Looking for some monti advice...

[Retro Heat]

I have an Innovative Marine 15 gallon cube that's been up for almost a year. As you can see below, my rockwork has a "cap" that I want to maybe put an encrusting monti. My main concerns are:

1) I don't want anything that will grow up toward the light (so, sticks and anything branching is pretty much out)
2) I want as much color as possible
3) I would prefer that it would stay on top of the cap without moving down the main rockwork

With all of this said, I was thinking of picking up a rainbow monti. I'm pretty sure that the rainbow monti satisfies both #1 & #2. I'm not too sure if it would stay localized to the top cap though. Will the rainbow start growing underneath the cap and start growing down the main rockwork? Do you guys have any suggestions on other corals that would look good encrusting my top cap rock? Thanks in advance.

Here's an older pic that shows the cap a little better...

 

[blaxsun]

A monti may work out really well, but due to the "dome" on the cap you may want to place a small one on either side. They can take a while to "plate", but this is often (though not always) more horizontal than vertical.

 

[Retro Heat]

A monti may work out really well, but due to the "dome" on the cap you may want to place a small one on either side. They can take a while to "plate", but this is often (though not always) more horizontal than vertical.

That dome is actually just a spare rock I put up there but I can take it off. I like the idea of putting a frag on both sides to speed up the encrusting process. Would I be able to put two different colorways together? I assume that they would just meet somewhere in the middle and co-exist. Also, is it safe to assume that the monti will stay on the top of the cap and not work their way down the main rockwork?

 

[blaxsun]

That dome is actually just a spare rock I put up there but I can take it off. I like the idea of putting a frag on both sides to speed up the encrusting process. Would I be able to put two different colorways together? I assume that they would just meet somewhere in the middle and co-exist. Also, is it safe to assume that the monti will stay on the top of the cap and not work their way down the main rockwork?

Yes. It will take quite a while for both to encrust enough before they come into contact with one another. It will predominantly grow out and up when it plates.

 

[Gtinnel]

I have a mystic sunset monti in my tank that encrusted the rock and then began growing out, kind of like a plating monti. I don’t know if that’s their normal growth pattern or not, but it makes it incredibly easy to reach in the tank and break the overhang off when it gets too large.
It’s colorful as long as the colors you want are pink and purple.

In my picture you can see it on the left where it encrusted then just started growing out instead of down the rock. This picture was when I was playing with a filter, the true color is more pink than orange.

 

[Retro Heat]

I have a mystic sunset monti in my tank that encrusted the rock and then began growing out, kind of like a plating monti. I don’t know if that’s their normal growth pattern or not, but it makes it incredibly easy to reach in the tank and break the overhang off when it gets too large.
It’s colorful as long as the colors you want are pink and purple.

In my picture you can see it on the left where it encrusted then just started growing out instead of down the rock. This picture was when I was playing with a filter, the true color is more pink than orange.

Gotcha. Yeah, that would work since I can just break off the overhang when they get too big and start shading the corals below. Thanks for the advice everyone.

 

[Gtinnel]

Oh I should also mention that there used to be a rainbow monti beside the mystic sunset. It is now a dead skeleton below the mystic sunset. i am far from a monti expert, but I can say from experience they don’t always get along.

ETA- I don’t know if it would grow down your rock or not, but the rainbow monti is another really pretty encrusting monti.

 

[Retro Heat]

Oh I should also mention that there used to be a rainbow monti beside the mystic sunset. It is now a dead skeleton below the mystic sunset. i am far from a monti expert, but I can say from experience they don’t always get along.

ETA- I don’t know if it would grow down your rock or not, but the rainbow monti is another really pretty encrusting monti.

thanks for the heads up. guess I'll just stick with 2 or three of the same frag to get it to encrust a little faster.