Best SPS Corals For Beginners

Montipora corals are the easiest of the small polyp stony (SPS) to keep! Montipora corals are considered the easiest of the small polyp stony (SPS) corals to keep. They are considered the best SPS corals for beginners, and keeping SPS corals is very rewarding for experienced reef keepers too. The first SPS corals for all new reef keepers are the Montipora species.

These attractive, velvety corals are tolerant of most water parameters including light and water flow. Just make sure your parameters for calcium are kept up and you can have a beautiful display of pinks, purples, green and everything in-between. These are not aggressive corals, but are rather more submissive. Take care to place them away from other corals to protect them and allow them to grow.

The Montipora corals are the second largest genus of corals, with over 200 nominal species and more being recognized. They are second only to the Acropora genus, which has close to 400 nominal species. The Montipora corals, along with the Acropora, represent one third of all the ‘reef building’ corals.
These corals come in all the colours of the rainbow and in many shapes. Their polyps are so tiny, they give many of these corals a fuzzy look, hence the name velvet. Other Monti’s have polyps that are smaller still, and that simply makes those corals look stony. Montipora’s have many different growth forms and can even have several types of formations within a single colony. Basically, you name your style, and there’s a Montipora growth form that fits.
The Montipora corals are some of the all around best corals for the aquarium industry. Good from the standpoint of collecting from the wild, as they are easy to collect through fragging, leaving the mother colony intact. There are Montipora’s that are the encrusting forms. These are more difficult to collect.

Montipora Coral Facts
They are the second largest genera of corals with the Acropora genus being the largest. So far there are just over 200 nominal species, but the total number is still unknown. Names they are known for are the Velvet Coral, Velvet Finger Coral, and Velvet Branch Coral. The Montipora genus has the smallest corallites of all the corals. They are often confused with Porites whose corallites are also extremely small. Because the polyps of most Montipora are small, aquarists refer to them as small polyp stony corals, or SPS corals.

Montipora genus inhabit the entire Mediterranean Sea, and the Indo-Pacific Oceans from the east coast of Africa to the Pacific ocean, ending northward at the Hawaiian Island, and then extending southward to the Pitcairn Islands. They are commonly imported from Indonesia.
They are found in a wide range of habitats and types of water movement, depending on the species. Habitats can range from deep waters, up to the reef crest; and from clear oceanic reefs to turbid lagoons and shallow areas. They are a major contributing coral for reef formations. In fact, between Montipora and Acropora corals, they make up one-third of all reef-building coral species.

Montipora species have been propagated in captivity, thus helping to conserve wild populations in the world’s reefs. Some of their growth forms have been included in common names such as staghorn coral, cat’s paw coral, bottlebrush coral, table coral, tabletop coral, and plate coral.

What Do Montipora Corals Look Like?
Montipora is a plating species of small polyp stony (SPS) corals. The skeletal structures of the Montipora genus are lightweight and porous, with tiny openings for the polyps, barely visible in and around the coenosteum. Montipora corallites are tiny. They have the smallest corallites of all the corals. This makes them distinct from all other corals except Porites.

The corallites have almost microscopic inward-projecting septa (a thin skeletal plate in stony corals that protrudes from the corallite wall inward, toward the centre where the polyps reside). The polyps themselves are tiny, uniform, and on many species they are fuzzy. This gives Montipora one of its common names, Velvet Coral. Others have polyps that are smaller still, and simply make the corals look stony.
Unlike corals whose polyps expand or contract only at certain times of the day, Montipora polyps can be open or closed at any time of the day; they also can open singly or in groups.

• Colours of Montipora Corals
Montipora spp. are most commonly found in green, pink, purple, and brown but can be found in almost every colour. The polyps tend to be brown or green, usually in contrast with the more brightly coloured coenosarc (the soft tissue that lies over the stony skeleton and usually links the tissue between polyps). Some that are brown when collected can turn to blues and purples under the correct lighting. Lighting types include metal halides, high intensity VHO’s, and T-5s; with some being happy with compact fluorescents.
• Shapes of Montipora Corals
Montipora’s can be flat encrusting, branching, laminar, or foliaccous, and most can have several formations of growth within a single colony. Colonies can have massive or thick plates that can be with or without upward growths of columns, nodules, or other shapes. There are also colonies with thin plates. Some can have upright branches while others won’t, and they can be with or without encrusting plates. Upright branching colonies mostly form like the well-known Montipora digitata.

Types of Coral
The following are some of the best known Montipora corals
• Montipora capricornis = Montipora Plate Coral or Whorl Bowl Coral
• Montipora confusa = Purple Edge Montipora
• Montipora digitata = Velvet Finger Montipora
• Montipora foliosa = Cabbage Coral
• Montipora hirsute = Elkhorn Montipora
• Montipora nodosa = Mound Coral or Ridge Coral
• Montipora peltiformis = Plating Montipora Coral
• Montipora samarensis = Velvet Coral
• Montipora spongodes = Velvet Stone Coral
• Montipora undata = Idaho Grape Montipora
See each individual coral for more specific information.

Keeping Montipora Corals
Keeping stony corals is beyond a beginner. Having reef-keeping experience is invaluable for successfully keeping hard corals. Keeping some of the less demanding inhabitants, such as the leather and soft corals, mushroom corals, and anemones, you can hone your skills.

In general Montipora’s are easier to keep than Acroporas. They’re easy to moderate to care for, accepting a wide range of lighting, and less likely to bleach or get the diseases that the Acroporas corals tend to get. Finally they are easy to propagate. Unlike the finicky Acroporas, many Montipora species, once established they are quite hardy and fast growing. All in all ideal specimens for the captive reef environment.

Live Coral Care
In general the Montipora coral likes medium to strong water movement, and prefers a turbulent flow. It requires strong light from sources such as VHO or metal halide. They are not hard to keep as long as these requirements and calcium levels are maintained.
The growth form of a Montipora is a good indicator of what type of habitat they require. Those with smooth surfaces will need calmer water while those with a textured surfaces or convoluted in shape prefer higher water flow. The plate-like forms are from deeper waters. Those with lighter tips indicate they are fast growers, and those ringed around the margins with lighter colours indicates where the growth is happening.

Montipora’s do best in a reef tank, 10 gallons (38 L) or larger, that are stable. They must be at least a year old with very low nitrate levels. Provide a temperature range between 23 to 28 C and salinity (specific gravity) of 1.023-1.025. Lighting types include metal halides, high intensity VHO’s, and T-5s, with some being happy with compact fluorescents.

Keep the Montipora’s placement in mind, too. Position the Monti’s at the upper to mid levels depending on the light intensity. A Monti will show whether it is happy or not by the colouring. Make sure that no other corals or even algae that can come in contact with your Montipora. Monti’s are mild mannered and will end up loosing any chemical warfare. Pristine water conditions must be maintained. Doing water changes of 10% every 2 weeks is needed, although it is suggested that doing 5% water changes once a week will bring about amazing results. Keep the nitrate levels low. Suggested levels for Montipora species are:
• Calcium: 400 to 450 ppm (closer to 450). If the Monti does not have enough calcium, it will not grow.
• Alkalinity: 3.2 TO 4.5 MEQ/L (8 to 10 dkh - 10 is recommended)
• Phosphates: 0, zero. Phosphates are the worst of all and all corals hate them.
• Magnesium: 1350-1500. Magnesium makes calcium available, so if your calcium is low, check your magnesium levels before adding any more calcium.
• Strontium: 10