Reef Central Online Community

Go Back   Reef Central Online Community > Coral Forums > SPS Keepers
Blogs FAQ Calendar Mark Forums Read

Notices

User Tag List

Reply
Thread Tools
Unread 09/08/2012, 12:26 PM   #1
zchauvin
Registered Member
 
zchauvin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 484
Sps newb

Ok guys, I see alot of good info in the stickys but there are some things I'm still confused and not certain about. I see people talk about tabling acropora, staghorn, deepwater, and a few others. Then I see millipora and other pora lol. Can someone describe the differences? Are they of a different genus/species. Sorry not sure how coral are seperated. I know small polyp stony and the water conditions they need and lighting just trying to get a better understanding of the different types and what there needs are in particular. You know, just the subtle things that seperate them other than place of origin. Any help that you guys can give me is much appreciated. Please excuse my low post count and don't find me as a complete noob!!


zchauvin is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 09/08/2012, 12:40 PM   #2
Finland
Registered Member
 
Finland's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 617
Tabling, staghorn, encrusting, plating, branching, bushy... These are all description of growth patterns, not the species. A montipora can be branching(grow into branches), encrusting(just encrust rockwork), or plating( grow into a dish/plate off the edge of rockwork). All depends on the type/species of montipora. Some acropora grow into table like structures, others into tall thin sticks(staghorn) others grow into thick bushhy structures, all depends on the type of acropora. Lighting and water flow also impact growth structure. Hope this helps


__________________
Andy

Current Tank Info: 280 reef
Finland is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 09/08/2012, 12:45 PM   #3
zchauvin
Registered Member
 
zchauvin's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2012
Posts: 484
Quote:
Originally Posted by Finland View Post
Tabling, staghorn, encrusting, plating, branching, bushy... These are all description of growth patterns, not the species. A montipora can be branching(grow into branches), encrusting(just encrust rockwork), or plating( grow into a dish/plate off the edge of rockwork). All depends on the type/species of montipora. Some acropora grow into table like structures, others into tall thin sticks(staghorn) others grow into thick bushhy structures, all depends on the type of acropora. Lighting and water flow also impact growth structure. Hope this helps
Thanks I know a good bit about the montipora, its the acros and what not that I'm not sure of. Whats the difference between millipora and acropora? Thats what I was talking about and then like the deep water acros and what not. Is it mostly just that they are from deeper water? I mean it seems there would have to be more to it than just that?


zchauvin is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 09/09/2012, 03:45 PM   #4
REEF SMAC
Registered Member
 
REEF SMAC's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Salinas CA
Posts: 875
Quote:
Originally Posted by zchauvin View Post
Thanks I know a good bit about the montipora, its the acros and what not that I'm not sure of. Whats the difference between millipora and acropora? Thats what I was talking about and then like the deep water acros and what not. Is it mostly just that they are from deeper water? I mean it seems there would have to be more to it than just that?
There is a lot too it actually. Trying to figure out what species of acropora you have is sometimes almost impossible. There are data bases and books that descibe all the different species, show pictures, but it is really hard to tell a lot of time even with that.
It's a fun exercise for everyone to debate what species coral "X" really is but I'm not convinced there are more than 50 people on the entire planet that actually could accurately ID some of them, and even those guys probably wouldn't attemp it from a photo.
So many acros change in color and shape depending on the light and flow they are getting, that it's hard to sometimes spot the same exact coral growing in two different systems.

A millipora is an acropora BTW.

All this "deep water" stuff is pretty much just refering to any acro with smooth skin (red bug magnets).
Just a marketing name pretty much. Doesn't really have much to do with how deep the water is where it came from. Supposedly they will grow with less light but that is debatable, as most will do just fine or even better with more light.

And unless you DT is ten feet deep does it really mater?

With some photos and descriptions you can probably narrow it down to the top three maybe?

As long as your acro is happy in your system, has a color and shape you personally like, that is pretty much all that matters really.


REEF SMAC is offline   Reply With Quote
Unread 09/09/2012, 05:35 PM   #5
Finland
Registered Member
 
Finland's Avatar
 
Join Date: Mar 2005
Location: Wisconsin
Posts: 617
Quote:
Originally Posted by REEF SMAC View Post
There is a lot too it actually. Trying to figure out what species of acropora you have is sometimes almost impossible. There are data bases and books that descibe all the different species, show pictures, but it is really hard to tell a lot of time even with that.
It's a fun exercise for everyone to debate what species coral "X" really is but I'm not convinced there are more than 50 people on the entire planet that actually could accurately ID some of them, and even those guys probably wouldn't attemp it from a photo.

.
+1 what reef smac said. Try this link http://coral.aims.gov.au/speciesPages/
and click on acropora just to give you an idea on how many acros there are and how similar some are to each other


__________________
Andy

Current Tank Info: 280 reef
Finland is offline   Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is On



All times are GMT -6. The time now is 07:31 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.4
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, Jelsoft Enterprises Ltd.
Powered by Searchlight © 2024 Axivo Inc.
Use of this web site is subject to the terms and conditions described in the user agreement.
Reef CentralTM Reef Central, LLC. Copyright ©1999-2022
User Alert System provided by Advanced User Tagging v3.3.0 (Pro) - vBulletin Mods & Addons Copyright © 2024 DragonByte Technologies Ltd.