How To Mount Montipora Coral- Step By Step Guide
The common name for Montipora Coral is velvet coral. They arguably happen to be the second most popular small polyp stony coral behind Acropora. It adds aestheticism to your fish tank with various colors and multitude of growth forms.
However, mounting coral refers to the installation of coral in your fish tank. And the process appears tricky for Montipora coral. You need to have a clear vision of what you are doing, insights into Montipora coral installation, and the considerable stuff to count while installing.
Firstly turn off your tank’s instruments. Then clean the surface that you are about to mount your coral on. Now take some glue or adhesive and attach the Montipora with the rock surface. Wait for a minute or two before turning on the instruments so that the glue or adhesive can create a cure underwater.
Learn in detail and apply the DIY method. After reading this post, you might start feeling like an expert in terms of mounting Montipora.
Steps to Follow and Insights to Mount Montipora Coral
While thinking of adding Montipora coral to your fish tank, you need to learn the process and other ins and outs. Go through the following texts and stop worrying about how to mount Montipora coral.
Useful Gear For Mounting Corals
In most cases, using coral glue appears to be the most effective way to mount a coral frag. It adheres to both the Montipora coral and rock in an easier way. It is recommended to have sufficient coral glue in stock.(Our Pick: Seachem Reef Glue Cyanoacrylate Gel Coral Frag Mounting)
You may go for epoxy as well if you find a perfect spot to attach a frag. Epoxy serves another purpose of filling in or building areas where glue isn’t the best option.
Have coral shears and forceps as propagation tools as they will allow you to move coral with delicacy. In this way, you can get your job done without damaging any tissue and can cut away dead skeletons or frag plugs.
Super Glue Gel
Super glue gel is also a preferable adhesive since it works fine underwater and is easier to deal with. When it gets exposed to water, there will be a form of the skin allowing you to kind of mold it. Here, you won’t be covering your hands with glue.
The way of using this glue is to take the required amount of glue (a dime size dollop) and apply it on the coral when the coral is out of the tank. After doing so, you need to dip the coral into the water, and immediately there will be a thin layer of glue to act as a protective layer. Thus it becomes easier to mold into the crevices of the rocks.
Now, keep holding the frag for at least 60 seconds, and there you are. Any piece should hold onto that.
Epoxy
In some exceptional scenarios, Epoxy can come in handy but with some limitations. You will find Epoxy curing underwater but it will take around 24 hours or more to cure fully. It also tends to create an over-skimming situation with other byproducts that you put into the water throughout the curing time.
It doesn’t appear tacky and won’t adhere to any wet surfaces. On the other hand, it works fine to create the support that you need around a large coral skeleton or frag plug. Some people find the combination of epoxy and super glue to mount coral and that works just fine.
Steps To Follow
Follow the below-mentioned steps and mount montipora coral easily.
- Firstly you need to turn off some of your tank instruments, by name, protein skimmer, powerheads, and the return pump, turn the lights or put them into acclimation mode.
- Then you need to clean the rock surface to ensure that they are algae free. Use a firm bristle brush to serve the purpose.
- After that try to remove or trim frag mounts as far as possible.
- Now stick corals on your desired surface using adhesive or glue.
- Wait for a while and let the glue or adhesive cure before turning on the previously shut-down instruments.
Tips & Tricks For Success
Try to keep the following words in your mind to avoid any unwanted situations. Thus you can expect the best result as well.
- As previously mentioned, always try to secure coral with glue or adhesive.
- Corals that you put on the sandbed might get covered in sand. Be aware of fish and other living beings that can do the same.
- Since superglue creates a thin protective layer immediately after it is put in the water, it takes a while to adhere to the surface.
- Turn off the skimmer while using epoxy. Otherwise, over-skim from the skimmer might overflow the skimmer cup.
- Don’t go for a plastic super glue tube or container for ejecting the glue underwater. Because that will end up sucking water inwards and ruining the rest of the glue. Only a metal container is an option.
- Always pre-test your coral by setting them randomly to a specific place to find out how that fits!
Considerable Stuff
You must keep aware of some aspects to make your Montipora coral thrive just fine.
Color
The color combination is the artistic side of the coral mounting. The understanding of mixing different colors together for your tank to get a cohesive aquascape will be a key factor for the end result. You may prefer placing the complementary colors next to each other or grouping some distinct colors altogether.
However, this appears fully subjective. Because what pleases you, might not seem attractive to others. But in the end, the tank is yours all that matters.
Keep this in mind while buying new Montipora coral as well. Find a good color combination to mount it. Also, consider the end result of corals after their growth.
Growth Rate
The growth rate of coral is something that you can’t ignore. Because the required spaces vary due to the growth rate.
If you have a comparatively large space that you want to fill with coral, you need a faster-growing species. And Montipora coral tends to grow faster with its convenient and preferable lighting and environment.
