Pets

A Complete Care Guide of Minitipora Coral

often referred to as Montis or Digis Montipora coral, is a popular beginner-level coral. Though being easier than Acropora, care of montipora coral still requires stability and attention to the chemistry of the water. It includes the coral reef building Monti caps and the branching digits. Another popular coral that is very colourful for SPS tanks is the encrusting montipora. It deserves the two most popular SPS corals after the Acropora coral.

In this article, we will go through the steps needed while caring for a montipora coral.

Temperature Stability

Temperature is the first consideration with any coral. If they are within a given range, they will be fine, as many reefers believe. Stability is vital when keeping sensitive corals like SPS, especially Acropora and montipora. The temperature should be kept within half a degree to reduce coral stress.

Ideal Temperature

For montipora care, there is no specific temperature better than others. That said, maintaining a temperature that is most of the coral is best. Because of this, the recommended range should be between 77-79 degrees F.

Water chemistry

Alkalinity

Like other corals, the montipora strives best in a stable environment. Which should be kept in the 7 to 8-day ranges practised by many expert reefers.

Calcium

As stated earlier, the montipora strives best in a stable environment, with the ideal range being 400 to 450 ppm.

Magnesium

The ideal range in the concerned water is between 1200 to 1400ppm, giving us a target of 1300 ppm, which is best suited.

Nitrates and phosphate

The ideal range for nitrates is 1 to 10 ppm, with the phosphate being 100 parts of the nitrate, that is, nitrate/100.

Lighting

The coral thrives best under intense lighting, Like many other SPS corals. With the most successful range coming in between 200 and 300 PAR. The level of 300 is optimal and best and the lower levels are suitable for new corals.

Diet

Montipora is not aggressive eaters, as per an article on tidal gardens. Good montipora care shows that they may need some feeding, as shown on some occasions. After losing coloration for some time, the coral may need food.

Conclusion

Amino acids and tiny zooplankton like rotifers and cyclops should be fed as tidal gardens recommend. Fish in the tank can also provide food as the Monti will likely pick up small food particles from the water column. As we saw in the above article, there are many factors that you should keep in mind while taking good care of the popular montipora coral.