How fast should my Montipora grow?

[blackcloudmedia]

SO Im kinda mad at myself because I talked myself into paying 40 dollars for a Green Montipora Digitata frag about 4 inches long. Considering I bought a 6 inch by 5 inch brain coral for 30 dollars. Anyways Im justifying it by hoping it will grow pretty fast. How long will my rediculously expensive frag (in my opinion) take to grow.


On another note why are SPS frags so expensive, is it because people know they can get away with making TONS of money off of a basketball sized ACRO or MONTI? Seems to me that a frag the size of a finger should cost 5 bucks or so. Especially since it takes a year or so for it to grow to a respectable size. Like I said before I purchased two brain corals. Either of which was still cheaper than a dinky SPS frag. Im not rich so I try to make my money go a long way. Seems like fragging should be the "poor man's" way of getting SPS...not the standard. just a vent.

 

[Anonymous]

Alot of the question regarding growth has to do with how your tank is set up. If you in fact have PC lights over your SPS corals you will experience very very little and slow growth if any. Montis are a less light demanding SPS but still need light to grow. 40 for a 4 inch frag is actually very good. Some have paid over 100 for a 1/2 inch.

 

[Anonymous]

At $40 for that frag, it is pretty reasonable naowadays. I get frags in the past for free, or next to nothing (~$25), but that is only because of the generosity of fellow reefers. I did the same for many others too. However, these time of peace and love seem to be thing of the past.

When you get more into the hobby, you will realize that $40 is not that much for a mounted frag that has encrusted slightly.

People pays me $50/hr for typing on a computer keyboard, so you should pay me $5 for this post...

 

[blackcloudmedia]

Hmm, should I place this coral high up in my tank? Right now I have it in the middle of my 55 gal. I did this because I heard you should place them low in the tank to acclimate them then move them up higher and monitor them.

 

[Anonymous]

I don't know that you will need to acclimate them to PC lights. Generally people have to acclimate corals to high intensity lighting like T5 or MH and VHO. Then they start the corals low and gradually raise them to their desired spot so as to prevent being burned by the bright light.

 

[Unarce]

$40 for a 4" frag isn't bad from a LFS. Heck, a 1/2" frag of the Superman Digi will run you at least $60.

Now, if you still have the power compacts, I wouldn't worry about burning them and just raise them up right away.

 

[blackcloudmedia]

Well well I learn something new everyday....I love spending 200 dollars on lighting and knowing they are the "low end of the totem pole." lol. So am I looking at putting them on the top of the tank or just right about? My Live rock doesnt exactly go that high.

 

[Anonymous]

I would place them as high as the rock will let you. For keeping FO or even a softie tank your lighting is fine. Montis may do well also. I had 2x96 PC and had some monti cap and digitata that lived and grew slowly. Colors didn't pop and it didn't grow very fast. Once I upgraded to MH then they really took off. It is all what you can do on your budget. If you are new to the hobby and already have the equipment then keep what you have and learn the ropes with it. When you are ready too, then upgrade. Nothing good happens fast in this hobby. Patience is the key to success. Montis, zoas, mushrooms, leathers, hammers, frogspawn, galaxea are some examples of relatively easy low light corals to start. Those were in no particular order either. I kept my few corals under PC for 6 months before I upgrade to HQI MH.

 

[blackcloudmedia]

Speaking of Zoos you know whats weird is mine havent opened for two weeks but show no signs of death. Everything else is prefect.

 

[Anonymous]

Sometimes it takes new corals some time to open up. As long as you aren't seeing any negative effects I wouldn't worry yet. I dont know alot about zoas as my time has been spent trying to erradicate them from my tank. Someone else chime in here and help out.