monti cap frag

[iluvzigz]

I just picked up a frag from a friend of a red/orange monti cap , and was wondering how well it would do in my tank considering the lights i have =
250 watts pc actinic/10,000

I think i have 4-5 watts per gallon, the tank it came from was about 15 per..!
It would probibly lose alot of color but might still grow he said.

What does everyone think? Will it be okay? I dont really plan on putting in acros or other montis, but ive always wanted one of these.

Do i really have to glue it to a rock or can i just leave it there.

 

[Splendid]

I think maybe you should take him to someone elses tank because of all that like and if you want to keep it move in very little light and put it in a spot where it can't fall!

 

[iluvzigz]

thanks splendid...anyone else got any info on this subject for me...?? :smirk:

 

[pmac90]

I have a small frag of it also under PCs. It's up high near light and has all it's color since i brought it home. It also always has it's little polyps out ... the only thing under PC's compared to MH is how fast it grows. a friend (has MH) bought a frag the same day i did and his is curling already.
I would say keep an eye out ... if it doesn't look good. think about moving it.

 

[Stalwart]

I would glue it in place, Monti's can tolerate the light just fine, and appreciate a nice flow, Mine are all at the upper levels of my tank in almost 8X light, and they are growing fine, I have even accidentaly fragged mine twice ( I bumped it while vacuming) and the frags have been glued and are growing.

http://www.easyreefer.com/sps_identification/species/montipora/capricornis.php

 

[iivan740]

Hello, I love montis' and have mine under 350 watts of mh and 260 watts of pc for a total of 610 watts, all on my 75. I have been growing mine as close to the light as is possible, the plating frags are plating, the swirl curling ones are swirling and curling like mad, and the polyps are always out, well except for my yellow scroll it is as close to the bottom as I can get it and only has polyp extention at night. My advice is to watch it, aclimate the monti and change the position a couple of times to find what suits it best (I.E. bottom mid top of tank). Not that I am any sort of expert, but I wish that I had bought 2 250 mh instead of the 2 175 I have, that's my two cents worth. good luck.

BTW that is a beautiful frag.

 

[iluvzigz]

I have it in the highest point in my tank ...maybe i can buy a couple of new rocks to place it higher .... if i possibly have to move it around to situate it im gonna glue it to a small peice of rock..never glued frags before...
wish me luck..haha

thanks iivan yea the tank it came from, the monti was phenomenal

 

[Frankie]

they sell putty for gluing frags at most lfs. you might want to try that. it looks really healthy so you might be well off with your lighting. Do like you said and get a few more rocks to bring it higher. You don't need to use live rocks btw. You can buy some base rock and it will seed up from the live ou have already. Save some money that way too

 

[iivan740]

nice check out what happened when I wasn't paying attention to what type of spuerglue I was using. I went to walmart and bought all of the Duro superglue gel that I could find so that I could attach my new frags, one of the packages was not gel. I opened it and was putting a dab on the base of an acro when the superglue ran down the side of my frag. check out the pics. It practically killed the fragbut as you can see the acro grew over the damage and is starting to take hold. Just be careful when you glue. I try to only glue to the frag base where the skeleton is exposed, sometimes this can not be done with montiporas'
so I use as little gel as possible.
I like to see my spss' so the average depth is about 7-8 inches, that's a little over mid point in my tank, I do have a shelf that is 4-5 inches from the top, but it only has a few things on it. My MH's are exactly 8 inches above the water line. Hope this info helps. here are some pics. The purple is as close as I dare put it and the cluster is 7-8" from the water line. The pictures aren't great but I think you can see my glue mistake fairly well.

 

[iluvzigz]

yeah im gonna be real careful when i try this i dont want to screw it up, but it looks like your acro is comming back very nicely.Im gonna glue it next to where it was broken off is where he showed me.

FFRANKIE: So your telling me i can buy base rock and it will eventually grow into live rock from being on top of the other live rock ??? hope so never relized i could do that cause ive been wanting to buy about 30 or so more pounds of live rock ....how can i tell if the rock has been cured already? cause i went to one LFS and he wasnt sure weather the rock they have is cured r not.... thanks for the great info!

 

[Frankie]

yeah if the rocks white and not in water its base.

 

[iluvzigz]

yes ,but can i put that rock right into my tank? Why wouldnt you just use the base rock in the first place, if it will turn into live rock eventually. Patience? and how can i be sure it is tank ready rocks?

 

[JFK_Jr]

FFRANKIE: So your telling me i can buy base rock and it will eventually grow into live rock from being on top of the other live rock ??? hope so never relized i could do that cause ive been wanting to buy about 30 or so more pounds of live rock ....how can i tell if the rock has been cured already? cause i went to one LFS and he wasnt sure weather the rock they have is cured r not.... thanks for the great info!

Ideally... you want to have your "live rock" on top of your dead base rock. Not only does it look better, but it also prevents the base rock from breaking out in an algae bloom from over exposure to light. I did that with my 150 and the base rock is getting harder and harder to tell from my expensive coralline covered "live rock".

You could try buying a little base rock at a time (pick out nice shapes) and work it into your reef. That way you don't have to re-arrange too much.

BTW... the Monti should definitely be secured (From what I've read growth is stunted if not) You can secure it to a small rock that won't be easily knocked over in case you want to change it's position in the future.

 

[cheeks69]

I prefer epoxy over glue but both can be used effectively. AFA the light issue if it came from a tank with intense light then it will likely lose some color but should eventually adjust and continue to grow albeit at a slower pace. Monti's can do well at lower light levels contrary to other SPS but I would definetly place it towards the top of the rockwork.

 

[Frankie]

Good info from both cheeks and JFK. I would also put the base rock under the live. You should beable to tell base rock by its look and color. it will be white and look just like live rock. the lfs should know what your looking for. stay away from places like superpets and such, there usually just kids with no idea working there.
Like i said in my first post, they have putty for attaching rocks. epoxy like cheeks just said. Id stay away from the glues personaly.