cyphastrea - encrusting/care/garden/growth

buttonreefer

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hi everyone,
i have a large arch of live rock that is just empty, and since its an arch, its not the best for placing corals…so i was thinking about trying some cyphastrea. it caught my eye because of the encrusting aspect and vivid colors.
do you think i could make a “garden” of different cyphastrea to encrust over the empty live rock arch? should it just be one type of cyphastrea, not a garden? what’s the growth rate? cyphastrea type suggestions for best color variation? care tips? pictures?
thanks! :)
 

crazyfishmom

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hi everyone,
i have a large arch of live rock that is just empty, and since its an arch, its not the best for placing corals…so i was thinking about trying some cyphastrea. it caught my eye because of the encrusting aspect and vivid colors.
do you think i could make a “garden” of different cyphastrea to encrust over the empty live rock arch? should it just be one type of cyphastrea, not a garden? what’s the growth rate? cyphastrea type suggestions for best color variation? care tips? pictures?
thanks! :)
For the best random colors the skittles bomb is awesome. If you want contrasting colors I would consider a mix of bizarro, jingle bells, and starry night. Would be really beautiful either way. For them to grow from frags you’re probably looking at 9 months to a year for a 2-3 inch perimeter around each frag which is pretty fast growth for most corals.
 
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buttonreefer

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For the best random colors the skittles bomb is awesome. If you want contrasting colors I would consider a mix of bizarro, jingle bells, and starry night. Would be really beautiful either way. For them to grow from frags you’re probably looking at 9 months to a year for a 2-3 inch perimeter around each frag which is pretty fast growth for most corals.
thank you so much for the info! i’m going to check those out right now! :)
 

vcollins9850

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hi everyone,
i have a large arch of live rock that is just empty, and since its an arch, its not the best for placing corals…so i was thinking about trying some cyphastrea. it caught my eye because of the encrusting aspect and vivid colors.
do you think i could make a “garden” of different cyphastrea to encrust over the empty live rock arch? should it just be one type of cyphastrea, not a garden? what’s the growth rate? cyphastrea type suggestions for best color variation? care tips? pictures?
thanks! :)
IMG_5135.jpeg
IMG_5134.jpeg
IMG_0021.jpeg

I love the yellow polyps in the bizzaro. Adds a pop of yellow that’s hard to find in most corals. Grows pretty fast once established. No experience with the garden, but most likely like anything else, once they collide one with attempt to grow up and over the other and will have a defined battle line.
 

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buttonreefer

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IMG_5135.jpeg
IMG_5134.jpeg
IMG_0021.jpeg

I love the yellow polyps in the bizzaro. Adds a pop of yellow that’s hard to find in most corals. Grows pretty fast once established. No experience with the garden, but most likely like anything else, once they collide one with attempt to grow up and over the other and will have a defined battle line.
yeah, that is a nice yellow pop! definitely like that one! do you think that if I did do a “garden”-type thing, one cyphastrea would completely take over the others over time so that there is just that one left- if so, is it even worth trying the garden?
 

vetteguy53081

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hi everyone,
i have a large arch of live rock that is just empty, and since its an arch, its not the best for placing corals…so i was thinking about trying some cyphastrea. it caught my eye because of the encrusting aspect and vivid colors.
do you think i could make a “garden” of different cyphastrea to encrust over the empty live rock arch? should it just be one type of cyphastrea, not a garden? what’s the growth rate? cyphastrea type suggestions for best color variation? care tips? pictures?
thanks! :)
I have a large cyphastrea which has covered its rock it came on and hasnt really spread to another, at least slowly. Should do well. Assure Phos is not elevated


1713740018107.png
 

vcollins9850

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yeah, that is a nice yellow pop! definitely like that one! do you think that if I did do a “garden”-type thing, one cyphastrea would completely take over the others over time so that there is just that one left- if so, is it even worth trying the garden?
Not sure, just my experience with encrusting montis is they tend to try and grow up and over when they meet. Always worth trying, they will still look good as they spread and if you got nothing else for the space why not. I would just have a plan long term for the one you like the most, maybe plant a moveable rock that you could pull once it fully encrusts just in case one gets overrun by another.
 
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buttonreefer

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@crazyfishmom and anyone else who was watching this thread-
starting my cyphastrea garden, arch, and figurines build thread in an hour or maybe the morning. just placed a nice order from TSA. see you soon?! :)
 

OrchidMiss

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I have a large area of branching cyphastrea on my back glass, too. That's about 3 years of growth.
Cant wait to see your results.
1000034174.jpg
 

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