This whorling and plating Montipora species was collected by Bill Schroer while
he was living and collecting in Ponape. Bill delivered this coral to Reeffarmers
in mid 2003 and it represents the last Bill Schroer collected exotic Ponape stony
coral that Reeffarmers.com will distribute as a Limited Edition. When this coral
first arrived the photo below shows that it had a brilliant baby blue coloration.
This blue coloration however faded and the coral turned greenish brown. We
maintained a fragment of this coral for well over a year. During the first year the
fragment did not even grow. After spending over a year adapting to captivity, the coral
finally began to grow. And as of the start of 2005 the coral has completely redeveloped
its incredible baby blue coloration. The polyps do appear to have some pigment.
At any rate, no one is currently collecting exotic Montipora stony species in Ponape.
This is a one of a kind coral. We do not know the species of Montipora this coral is,
but it is very similar to Montipora flabellata which is only found in Hawaii. Perhaps
this is a similar species with a wider distribution that also occurs in Micronesia.
Steve Tyree is maintaining this coral for reeffarmers.com in a
125 gallon naturally filtered TriZonal system. This system is naturally filtered
with a cryptic zone, filter feeder zone and reef flat exposed zone. In Steve's
captive reef the coral is positoned 16 inches below a 400 watt 20,000 K
radium metal halide. The bright baby blue coloration appears to be developing
better under stronger light irradiance. Water current is moderate to weak.
Please note this coral was retired on December 2008 due to the loss of the seed.