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View Full Version : Montipora plate in LPS/Softies tank?


serbusfish
04/11/2015, 06:35 PM
I have a 75 gallon tank that has been set up for around a month (see my build thread if interested) and my plan with the tank is to keep mainly LPS and a few softies. However my LFS has a display tank with a large Montipora plate coral in it which I think looks fantastic, and looking at info about them they seem to be a relatively easy SPS coral to keep compared to most? Now this is a plan for when my tank is mature, but I was wondering would I be able to keep one with mainly LPS and a few softies?

I have 4x 54W T5's and I read Montipora should have at least 3 watts per gallon of light, and my lighting just meets this demand. I do 10% weekly water changes, my nitrates are currently at 7, phosphate as close to 0 as can be achieved, and my evaporation is very small, I only have to top off with 2 litres of RO every couple of days as I dont have a sump and have a closed lid system, so SG is remaining very stable.

msaba
04/11/2015, 07:33 PM
you would be able to keep and grow montipora caps like weeds... I find mine do better in my
mixed reef than my sps only tank, but in any case, they are very forgiving if your parameters are stable. you have plenty of light

thegrun
04/11/2015, 08:02 PM
+1, keeping plate Montipora should not be a problem assuming you maintain your calcium and alkalinity levels up.

BrettH
04/11/2015, 08:18 PM
agree. shouldn't be an issue.

serbusfish
04/12/2015, 03:39 AM
That is great to hear, cheers guys! Out of interest do you need to 'glue' them into place or will they attach to rockwork themselves? Also what does my nitrate level need to be at to keep them? As I said it is around 7 at the moment.

pyithar
04/12/2015, 05:19 AM
they will encrust to the rock they're touching. but if the frag is small, cuc could knock it over before it sticks to the rock. in that case, you could superglue or epoxy the frag. nitrates around 7 will be fine for montiporas imo. the key is the stability of the parameters.

kmbyrnes
04/12/2015, 08:25 AM
Your lights should be fine.
I had plenty of light, but until I got my parameters under control, nothing grew very well.
Now that I have things stable, the monitis and everything else are thriving.

DSMpunk
04/12/2015, 04:53 PM
I kept monti caps under power compacts back in the day. You have plenty of light.

KabayanReef
04/12/2015, 07:27 PM
One thing I read about them was having ample amount of strong flow as detritus shouldn't build up on top of the plate. What do you have for flow? turnover? Can't wait for an orange and green monti cap colony to arrive in my LFS and I see this thread lol.

serbusfish
04/13/2015, 08:34 AM
One thing I read about them was having ample amount of strong flow as detritus shouldn't build up on top of the plate. What do you have for flow? turnover? Can't wait for an orange and green monti cap colony to arrive in my LFS and I see this thread lol.

My powerheads combined currently move 6000 litres/1585 gallons an hour, which is roughly 20x turnover.