[Northman_with_reef]

I just got This Montipora Tonight from my LFS(I traded it for some Xenia), I was just wondering if you guys could help me ID the species and give me some pointers. This is my first montipora.

[Northman_with_reef]

Here's the picture..

[Reefland]

Hi Northman!

M. capricornas; a very hardy hard coral that will grow rapidly. Under intense light, that particular piece will probably turn purple around the edges.

It looks like a nice find, how large is it?

[Northman_with_reef]

Thanks!

ITs about 15-20cm(1/2 ft).

Right now its directly under one of my 250W A-B Aquaspace light bulbs...

All i add is Kalkwasser(Through a Deltec Kalkwasser Stirrer), strontium, Iodide and some "Trace hard".

Anything else i shuld add?

My calcium is about 500ppm.

[Reefland]

Nope, nothing at all different. As with all hard corals, as long as your ph, alk, ca and others are in line, everything will be great.

Make sure that this coral has plenty of water flow going across it to ensure detritus doesn't get trapped in it.

Scott Z.

[Northman_with_reef]

Originally Posted by Reefland

Nope, nothing at all different. As with all hard corals, as long as your ph, alk, ca and others are in line, everything will be great.

Make sure that this coral has plenty of water flow going across it to ensure detritus doesn't get trapped in it.

Scott Z.

Ahh... Thanks again!

Now I can relax (My Acropora Grows like Crazy..).

[Northman_with_reef]

Here's a picture of the whole tank after 24h.

I'm thinking about getting rid of all the Xenia, since its really bothering the rest of my corals and it grows worse than bryopsis..

[Northman_with_reef]

Argh!

It seems to be turning just a little bit whit around the rim!
After 1 day in the tank...
Is the lightning to strong?
It came from a tank with NO Lights and now its direclty under my 250W HQI, have I shocked it in any way? Should i move it to a place with less light?

Thanks again.
(I'm a little nervous about this one...)

[Reefland]

Yeah you may have; I would go ahead and move it a bit lower in the tank not directly under the light and leave it for a couple of days to see how it looks.

[SueT]

Northman, I am afraid you may have shocked this montipora a bit. If it came from NO lighting to 250w HQI's then that is a big lighting increase. I would move it down to the bottom of the tank. I would also make sure it does still get some current but not as intense lighting. This will only be til it acclimates and then you will be fine to move it up.

If you look at the first pic you posted and the second the color of the capricornis has faded a lot IMO. I am sure this is from the lighting.

Lower it and just watch it. I think with your water params in check it will go back to the nice orange coloration.

[Northman_with_reef]

Thanks sueT!

I moved the monti to the bottom between the bulbs yester day.
It did get a little worse before I moved it, but it seems do to alot better now...

[SueT]

Thats great, Northman. Sometimes these corals do great in much less lighting than we think they need.

I am sure given time to acclimate to the more intense lighting your's will bounce right back.

[zhenya]

Thomas,

Another way to acclimate to stronger light is to use some sort of screening if moving coral is not possibile.Preferably is to use multiple layers and remove each layer after awhile,thus slowly increasing light intencity without shocking the coral. I used this method myself couple of times becouse moving corals from one spot to another was just not possible for me due to space constraints and it worked really well. I used some old window screen that I cut up in pieces,the idea I got from reading one thread on RC where Eric Borneman described it. I wish I could find a link to it but I have no time this morning.
BTW, your Montipora is beautiful,good luck with it

[Elmo18]

Originally Posted by Northman_with_reef

I just got This Montipora Tonight from my LFS(I traded it for some Xenia), I was just wondering if you guys could help me ID the species and give me some pointers. This is my first montipora.

Totally agree that it is a MOntipora capricornis. Generally, the orange capricornis will have a light white/orange transition on the edges, showing signs of growth. However, as SueT mentioned, the coral is probably under stress currently due to the dramatic light change.

I would also movie all the way down, to the sand, and off to the edges of the tank. I have mine near the top of my tank, but when I started, it was near the bottom. Give it moderate flow so that residue, food, etc doesn't stay stagnant within its "whorling, curling" shape.

- Elmo

[Northman_with_reef]

Thanks for all your input on this.

The monti is now in the middle of the bulbs and at the bottom of the tank.
It seems to be healing now, all of the polyps are fully extended and the tissue is starting to cover the whit areas.Hopefully it should be healed completley in 3-4 weeks.