Hows this montipora look?

[CaptainK]

I have had this in my tank for about 1 yr now in my tank. It is under 225W of VHO lighting. Unfortunately I forgot to take pictures of it when I got it so I cannot compare any growth that may have happened. But from what I remember I really don't think it has grown a whole lot. I thought that these wer suppossed to be fast growers.
Can anyone tell if this is dead?
Thanks,
CaptK

[PerryinCA]

Is it just me, or does that not look like a montipora? Could just be the pic, but I don't know...?

-Perry

[scubadude]

Hard to tell from the pic....but my best guess would be that most of it is dead with coralline now covering it?....I think there may be a couple of tips with polyps if so then you could probably salvage it and either frag it or let it try and grow over. Can you get a better pic and zoom into it for a closeup shot?

[CaptainK]

Here is a close up shot of the same picture:

[scubadude]

there is a branch in the middle on the right side that looks a little more pinkish...not so purple...if you examine this real close it might look a little different...you might see polyps....if so then that to me appears to be the only part left thats alive on your Montipora! lemme see if I can get a pic of some Montipora digitata w/ some polyps on it for ya

[scubadude]

This is my Montipora digitatat orange...the pic is taken from above and isnt the greatest pic but you can see polyps if you look close enough. HTH

Also with this coral they are very famous for showing growth tips as being white...which your pinkish branch that I referred to above appears to be showing...If it where me I would probably frag that piece if it appears to be healthy and then try and put it in better conditions (flow+light)

[CaptainK]

Thanks for the help Scubadude, and from my other post also!!
My monitpora has never had polyp extension like that since I had it, and its been a while. You can see little hair like things coming from the branches but they don't look like polys. I will try to cut off the piece you mentioned and see if I can save anything from this.

Thanks again for your help,
CaptK

[newreefman1]

That looks like a purple milipora...aka firecoral.

I dont know if there are purple ones but it wouldnt surprise me and typically they will encrust old skeletons. They tend to have fine "hairs" and no visible polyps...so that might help ID that frag.

It doesnt resemble montipora IMO

Just a guess.

Jason

if you touch it..does it sting you?

[CaptainK]

You want me to touch it to see if it will sting me?
Maybe while I am at it I will turn on my stove and see if it burns
I got this frag from Jeffs Exotic so I hoping that I got what I asked for.

[tubs]

Jason's on the right track. I bet you have distichopora - 100 bucks ;;


How long have you had it because if it is distichopora it is not photosynthetic. A former LFS was selling it as an acro my gosh. Even FFexpress was selling similar impossible corals. I think a pic of it is in Julians Sprungs coral book - "Corals by Julian Sprung".

HTH,

[newreefman1]

Hmm. Do I get a percentage of that 100 bucks?

[PerryinCA]

Originally posted by tubs
Jason's on the right track. I bet you have distichopora - 100 bucks ;;


How long have you had it because if it is distichopora it is not photosynthetic. A former LFS was selling it as an acro my gosh. Even FFexpress was selling similar impossible corals. I think a pic of it is in Julians Sprungs coral book - "Corals by Julian Sprung".

HTH,

Thats what I was thinking originally. Used to see them at AC all the time.

-Perry

[CaptainK]

Oh boy, just when I thought I knew everything that was in my tank.....
I have had this coral for about 1 year now. I have it placed at the top part of my tank and is in pretty much direct flow of a powerhead.
So I might have a "distichopora" you say, so what is a distichopora and how should I care for it? Secondly how does it look? Is it alive?

Thanks for all your help everyone!!

CaptK

[SueT]

I was just reading all the posts and was going to add I thought it looked like distichopora to me too and John did it. I had a piece of this a long time ago and if you have had it for that long that is great. The whole thing that set it off was the hair like extensions, that is classic to distichopora{spelling}. I think this particular coral is supposed to be in lower light and may need feedings to do good for ya. But geeze if you have had it for a year that is great. Definitely not montipora.

my 180 ecosystem sps/clam tank:
http://berlinmethod.com/suet/
my 120 ecosystem sps/clam tank:
http://suetruett.homestead.com/home.html

[scubadude]

Heres 2 pics of Distichopora which I think everyone is referring to....if you look close at the first pic you can see the stingers they are called nematocysts I guess there are quite a few strains of fire coral....Im so used to seeing Yellow stylaster and Beige/tan millepora and have not seen purple before. Are you guys sure that doesnt look like a dead skeleton w/ coralline grown over it?? looks multi-colored purple to me

[SueT]

The piece of distichopora{I hate spelling this} I had back when was solid purple. The piece had the same hair like stingers. Eric Borneman's first book, "A Practical Guide To Corals For The Reef Aquarium" has the perfect pic of this coral. Page 52 and he calls it Glowing Ember. The scientific name is distichopora irregularis. He says lighting needs are 2-4, meaning low. Eric did say little to nothing is known about this coral or it's care. I just think it looks like the piece I had after seeing Captn's pic and description.

my 180 ecosystem sps/clam tank:
http://berlinmethod.com/suet/
my 120 ecosystem sps/clam tank:
http://suetruett.homestead.com/home.html