Coral Mounting and Placement

[Brian Prestwood]

I think the placement and mounting of a coral can limit its growth as much as any other factor.

Lets talk about it.

Some things I've learned...

The obvious stuff...

Most corals won't grow away from light if they have an alternative.
Most corals won't grow into a shadow if they have an alternative.

Not so obvious...

Corals grow slowly up a surface that is perpendicular to the lights. A slight outward slant makes them grow up the surface much faster. A slight inward slant darn near stops them.

Fast growing SPS...

Acro vs monti - monti loses.
Acros and caps encrust a small base quickly then encrust slowly or stop encrusting entirely.
Encrusting montis encrust rapidly until something stops them.
Some encrusting montis need very bright light to color up: rainbow, pokerstar, superman. Some don't: sunset, purple haze.

In this pic I placed acros on the vertical surfaces (perpendicular to the lights) around the crown of a pillar and an encrusting monti on the top. The acros encrusted small bases rapidly then slowed down to almost no encrusting growth. The monti rapaidly encrusted right up to the acro bases then started working its way down.

The acros are a little too close to the top of the pillar. They may eventually encrust over the top of the rock and kill the monti. I should have put them a couple more inches down the the vertical surface.

What have you learned about mounting and placing?

 

[chads120]

I found that all things being equal, once a stronger coral meets a weaker one, the stronger coral will grow faster toward and try to overtake the weaker one. I would have thought it would try to grow toward the path of least resistance. This may not be true for all coral.

 

[firemansac]

I have found that things I thought I knew I really had no idea. It's hard for those of us that have small systems like in my case 30 gal nano 1 150 mh. I get coral from systems that have higher bigger light output so my placement is totally off. I have a sunset Monti that is at te top of my rock an has the deepest orange coloring and incredible green polyps. My superman however bleaches out every time I move it off the sandbed. I have no clue as to what I'm doing somedays. That's why I love this place.

 

[Brian Prestwood]

Chalices

Chalices

Here's what I think.

Chalices like to face straight up. Display tanks are usually taller than wider (pardon my grammer). If acros like the lighting at the top of your display tank then chalices will usually like the lighting on the bottom.

New growth on Chalices is slow to attach to the surface under it. Loose chalices are easier to frag. To keep it loose move it a little about once a week.

New chalice frags are often slow to stabilize and start growing. Flat exposed surfaces at the edge of the frag will often grow algae. Algae will slow or stop a chalice frag from growing. Cover the entire top of the frag mount (plug, rock, etc) with the frag. When the frag gets happy it will grow over the side of the mount covering any algae there. Below is a picture of a YourReef Eye Tyrant frag mounted the wrong way...

If algae grow on the flat surface of a plug near the chalice remount the frag on a narrower plug or cut the exposes surface off.

Oh, and chalices are sensitive to nutrient levels that are too low.

What have you learned about mounting and positioning chalices?

 

[HV1990]

I have just found the "sweet spot for chalice growth". More of ambient light rather than direct light. This is usually (in my tank at least) found on the bottom near the sides of my tank. There are a few places under some branching live rock that works well. Since the light is being refracted so many times light still can reach my chalices with enough par. Now getting them to play nice is another matter all together. Great topic Brian.

 

[shaneh]

i really appreciate this thread....mounting and locations is one of my biggest struggles. It's like making a commitment with someone you just met. Some you know a bit of past history but others you don't know much about except the "general area" but every tank is different.

I have the worst luck with acans....i have learned the hard way that I need to shade them almost completely for the first few weeks.

Chalices are my favorite...do you notice slow growth at the beginning and then hit about 2" and then the growth really starts? this may just be i finally got my water correct.

a trick i learned about mounting....drill frag holes in your rock before you put it in the tank with a masonry drill bit. then you can move the frags around until it finds the best spot.

Also visual appeal is a factor too...I try to break up the color of my coral placement.....like a green acro next to a yellow and then a red.....spread out the color i think looks better.

 

[Brian Prestwood]

Hey Hugo

Yes, its easy to burn most chalices. As with everything a few do like a more light than most.

Notice the Eye Tyrant above looks a little bleached. I'm pretty sure thats from too much light. When the nutrient levels are too low chalices fade and retract. The Eye Tyrant isn't retracted so its probably too much light.

It was partially shaded under a ledge when it faded. I move it into a corner and it grew an inch in a month and colored up a bit. Its about 2" in dia now and growing fast.


Shaneh

You are welcome.

I recently remounted a bunch of lower light corals that weren't growing because of mounting problems. That's what made me think of this thread.

Next is palys and zoas.

 

[Brian Prestwood]

More Acro Placement and Mounting Stuff

More Acro Placement and Mounting Stuff

Putting the gel super glue on the plug and then dipping it to get it to skin over is a pretty common technique today. Spin the coral in the glue to get the skin to grab the coral.

There's gel then there's gel. Thicker is better. The IC Gel in the maroon foil tube is the thickest. The Julian Sprung gel is a lot thinner. If you refrigerate it then it gets thicker. Cold or not, the glue is going to kill the coral where it touches it.

If you frag out a whole colony the base is usually going to die. Also, the growth tips on many fast growing acros, i.e. stags, come out white. The white part is also likely to die if you mount it. Always include a bit of colored in coral too.

You can mount acro frags upright or sideways. Upside down doesn't work well.

 

[Brian Prestwood]

Palys and Zoas

Palys and Zoas

Mixing species is a great way to find out which species can kill each other...

Yes, its pretty but it will eventually be all one color. FWIW - in 2007 radio active dragon eyes dominated wammin watermelons.

Mount zoas and palys so they can't get off the rock they are on. Near, but not on, the top of a tall rock works best...

These lunar eclipse palys were mounted around the top of this rock. They grew over the top toward the light quickly.

Oh, and remove wanderers quickly.

 

[iriejp1]

Oh, and remove wanderers quickly.

Yep. I got a whole rock covered in one particular zoa that I was hoping wouldnt for that one. Any way to "scrape" the zoas off the rock to pull them back?? I've been debating my options...including the whole smother it with putty technique. However I'm guessing my SPS will not be pleased with decaying zoa matter being released. Lol.

 

[Brian Prestwood]

Hey Joel

If there isn't anything else on the rock then pressure washing the rock works. Bits of weed palys flying everywhere. Very satisfying Wear protective eye gear.

If there is something you want on the rock consider removing the keepers rock then gluing them back on after you kill the palys.

If they are encrusted then a chop saw with a masonry blade works well for cutting them off. I'm going to demo this technique at the meeting in September.

A tile saw works too ;D I would not recommend standing in the blade spray while you do this

EDIT: I miss Joe.

 

[Brian Prestwood]

Dupe post

 

[iriejp1]

A tile saw works too ;D I would not recommend standing in the blade spray while you do this

EDIT: I miss Joe.

Joe. He's a funny guy...:lol2:

 

[iriejp1]

Its funny...cause when I look at zoas when they're out of water and in my hand I think "But they're just little squishy balloons...why cant I scrape those off with a butter knife."

Probably would be about as successful as when I tried to scrape off Ricordias...in the tank.

 

[Brian Prestwood]

Its the nooks and crannies dude, they love em.

What happens when you scrap the top off a paly/zoa that's rooted in two nooks/crannies?

I think you know this one

 

[iriejp1]

Just like my damn rose bushes....cant shake em.