On the other hand, some corals tend not to be in touch with others. And these types need more space to grow.
Some of the corals grow up, and some may encrust or grow sideways. Some others may grow in every direction or may sway with the current. Know their nature before placing them.
Aggression
Some corals appear to be aggressive towards other corals when they get in touch with other types. For instance, you won’t find the idea of placing LPS and SPS corals side by side or next to each other as a good combo.
Luckily Montipora coral is completely harmless. So you don’t need to worry about other corals while placing Montipora coral next to them.
But you must keep an eye open for where you are putting your Montipora coral. Because the coral next to Montipora might be an aggressive one and the end result will not be pleasant for your newly mounted Montipora coral.
Flow Pattern
Different corals have their own type of required flow rate. To mention some suit lower flow whereas, some others prefer medium or moderate flow. At the same time, some might feel at home in high flow.
This depends on the place of the natural growth of the corals. Ones that grow on top of the rock in a coral reef (nearer to the surface), are habitats with stronger currents. But growing on the sea bed or in the rock, they are protected from those stronger waves. Similarly, you have these kinds of different flow zones in your tank.
Moderate to high flow suits montipora coral best. Therefore you need to mount them accordingly. Otherwise, the growth will be hampered and you might get disappointed with them. It also affects the long-term health of velvet coral.
Lighting
Similarly to the flow pattern, corals’ lighting preference also varies from one type to another. Based upon this, the thriving of a particular coral depends. (whether it’ll thrive or not)
The only way to measure the light intensity in your aquarium is to use a PAR (photosynthetically active radiation) meter. With this, you would be able to measure the very light intensity of any specific place in your fish tank.
According to the PAR meter, light intensity is divided into three parts – low (30 – 50 PAR), medium (50 – 150), and high (150+ PAR). Based upon this, Montipora coral grows fine with medium to high intensity.
But you must not put your Montipora coral at high light intensity right while mounting it. Rather you should try to move it from medium to high light intensity gradually. Initially maintain the PAR meter 125 – 150 and later on keep it somewhat between 200 – 300 PAR. That way, your coral will thrive the best.
Shadowing
With the passage of time, your Montipora coral will grow. And if you haven’t pre-planned mounting them in a perfect place, they might create shadows upon an unwanted place.
Coral shadow eventually hinders light to befall upon other corals or plants. Thus, insufficient lighting for the victim plant might be a headache for you. Coral may start encrusting or plants’ growth might be hampered.
In another sense, you should not mount Montipora coral in a place that has the risk of not getting the required light due to another coral or plant. Because Montipora coral is a moderate to high light-intensity coral.
Difficulties Regarding Placement
By now, you must have had an idea that lighting, flow rate, shadow, etc. are connected to each other. Therefore, you must choose a suitable place carefully.
However, while mounting Montipora coral, you might find it difficult to attach the coral with a surface. The reason is, some rock surfaces are comparatively more porous, some are flatter, and again some appear with lots of crevices.
No doubt, it’s easier to mount Montipora coral to a surface with crevices or porous rock rather than gluing it to a smoother surface. But that doesn’t mean, you can’t attach your coral against a smoother surface.
With a little bit of patience, you are supposed to be capable of adhering coral to almost all surfaces. When it appears a bit challenging, deal with a bit more delicacy.
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Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Do You Need To Feed Montipora Coral?
Simply the answer is yes. Coral does get nutrition from their photosynthesis process. Apart from that, they also need to be fed zooplancton and that’s proven. Moreover, the size of the prey for coral should be small enough. So that, the zooplancton can be digested by small polyps.
Should I Dip Montipora?
While you find your Montipora coral attacked with nudibranch, you must treat it. The treatment is to dip it into another tank (quarantine tank). Here, when you will be dipping your Montipora, you should dip ones that have no nudibranch sign on them as well. Dip them and after 2 days, dip them again.
How Do You Acclimate Montipora?
When you feel the necessity of acclimating monti caps, the first thing you need to do is to put and keep them in a shaded place for half a day. Then they need to be exposed to moderate light for a day. And that’s all.
How Do I Know If My Montipora Is Healthy?
There are a few parameters for Montipora coral to look at to be assured of their sound health. For example, if you find that your Montipora coral is holding color ( not fading or improving the color), keeping the growth rate, a noticeable lacking in recession, lightening, peeling, etc then you can remain relieved regarding your healthy Montipora.
Conclusion
Coral adds aestheticism to your fish tank. It’s an advanced version of beautifying your beloved aquarium. But you need insights to have them installed. You don’t want to be careless and ruin the end result of installing them.
Montipora coral is easy to mount but it requires attention and patience. Moreover, you should be aware of the compatibility of different aspects that have been mentioned earlier. Thus you can happily grow your coral in peace. Trim the encrusting coral when needed and enjoy the beauty.
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