ID on purple cap with green polyps

[Logzor]

I guess I will have to let it grow out to see what it really is. As for the Dictyota I am going to start sticking tons of chaeto in my main display to try and starve it out.

 

[Kolognekoral]

A quick word on Tangs. The members of Ctenochaetus are algae film eaters and do not eat much else and are not the best for turf-type algae control. Zebrasoma tends to like filimentous and fleshy algae, but has a more varied diet, while the Acanthurus species eat mainly filimentous plus turf-type algae, while rarely showing interest in film algae. Siganus species are pretty ravenous and eat everything with gusto, including Caulerpa, kelps, filimentous and even film algae, but seem to prefer turf types. If I were looking for a control of Dictyota, I would choose a Siganus or Zebrasoma species, possibly an Acanthurus, if I found a good specimen. Although I've never held Ct. tominensis, other Ctenochaetus I've had showed only interest in films on the glass and sand, plus what flakes I fed. My now gigantic Ct. striatus can clear the front glass in a few hours! As an adult, he is much more attractive than I ever expected, which may be due to lots of algae films. Most specimens I've seen are truly drab.

Of course, I would take an A. achilles any day!

 

[Logzor]

Yeah so far the flame fin or tomini tang likes to eat brine shrimp and other algae. He does not not seem to care too much for the Dictyota.

I am wondering how much chaeto in the tank it will take to starve out the Dictyota?

So far I have a decent size bunch about 10 inches long and a few inches deep. It seems to be growing fast. The dragons tongue has tripled in size in the past month or so.

So far there is no noticeable notice in the amount/growth of the Dictyota.

 

[Logzor]

So I contacted the person who I bought this frag from and he called it a Montipora Danae. Anyone know a more common name or has this one not been named.

The growth and polyps remind me of the superman monti just different colors. It has plated out and grown upwards a bit since the last pic. I will wait awhile before I post another so it is a noticeable difference.

 

[therman]

Hmmm...if he's calling it a danae, it might not be a plating "cap" type of coral but rather an encruster. If it doesn't plate, it looks quite a bit like a "morning star" encrusting montipora. It really doesn't look like a danae to me, as it lacks the dome shaped verrucae.

I suspect the morning star montipora might be M. nodosa, or M. mollis.

Now I just noticed that you said it did plate up, so it's probably not the same as the morning star.

I have something similar that has a greenish cast under actinics, with bright green polyps, but looks purple-brown under intense light.

Looking forward to more pics of yours. Great looking coral
-Tim

 

[Logzor]

Yeah it might be awhile till its worth posting a pic.

It is indeed plating outward rather than encrusting the exact shape of the frag disc. It is also getting spiky, like a small pointy mountain range.

The reason I compared it to the superman danae is the shape of size of the polyps.

 

[Logzor]

Done some research and comparison and you are right it is M. mollis.

Thanks for the help!

 

[Kolognekoral]

You WILL post further fotos for us Monti-hungry types, won't you?

 

[Logzor]

I sure will. I got my ALK at a good level so my stones are taking off like rockets.

It is looking pretty sweet so far. I will get a picture within the next week or so.

 

[therman]

Maybe I'll have to drive down to get a frag from you too when it grows out

 

[Genetics]

I believe this is called a Tyree Sunset on these threads. It's a montipora mollis? or danae.

 

[Logzor]

As requested here is an updated pic. Not a whole lot of change in growth.

Sorry for the lighting, my white bulbs have not turned on yet.

 

[Mache62]

back to the dictyota...a naso tank will gobble it up. tangs do not like it and angel fish won't touch it either.

 

[Logzor]

I have pulled a ton out and raised my alk. Much of the Dictyota is dying and my chaeto is taking off (as you can see in the picture).

I believe I am headed in the right direction, as far as killing this algae off goes.

Today I added another powerhead, bringing my turnover to 60x in my 55 gallon tank.

Keeping flow off of my bubble coral has been tricky but everything else LOVES it.

I am hoping that more flow will help the process and improve growth rates and overall tank health and maturation rate.

 

[Logzor]

Growth on the monti pictured above has been pretty good. It seems to be encrusting upwards a lot!

On a separate note, I just picked up one very similar to this one.

It has the same size and color of polyps but the base is a bright purple rather than the dull purple pictured above. It is actually so bright it is difficult to photograph.

Pics coming soon!!

 

[Logzor]

new pics~

new pics~

Here is an update on my purple cap and the new one. Any ideas on what the new one is? It seems to have a different growth pattern, it has lots of defined ridges. Sorry for the huge pic sizes.