Monti Setosa colonies

[dutch27]

My little frag of this finally has a nice base, and is growing away from the rock and taking on interesting shapes. But, I've never seen a large established colony of this (or most corals for that matter). Does anybody have any established colony sized Setosa to share? Having a nano to me large would be 4"x4" or bigger. The color on this coral is amazing and it's one of my favorites in my tank (second to my Hawkins Enchinata). Let's see some pics!

 

[64Ivy]

More like 3"x3" but it's a start.

 

[israel.kendall]

I just picked up two different setosa frags, and yes, the color on these is amazing, I'd like to see some colony pics too!

 

[israel.kendall]

Wow, that is a really nice one Ivy!

 

[dutch27]

Wow Ivy, that's awesome. I'll have to try to get a decent pic of my little piece.

 

[ganjero]

is that picture out of the water?

 

[israel.kendall]

Ivy, did that colony start as a frag, and of so how long did it take to get that size?

Sent from my Droid using Tapatalk

 

[dutch27]

Here's my little Setosa getting it's start.

 

[aquavista99]

Here is my colony :thumbsup:

 

[iceh]

Going to pick up a frag soon, what conditions light/flow do these prefer?

 

[64Ivy]

is that picture out of the water?

No. It WAS taken IN the water however, with a Canon G11 in an underwater housing.

Ivy, did that colony start as a frag, and of so how long did it take to get that size?

It began as a frag and took about three years to reach the size it is today. A vermetid snail infestation didn't help much as these corals seem especially good at attracting them. Another hinderance is that it is sitting on the bottom, some 36" from the lights.

 

[smalltime]

Thats impressive. I think thats the 1st large piece I've seen.

 

[Gyr]

Love my Setosa. I got a 1 inch frag from one of my LFS's and it has been a great grower with fantastic color. I have fragged it into several colonies throughout my tank because I think it is very striking.

Here is the original colony that is now 4x5 inches (that's it in the center foreground, you can see about half of it, the rest is hidden by the m cap and BN):

You can see 3 of it's daughter colonies here on the other side of the tank (One peaking out from behind the BN right under the yellow tang, two others closer on that ledge). I'd say these are 2-3 inches in size.

I really like how each colony from the same coral has its own unique branching pattern. I don't have any recent close up shots, but I'll try to shoot some in the next few days if you are interested.

 

[dutch27]

Gyr - sure, I'd love to see some more pics... who doesn't like pics? :bigeyes: Nice tank too, that looks like a pretty sizeable BTA, does it ever cause you issues stinging nearby corals?

Aqua - that's a great looking colony, almost looks like some cheeze doodles, lol.

iceh - mine is in the upper 50% of my tank, about 9" from a 150w halide, and gets hit with some pretty good flow. When I first hit it with some strong light it faded a bit, but came back with better color than before. Seems pretty happy.

 

[SPSpirate]

Quick iphone pic.......quite a fast grower once it gets started.

 

[offroadodge]

here is mine, evryone always asks what it is...i agree once its established it does grow

 

[ros_sco]

This colony belongs to a friend of mine. He is keeping it under LED's

 

[DopeCantWin]

This colony belongs to a friend of mine. He is keeping it under LED's

I think I have a frag of that green colony you have there on the bottom right. Do you know what species it is?

 

[Gyr]

Gyr - sure, I'd love to see some more pics... who doesn't like pics? :bigeyes: .

Here you go, Dutch.

Here's the 'Mother colony' in my tank. She was started from a 1 inch (and that's being generous) frag that I got in Sept, 2009. She has pretty much grown out in a horizontal branching fan pattern from her original anchor point, which is in the back of this photo and now pretty much shaded by the overgrown BN--time to do some pruning. Any one want BNs frags?:

Here is the 'oldest daughter' frag. I can't really remember how long ago I accidently broke this off the mother, or how big it was. This one is showing the most random directions of the branching growth. Some branches are growing up, some down, most at various angles inbetween. My camera was held at an angle (rotate image about 30 degrees counter-clockwise in your mind for proper orientation):

This is one of two pieces I accidently broke off the mother about 5-6 months ago (I should change my forum name to ClumsyReefer). They are both showing mostly upright branching growth:

Like I said, I think this is a great coral. I am very happy with mine, but take a look at the Grandmother Colony at the LFS I got it from (and this is an old photo, she's even bigger now): http://ep.yimg.com/ca/I/yhst-63575161494219_2147_7066828
This LFS is also an on-line retailer, but not a RC sponsor, so I don't think I can post a link here, can I? Too bad, they sell great stuff.

 

[Gyr]

...that looks like a pretty sizeable BTA, does it ever cause you issues stinging nearby corals?

That RBTA is my pride and joy. I've had her for almost 2 years now. I would estimate she is almost 12 inches across when fully expanded. Yes she does sting any corals she contacts, but I am lucky in that she seems very content in her current location (she hasn't wandered since finding her spot in my new tank). Fortunately, her happy place is between the back wall of the tank and a ridge of rockwork. I am able to keep SPS in front of her location so the bare area when she retracts isn't too bad. I was careful not to epoxy any corals too close and with the way I have the flow set up she can't sting anything (at least not yet). That side shot in my original post really makes it look like the BTA is right in the middle of the SPS, but she's not. Here is a crappy front view shot to give you an idea of the orientation. The back side of the BTA is right up against the back wall of the tank:

I know keeping a 'nem in a tank comes with some risk to the other inhabitants, but in my mind, it is well worth it. I have hardly any LPS corals and the BTA gives the tank movement it would otherwise lack. And it's not like a few touches from the tenticles will instantly kill a whole SPS colony. In my experience, I've had no problems moving SPS when I noticed they were getting stung by the BTA in my old tank. The SPS recovered quickly once I moved them even after being stung for several days.