Monti Cap Growth

[gooberz]

Hello Everyone,

I wanted to see how soon it was before you saw a significant change in growth of your Monti Cap? I know that a lot of factors play in on this but assuming all is good what have you seen in your growth. Below is a monti i got about a month ago and did not really have color on the rim but seems to be doing great. :spin3:

 

[halcyonism]

I have a green with blue polyp monti cap that has grown about a 1/2" since I picked it up two months ago. It is about mid level in my tank under PAR38 LEDs.

 

[gooberz]

Nice, any pics to check it out

 

[Psyops]

I have the same growth in my cap as described before. I am using Ushio 20K 250 W Halides. Sorry I don't know how to post pics on this site. Not very computer savy.

 

[Finsky]

While I was on the ORA Web site I looked at the Orange Montipora Capricornis which looks exactly like the 16" Orange Montiopora Capricornis with two or three levels and I have it two thirds from the bottom in the center of the tank. I have had this coral for about two years.

I just purchased an "ORA" Green Birdsnest Coral frag from That Fish Place out of Lancaster, Pennsylvania. It arrived covered with green polyps yesterday and it was happy all day today showing its bright green polyps proudly. I paid $30 on sale for a two inches frag with multiple branches in a solid black plug. It sits approximately 10" under the surface of the water under the left 150 watt 14K metal halide. I have to agree so far that this coral is described by ORA as:

"The ORA Green Birdsnest is a thin branched Seriatopora that produces stunning green polyps on a yellow green background. Arguably the most eye-catching birdsnest of all time this coral glows especially bright under higher Kelvin bulbs"

While I was on the ORA Web site I looked at the Orange Montipora Capricornis which looks exactly like the 16" Orange Montiopora Capricornis I have two thirds from the bottom in the center of the tank.

I them looked at the "ORA" Purple Montiopora Capricornis I purchased from Drs. Foster and Smith last August which was a light cholate color about 2" is now 4". I started it out low and gradually moved it up to two thirds. I never for one instant showed any sign of "purple". Drs. Foster and Smith uses halides and I have mine under halides. ORA asked whether it had been started out low and what light was used. It seems like a big run around for a coral which is the color of chocolate milk and never had any other whether under halides, actinics, or both.

It seems I have been getting a run around from my two responses from ORA and when I received it back in August 2010 from Drs. Foster and Smith they told me the light was probably different and was the reason the "ORA" Purple Montiopora Capricornis looked like cholate milk and to give it time. They also tried to blame it on the light.

My orange is a bright orange just like the ORA Web site and the purple it a chocolate milk.

I am left to wonder why I had to settle for light brown instead of the "ORA" purple montipora capricornis it was listed as on the receipt?

 

[M007]

Nice looking monti but it looks too thick to be a cap. Caps are usually thinner and plating in layers.

 

[NYCBOB]

its a monti cap.

 

[JustinM]

My monti grows in spurts. Give it time to adjust, if it is new to the tank. In 6 months, mine probably about tripled. It's funny cause you can predict when it is gonna go through a spurt. The rock it's on will turn white where it's growing. Plus the ends turn white when growing, atleast with my purple cap.

 

[sullyfish]

these picks are about 2 months apart, and I fragged a piece from the orange monti a week ago so it looks a bit different.

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d144/sullyfish/coral2011/clam006.jpg

http://i34.photobucket.com/albums/d144/sullyfish/coral2011/coral0717012.jpg

 

[Jaweeha]

I love caps, I have 5 different colors in my tank, I've found that they grow a bunch outwards, have a little downtime, grow a bunch vertically, have a break, then repeats. And their maybe 16-18 inches under a 250w halide with a 15k bulb.

 

[droth335]

Monti caps grow like crazy in my tank. I have purple, green and orange and have fragged them all a lot to keep their size under control. Here is a picture of our orange cap which was about the size of a potato chip when we got it 14 months prior to this picture.

 

[giants4pc]

I find these coral very strange. All the sps in my tank are doing great and growing very well. I tried several frags of a red and green cap (separate ones) and they turn pale with no growth. The funny thing is that the mother colony are under the same ballast/bulb combo as what I have - 250 watt Phoenix 14's with galaxy ballasts. Do these caps prefer higher alk or something different?

 

[reefyourself]

Giant i am having the exact same problem... very strange... mine are pale... rest of sps are blasting with color...

 

[ritter6788]

Do these caps prefer higher alk or something different?

IMO they prefer lower alk. I had an issue with alkalinity burn a while back where the alk got up to 12. The montis were the first to show signs of stress. Most acros weren't affected at all but I lost 3 small digi frags and the caps looked burned. The caps have recovered since getting the alkalinity back in line.

 

[3.99AfterTaxes]

They also like lots of potassium. Mine gets pale when my potassium falls below 250. I keep it in the 380 to 400 range (salt mixes to 380ish).

 

[reefmanmatt]

i get great growth from this orange cap - around a half inch a month . pictures are a week apart , probably a few months old now though . it was just a little chip when i got it . around 12" of water , 22,000k 175 se halide and spider reflector . always hard to get a good picture of ... but thats the camera (phone)

 

[reefmanmatt]

forgot to add .. it was around a month before it really showed any signs of grown . mine seemed to grow much faster once i hid it in that little cove area , probably to get the light at first . happy reefing !