Montipora Spongodes

Montipora spongodes feels like Montipora’s attempt at sculptural art. It plates, branches, and encrusts all at once, and the growth pattern looks like a coral trying to imitate a tree growing out of a mushroom.

Here’s a clean, practical care guide built for real-world reefing.

Lighting

Moderate to high light. Around 150 to 250 PAR keeps the base green and the branch tips a rich brown or teal. Higher light produces tighter, chunkier growth. Lower light stretches the structure and softens color.

Flow

Medium to high. Spongodes wants a swirling, inconsistent flow that keeps detritus off the plate and the polyps moving. Strong, one-directional streams can flatten or deform growth, so aim for cross-fire turbulence instead.

Placement

Mid to high in the rockwork. It needs room above for branches and room below because it will encrust downward. If something is beneath Spongodes, assume it will eventually get shaded.

Water parameters

It plays by typical Montipora rules: steady, not hyper-clean, and not wild on the chemistry swing.

Calcium about 420.
Alkalinity around 8 to 8.6.
Magnesium near 1350.
Nitrate 5 to 15.
Phosphate 0.03 to 0.1.

Most montis decline fast when nutrients hit zero. Spongodes is no different. It likes a reef that “breathes,” not one starved by over-filtration.

Feeding

It relies mainly on light and water column nutrients. Occasional amino acids can deepen the green. Direct feeding is unnecessary.

Growth behavior

Spongodes starts as an encruster, then sends up branching knobs, then builds a thick plate beneath them. As the plate expands, the branches climb, producing that layered forest look. It grows fast compared to Acropora but slower than classic Monti caps.

Compatibility

Peaceful, but can smother slower neighbors by overgrowing them. It doesn’t have aggressive sweepers, relying instead on passive domination through real estate.

Sensitivities

Watch for Montipora-eating nudibranchs. Tissue recession at the base, white bite marks, or nocturnal crawling are classic signs. Sudden alk swings also hit this species harder than expected.