I had an ongoing struggle between an orange cap and an acro. The cap would shade and kill parts, while the acro would kill any part of the cap it came into contact with. The cap should be the less aggressive of the two and loose ground. If concerned you can trim it back. If that is not possible, cover it in epoxy.

 

[steallife904]

I have a red monti growing around a branch from my green slimmer acro. the spot where the monti touched the slimmer looks dead but overall its fine.

 

[mfaso24]

In my 60 I had an ongoing struggle between an orange cap and an acro. The cap would shade and kill parts, while the acro would kill any part of the cap it came into contact with. The cap should be the less aggressive of the two and loose ground. If concerned you can trim it back. If that is not possible, cover it in epoxy.

The epoxy is actually a good idea I didn't think of that. I'm probably gonna have to do that with a war coral in the next few months


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[scar79]

As with most things reefing, you won't really know for sure until it actually happens. My vote would be to trim or epoxy that edge of the monti. You'll have way too much of the stuff in no time anyways, so let that acro grow uninhibited! Once it's big and strong, it'll shadow the monti and then they should play amicably as neighbors

 

[mfaso24]

So it's been about 2 weeks since I posted originally and here's an update photo. Kind of hard to tell what's going on. Maybe the acro is bleaching a bit near the edge. What do you guys think?


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[scar79]

You're definitely seeing the leading edge of the monti reacting to the presence of the acro - it's starting to curl and grow upwards. Your eyes will be better than the picture, but it does look like the edge of the acro may be bleached (although the top left portion not bordering the monti looks similar). Either way, that monti is probably going to grow up and over the acro, not killing it directly, but shading it. Cap grows wicked fast, so I'd keep it checked using the methods discussed above and give the acro the best chance at growing out uninhibited.

Once the acro has grown out more (maybe a year plus down the road) let them grow into each other. I love the look of a packed, grown in SPS tank, but that little frag needs some time.

It's great to see a follow-up on one of these threads- thank you!

 

[mfaso24]

You're definitely seeing the leading edge of the monti reacting to the presence of the acro - it's starting to curl and grow upwards. Your eyes will be better than the picture, but it does look like the edge of the acro may be bleached (although the top left portion not bordering the monti looks similar). Either way, that monti is probably going to grow up and over the acro, not killing it directly, but shading it. Cap grows wicked fast, so I'd keep it checked using the methods discussed above and give the acro the best chance at growing out uninhibited.

Once the acro has grown out more (maybe a year plus down the road) let them grow into each other. I love the look of a packed, grown in SPS tank, but that little frag needs some time.

It's great to see a follow-up on one of these threads- thank you!

I will try to shave some of it down using bone cutters. I'll try my best to keep updating over time [emoji4]. Thanks for the response!


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[eg8r210]

I would cut away as much of the cap as possible. Unless you have a love affair with the cap, then don't risk it. If you can cut it away then put a thin layer of epoxy on top of the monti and use a piece of rubble rock to texture the epoxy.

 

[mfaso24]

I would cut away as much of the cap as possible. Unless you have a love affair with the cap, then don't risk it. If you can cut it away then put a thin layer of epoxy on top of the monti and use a piece of rubble rock to texture the epoxy.

No love affair with these 2 montis on the opposite side of the tank [emoji6]. Unfortunately I don't have epoxy so I'll just try everything else while skipping that step.


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[mfaso24]

Quick update: I'm actually debating removing the montipora completely. As much as I like monti caps, they just take up so much space, plus I've already got 2 pictured above. What do you guys think?


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[eg8r210]

Quick update: I'm actually debating removing the montipora completely. As much as I like monti caps, they just take up so much space, plus I've already got 2 pictured above. What do you guys think?


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In the end, it is your tank and you want to keep the corals that make you happy, not anyone else. If you like the cap then keep one side pruned so that it doesn't impede on the other corals. Or you could pull it and move it to the bottom of the rock structure and create some negative space.

 

[JonezNReef]

If you don't have epoxy then you could try super glue. I had a monti cap and acro fight for space and the acro won every time. I ended up transplanting the cap later since the acro would encrust over the parts of the cap it killed.

Not that it would happen for sure but I read on one forum that a person had a green cap and purple acro grow into one another and the cap ended up with a cool purple color that grafted into the green and grew like that from that point on.