Pavona maldivensis Propagation Guide

Propagating the encrusting to columnar SPS Pavona maldivensis by cutting and gluing pieces, with notes on the genus's spawning and frag-care basics.

Overview

Pavona maldivensis is a colonial stony coral in the family Agariciidae. Pavona corals take a range of forms including massive, columnar, leaf-like and plate-like, and a single species may vary in form according to current, wave action, lighting and depth. Maldivensis tends to grow encrusting to columnar. The genus is zooxanthellate, switching to an autotrophic mode to draw nutrition from its symbiotic algae, with polyps that extend at night.

Reproductive Mode

Pavona reproduce sexually by releasing gametes into the sea, where fertilisation produces a free-swimming planula larva that settles and metamorphoses into a polyp; that polyp then buds repeatedly to build a new colony. The genus can also spread asexually: a broken-off piece that becomes wedged in a suitable position continues to grow and bud into a new colony.

Fragging / Asexual Propagation

For an encrusting to columnar Pavona, cut a piece of the colony, ideally with a little of the underlying rock, then mount it on a plug or rock. Dry the base of the cutting and the plug, apply a couple of dabs of cyanoacrylate glue, secure the piece, and place it in low flow until the glue cures. The frag then encrusts the plug and resumes Pavona's columnar growth.

Conditions for Propagation

As a photosynthetic SPS, a maldivensis frag needs stable reef parameters, moderate to high light, and good water movement. Because Pavona is largely autotrophic, strong lighting matters most for recovery; supplemental feeding is secondary. Frags from healthy colonies encrust and thicken reliably.

Sexual Reproduction

Spawning by gamete release is the natural sexual route but is impractical in home aquaria, where capturing and rearing the short-lived planulae is difficult. Hobby propagation therefore relies on cutting and re-attaching frags, which mirrors the genus's own asexual spread by wedged fragments.