Description

ORA Green Digitata

Thanks to advances in aquaculture, ORA’s Green Montipora digitata is plentiful in the reef tank hobby. This is not because of how it looks or how easy it is to take care of. In fact, it is both beautiful and tough (indeed fast-growing). It looks good both as a small frag and as a big, well-established colony. The ORA Green Digitata is a finger-like SPS coral that has a rich green color and matching green polyps.

 

Montipora Digitata have been a mainstay in reef tanks kept by beginning and advanced hobbysits. As for how to care for them, there are a few considerations. Although they are not as demanding as Acropora, they can be sensitive to changes in their tank conditions.

Montipora are found all over the islands of the Indo-Pacific and the Great Barrier Reef.

 

Like many other SPS corals, Montipora love light. Montipora corals cannot obtain energy directly from the sun. They have instead created a symbiotic association with dinoflagellates that inhabit their tissues. Through photosynthesis, these dinoflagellates provide energy to coral. For growth energy, coral consumes the byproducts of this photosynthetic activity.

 

Like Acropora and other SPS, Montipora can experience fading in coloration depending on the type of light it receives. Some reef keepers favor metal halides or T5 fluorescent bulbs, which are less energy-efficient and produce a more heat. Hybrid fixtures can combine LED with T5 bulbs to obtain the advantages of both lighting technologies.

 

 

Montipora relies on their zooxanthellae for nutrition, but they may also eat some phytoplankton and other zooplankton in the water column. If you have a well-stocked and established refugium in your reef tank, you may not need to go out of your way to feed Montipora. However, the entire reef tank system will benefit from a light dusting of EcoPods or OceanMagic Live Phytoplankton.

 

We recommend water movement from moderate to high intensity. Reef hobbyists have been keeping Montipora in high flow aquariums for a long time with a lot of success, just like they do with most SPS. High water flow helps sweep away debris from coral and bring vital nutrients to their polyps.

Montipora thrives in tanks with high water flow. They prefer swiftly moving water but avoid directing water jets directly at the coral. Water flow that is too intense could cause injuries and bruises to coral and direct flow could prevent polyps from expanding resulting in starvation. If the water pressure is too high, it may also dislodge or destroy the coral.

 

The most important aspect of flow is maintaining consistency over time. As coral grows, it tends to obstruct the flow of water around the tank. Be on the lookout for eddies that can cause waste to accumulate on the corals. Either reroute the water flow around the tank or remove waste manually as it accumulates.

 

∙ Purchase Size: ~1″ (length)

∙ Lighting Intensity: 200-450 PAR

∙ Water Parameters: 72-78° F, dKH 8-12, pH 8.2-8.4, sg 1.023-1.025

∙ Color: Green base with green polyps

∙ Reef-Safe: Yes

∙ Diet: Zooxanthellate

 

 

When corals are raised in captivity, they have several important advantages over their wild harvested counterparts. Most importantly, these corals are more disease resistant and has less exposure to pests and pathogens. These corals can handle the stress of shipping and acclimating to a new reef tank system better, so they are better suited to life in the reef tank. By choosing ORA’s Green Montipora Digitata, you are supporting the aquaculture of marine livestock and making our hobby more sustainable.