Digitata color variations?

[yrureefing]

I have a brown digitata with purple tips. Is the same thing as a pure purple digitata or different. I have a 400w radium on my 15. Could it morph into pure purple?

[Sloth]

wondering same thing...

[newreefman1]

chances are its purple. There arent a ton of just brown corals..they all tend to turn some color under the right lighting for their type.

Purple tips though indicates purple Digitata IME. Give it some good light and youll have a purple branching monster montipora....they are growth hogs and fun to watch.

J

[Travis]

I also have a brown with purple tipped digitata frag that is about 3" X 3". It is right under my 250W XDE.

I wonder if they just need to get to a certain size and then the whole thing will color up.

[coralite]

IME, purple digitatas will have colored tips in low alkalinity but if you get the KH above 10 and keep it there, the whole thing will color up.

[Travis]

I keep my alkalinity at 12 dKH with my reactor. It's only been running for about a month though. Before that it was in the 7's. Maybe it will color up with a constant high dKH and time.

[Experimenter]

Do a search in the Coral Forum under digitata and color. Basically, different people have had different experiences. I got my brown w/purple tip digitata from two sources and for both it was a true purple. I also have orange that was pink for another reefer. It is not just due to lights, or probably alk or Ca. It might also have something to do with nutrients and a variety of other factors that we don't know yet.

So, enjoy whatever color you have. It could stay that way, or it could change, depending on things we really don't know.

Take care,
John

[coralite]

an excess of nutrients can also mask a coral's full color potential regardless of light intensity, spectrum or mineral water parameters.

[Will]

Originally posted by yrureefing
I have a brown digitata with purple tips. Is the same thing as a pure purple digitata or different. I have a 400w radium on my 15. Could it morph into pure purple?

If they're both Montipora digitata, they're indeed the same species. But that's where you'd have to do some hypothetical work (or is that even possible?)--finding out whether or not it is indeed M. digitata.

Anyone know if the different color morphs are subspecies or if they're just variations?
-Will

[coralite]

Even lower down than subspecies, Veron suggests that the many variations of digitata and other well distributed corals such as P damicornis may have dozens of once geograpically seperated populations. Localized variants is all. At the moment I have the following digitatas purple, orange/pink, green, light brown and another that is light flesh colored with orange polyps. Some varieties even develop flattened branch tips

[yrureefing]

My alk is pretty high. Last I checked both my calc and alk were more than what most people have. I think I will just give it time.

[va_reefman]

IME, I have the same 2 Digis in my tank. One is just purple tips with brown polyps and brown body. The other one has purple from tip to toe. They do look indentical but the color of the polyp and body can turn to nice blue/purple color.

HTH,
John

PS: both corals are in the same tank with the same lighting condition.

[Sloth]

va_reefman: How are the two corals positioned in the tank? What do you think is causing the difference in color?

[va_reefman]

I think they are actually two different color morph. They were in the same area in the tank. Trust me, I honestly think they are different even though they are both digitata.

John

[kevinpo]

I have several colonies of purple M. digitata in my tank. They are all from the same parent colony but some are all purple and some are brown with purple tips. IMO/IME it is only lighting that gives the coloration as these are all in the same tank.

Regards,
Kevin