This brilliantly colored Porites is often mistaken for a Montipora species.
Its polyps are very tiny and unlike other Porites this Montipora-like species
is easy to keep and can grow fairly quickly. In strong lighting the coral
develops a bright blue purple color, while in moderate lighting the coloration
is a deep purple with blue edges. The polyps of this coral are always bright
white and during the day they partially extend. These whites polyps give the
coral a spotted appearence. We first saw this species back in the mid-1990's
when it was rarely exported from the Solomons. It has only recently been rarely
seen once again. Our particular fragment of this coral was acquired from Hugo
Zuniga (SNIPERSPS). His original parent colony was acquired from a retail reef shop in the
Southern California area. This colony was possibly exported from either Indonesia
or Fiji. This species has a wide range of growth forms from submassive to laminar
to columns and even contorted branches. Polyps are seperated into groups by ridges.
These ridges have a lighter coloration. 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 18 inches away from a 400
watt 20,000 K radium metal halide. The dark blue/purple coloration is being easily
maintained with moderate light levels. Water current is moderate to weak. Price is
currently $75 per small sized fragment. The monthly limited edition reservation
schedules can be found below. Please note effective August 2007 we have changed
the harvesting and reservation schedule to bimonthly. This better matches the
corals long term growth rate in captivity. Please note - We retired this coral in
August 2010. We never had long term success with this species. It seems very sensitive
to strong light bleaching. Reeffarmers no longer maintains a seed of this coral.
Porites rus Year 2007 Monthly Limited Edition Schedule
January
Cancelled
February
Cancelled
March
Cancelled
April
Cancelled
May
Cancelled
June
Cancelled
July
Cancelled
August
Cancelled
October
Cancelled
December
Cancelled
Porites rus Year 2006 Monthly Limited Edition Schedule
January
Cancelled
February
Cancelled
March
Cancelled
April
Cancelled
May
Cancelled
June
Cancelled
July
Cancelled
August
Cancelled
September
Cancelled
October
Cancelled
November
Cancelled
December
Cancelled
Porites rus Year 2005 Monthly Limited Edition Schedule