WooHoooo! Or, Guess the Parents

[Timfish]

Had a baby monti show up in one of the systems I take care of!





There's 4 different monti colonies that could be the parents, a superman, sunset and 2 we don't remember the names of.

Superman Monti


Sunset Monti


Forgotten Monti #1 (Very fast growing, this is it's second location. Compared to the other 3 montipora colonies, this one grows about 4 times faster.)


Forgotten Monti #2



This system was set up about 4 years ago. I was asked to take over maintenance about 2 years ago (life happens). Aquarium is a Red Sea 450 with Kessils. No skimmer, filter socks but they haven't been cleaned in over well over 2 years. Refugium with cheato (slow growing, none was harvested for several years). Return pump and 4 power heads. Water changes varied between monthly and weekly with RO/DI. Feeding is frozen typically once a day. PH 8.1 to 8.4 (API). Alkalinity 5 to 10 dKH (Salifert and API). Calcium 300 mg/l to 420 mg/l (Salifert and API). PO4 undectable to .16 mg/l (Salifert and Red Sea) Nitrates undetectable to 1 mg/l (Salifert and Nyos)

 

[tbrown]

Really hard to see true colors but it sure reminds me of my Jedi Mind Trick (possibly the second unknown).

 

[Timfish]

Yeah, sorry about the pics. Best I could do with my cell phone looking through the water. I'm guessing the sunset and #2 for the parents, I don't think montis can self fertilize but need two parents for an egg to be fertilized develop. I'm pretty sure montis aren't a brooding species that release larva like Pocillapora damicornis does.

 

[tbrown]

Yeah, sorry about the pics. Best I could do with my cell phone looking through the water. I'm guessing the sunset and #2 for the parents, I don't think montis can self fertilize but need two parents for an egg to be fertilized develop. I'm pretty sure montis aren't a brooding species that release larva like Pocillapora damicornis does.

Several of mine have dropped pieces that float around and attach where they land. I have Bubblegum Digitatas across the tank from the mother colony.

 

[Timfish]

Several of mine have dropped pieces that float around and attach where they land. I have Bubblegum Digitatas across the tank from the mother colony.

It's possible, I've had accidental frags show up various places. It seems highly unlikely as this is about 2/3rds up on a front joint. It was also only 3 or 4 polyps when it showed up and my experience it takes a while for a frag to attach on it's own whereas a larva attaches very quickly once it's pick a spot to settle. I've also had other corals and clams spawn as well, so I certainly consider a successful spawning a realistic possibility.