Forest Fire Digitata Care Guide
Forest Fire Digitata (Montipora digitata var. 'Forest Fire') is a SPS coral. Care covers 150-250 PAR, medium-high flow, reef parameters and feeding; beginner level.
Compiled by Aquairi from published sources · Published · Updated
Overview
Forest Fire Digitata (Montipora digitata var. 'Forest Fire') is a SPS coral in the family Acroporidae. Designer Monti digitata with deep red branches and yellow polyps. Hardy and beginner-friendly designer SPS.
Taxonomy
- Family: Acroporidae
- Genus: Montipora
- Scientific name: Montipora digitata var. 'Forest Fire'
- Common synonyms: Forest Fire Monti
Habitat
This morph of Montipora digitata var. 'Forest Fire' is propagated exclusively in aquaculture and is not sourced from wild reefs. The parent species naturally occupies shallow reef flats and upper slopes (typically 1-15 m) and grows in a branching form, which the aquacultured fragments retain in the home reef.
Tank requirements
- Salinity (specific gravity): 1.025-1.026
- Temperature: 24-26 °C (75-79 °F)
- pH: 8.1-8.4
- Carbonate hardness (dKH): 7.5-9
- Calcium: 420-450 ppm
- Magnesium: 1300-1400 ppm
- Phosphate (max): 0.05 ppm
- Nitrate (max): 10 ppm
- Minimum system age: 3 months
Placement and lighting
- PAR (placement zone): 150-250 PAR
- Water flow: medium-high
Place this SPS coral on the upper rockwork where light is bright and water movement is strong, ideally turbulent rather than laminar. Acclimate gradually to high PAR over 2-3 weeks to avoid bleaching. SPS demand a mature system: stable alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium with phosphate and nitrate kept ultra-low.
Feeding
Montipora digitata var. 'Forest Fire' hosts symbiotic zooxanthellae and derives most of its energy through photosynthesis. Additional feeding is generally not required when lighting is adequate.
Compatibility
This coral is passive toward neighbours. Reef-safe with most fish and invertebrates.
Care notes
Difficulty level: beginner. Reported skeletal growth in well-tuned reef tanks is approximately 0.7-1.5 cm/month. Propagation by fragmentation is straightforward for branching colonies — separate branches or polyps with a bone cutter, glue to plug, allow 1-2 weeks for healing. Maintain stable alkalinity (avoid swings above ±0.5 dKH per day) to preserve tissue health.
Propagating Forest Fire Montipora digitata
Overview
Forest Fire is an aquarium color morph of Montipora digitata, a branching coral of the family Acroporidae. According to Wikipedia, the species has a digitate or bushy form of vertically aligned, anastomosing branches forming hemispherical mounds over 40 centimetres across, with small, deeply embedded corallites. The morph name describes coloration only; its propagation matches the base species.
Reproductive Mode
As a simultaneous hermaphrodite, M. digitata spawns once a year, releasing packets of eggs and sperm that rise to the surface for cross-fertilisation between colonies. The coral is zooxanthellate, with photosynthetic symbionts providing up to 90 percent of its energy and plankton capture supplementing the rest. Color morphs such as Forest Fire are perpetuated in the hobby by fragmentation rather than spawning.
Fragging / Asexual Propagation
Like all digitate Montipora, the Forest Fire morph is propagated by removing finger branches and mounting them. A branch is snapped or clipped from the colony, fixed to a plug, and grown under medium-high light and flow until it builds a new bushy colony. Preserving bright tissue at the branch tips helps maintain the morph's red branches and yellow polyps.
- Clip a 2-4 cm finger branch, keeping a healthy growing tip.
- Mount it upright on a plug with reef-safe adhesive.
- Provide medium-high light and water movement.
- Wait for the base to encrust before relocating the frag.
Common Challenges
Designer Montipora frags carry the same risk as the base species: the Montipora-eating nudibranch. The described pest Phestilla subodiosus feeds specifically on Montipora and has become a commercial problem as the genus is aquacultured. Its eggs hide in the gnarly crevices of the branches, so a single missed batch can re-establish the pest.