difference between spaths and milles?

[codydemmel4]

So i really like the look of milles and the pe on them. The spaths I have seen online look very similar and i was wondering if they are harder to keep then milles, slower growing?

How come you never see any frag shops selling spaths, only milles, tenuis, etc?

I greatly appreciate any insight from some people who have had success or failure with them. I was thinking about buying 1 or 2 mini colonies of spaths. Do they typically get one color or stay the two different colors you seen online?

 

[takayan]

Based on my experience, it is very difficult to keep the coloration for Spathlata. The body of spathlata is much thicker than Millie. Millie has longer and thin poly than Spathlata.

 

[Mr.Fishtank]

That is gorgeous!!!

 

[codydemmel4]

Based on my experience, it is very difficult to keep the coloration for Spathlata. The body of spathlata is much thicker than Millie. Millie has longer and thin poly than Spathlata.

that is a very nice coral, do they have good growth at all? how hard would you say they are compared to milles

 

[takayan]

I think Spathlata has slower growth and harder than Millie. However, as I mentioned before it is very difficult to maintain the color. Mine also had less coloration than before.
I guess almost nobody can maintain the Spathlata beautiful color. That's why we do not see the Spathlata frags.

 

[Myka]

Biggles is the Spath King. Maybe he'll comment. I avoid them like the plague. I find millepora are the easiest, then convexa, then spathulata.

 

[jdm1114]

high light, high flow and you should be able to keep color in spathulata

 

[takayan]

high light, high flow and you should be able to keep color in spathulata

Do you have any good color Spathlata pictures for keeping long time?

 

[minus9]

I picked up a browned out spathulata a while back and it's coloring up nicely. As mentioned above, their growth is slower than millepora, but I don't mind. Beautiful corals indeed.

 

[takayan]

This is the one from DD in the past. I never see the reefers to keep this coloration. This has nice light purple to solid purple gradation. Usually the gradation will disappear and becomes the solid color.

 

[maxwell]

Hi
I love Spath a and in the past I have never had any success.3 years on I have just started with them and have 3 frags just starting to colour up a peach colony and most recent brave enough to try a large colony of green blue purple tipped one.To give it the best shot it has its own g4 radion over it and a small gyre mounted high up on its own rock you can't do more than that it's now a waiting game no pics until I can get it to hold colour or survive.
Bill

 

[TNT32D]

Is the PE the same for both?

 

[Idrassil]

Hi all,
I have 5 different A. spathulatas in my tank. Two of them are still small frags. One is grown from a frag to a small colony within two 1.5 years. In my opinion, they need very high light and flow to show the typical growth and thick branches. I will show some pictures later, here is a quick shot taken with the mobile phone.

Best regards,
Thomas

Gesendet von iPhone mit Tapatalk

 

[Piper27]

Woah did you grow all those in the picture from frags? Either way let's see a picture of all those reefcrest acros

 

[Idrassil]

Hi Piper,
no, not all of them some of the Acros are marine cultured, some were grown from frags and of course some of the aussie Acros are wild collected. I got this purple spathulata in 2013. In the beginning of 2015 I lost the colony except of 3 small branches. Here is a better picture of the colony. I will start a new thread to show the rest of the tank if you are interested in.

Best,
Thomas

Gesendet von iPhone mit Tapatalk

 

[Piper27]

Beautiful! Yes please link me to your build thread when you can. Where are you from?

 

[maxwell]

Thomas
That's a lovely piece, was this a wild piece if so what colour was it.The colony I have just got is green blue and purple great colour but I'm expecting it to darken and show similar colours at the moment I'm trying to get a decent pic to see how it changes to the conditions in my tank. .
Bill

 

[maxwell]

Hi
This is a pic of the spath i picked up last week and there is not a cat in hells chance that i will hold these colours but its nice for the time being.

Bill

 

[Idrassil]

Hi all,
@Piper
Thanks! I will start a thread soon! I´m from Germany.

@Bill
Amazing colony! I have a similar spathulata since one month (just a small frag).

I don´t know exactly. I will check if I can find some old pictures in the evening. Usually, the coral look much better (photo was taken with white balance, so all blue colour is lost).

Thomas

 

[tmc1313]

Not sure how true it is, but I read a while ago that spath's were pretty much the same as milles. The difference was spath's grew higher up on the reef ("reefcrest") and milles further down. That's why spath's have much thicker branches. I've never pursued or researched the topic any further for a better answer.