Triple One
New member
i've been asked to post some shots of my Montipora capricornis colony...
but first, of course, the minimal back-story:
my original tank sprang a leak in the last third of July this year. i got home from work to ~15 gallons of water on the floor. since this post is just about the Motnipora, i'll post a separate thread about the subsequent rescue/overhaul/build, suffice to say that a month later i am happy to report that the new system totals 200 gallons and is officially awesome. the capricornis has changed due to the move, otherwise i would spare you the prologue.
there are pics of this colony in the original tank on this thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=20439942#post20439942
you can see there how it was growing against the overflow. the back edge forms a 90 degree fold that you can't see in the pictures on that thread, but since the overflow in my new tank is trapezoidal, the way the colony is placed now has resulted in a totally new growth pattern:
<img src="http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/424719_10101309497273862_1619855961_n.jpg
" alt="pre-break" />
i was trying to adjust the rocks a bit and i accidentally broke off a piece of the back pretty much the day after the above photo was taken. here is the colony a week later, with at least 1/4" of new growth over the break, and you can see that the 90 degree bend i mentioned before is now forming several new tabletops from the previously-light-obstructed face. i am excited about how it is going to look...
<img src="http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/420054_10101309497703002_1800397931_n.jpg" alt="one week post-break" />
<img src="http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/402946_10101309498047312_1200692539_n.jpg" alt="alternate lighting to show growing edge" />
i pinned the broken piece against the other side of the overflow with a piece of live rock, but not even two days later some determined snail had shifted the (large) piece of rock away from the new frag... but never fear: in that small window of time, the new piece had already securely fused itself to the overflow face, and still sits there today, with at least 1/4" of growth around the edges as well:
<img src="http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/526362_10101309498646112_899507441_n.jpg" alt="can you see the gap?" />
pretty spiffy, in my onion pin... tank build post coming soon!
cheers!
but first, of course, the minimal back-story:
my original tank sprang a leak in the last third of July this year. i got home from work to ~15 gallons of water on the floor. since this post is just about the Motnipora, i'll post a separate thread about the subsequent rescue/overhaul/build, suffice to say that a month later i am happy to report that the new system totals 200 gallons and is officially awesome. the capricornis has changed due to the move, otherwise i would spare you the prologue.
there are pics of this colony in the original tank on this thread:
http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?p=20439942#post20439942
you can see there how it was growing against the overflow. the back edge forms a 90 degree fold that you can't see in the pictures on that thread, but since the overflow in my new tank is trapezoidal, the way the colony is placed now has resulted in a totally new growth pattern:
<img src="http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/424719_10101309497273862_1619855961_n.jpg
" alt="pre-break" />
i was trying to adjust the rocks a bit and i accidentally broke off a piece of the back pretty much the day after the above photo was taken. here is the colony a week later, with at least 1/4" of new growth over the break, and you can see that the 90 degree bend i mentioned before is now forming several new tabletops from the previously-light-obstructed face. i am excited about how it is going to look...
<img src="http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-snc7/420054_10101309497703002_1800397931_n.jpg" alt="one week post-break" />
<img src="http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/402946_10101309498047312_1200692539_n.jpg" alt="alternate lighting to show growing edge" />
i pinned the broken piece against the other side of the overflow with a piece of live rock, but not even two days later some determined snail had shifted the (large) piece of rock away from the new frag... but never fear: in that small window of time, the new piece had already securely fused itself to the overflow face, and still sits there today, with at least 1/4" of growth around the edges as well:
<img src="http://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash3/526362_10101309498646112_899507441_n.jpg" alt="can you see the gap?" />
pretty spiffy, in my onion pin... tank build post coming soon!
cheers!
