Acropora not growing, to impatient?

[ben01]

My tank was set up about ten months ago. Around three months after set up I started putting the usual LPS corals in and they have done reasonably well. I also put in a birdsnest and a common brown M. Digitata. The monti has grown quickly but the birdsnest has grown somewhat slower than I expected.

Around two months ago I started adding acropora. So far they seem to be mocking me. http://www.reefcentral.com/forums/images/smilies/headwallblue.gif

Alk: 8.2 - Hanna
Cal: 450 - Salifert
NaCl: 35ppt
pH: 8.2 - API
Nirate: 0 - API
Phosporus: 6 ppb Hanna ULR

None of the acropora have shown growth yet. One is a green slimer and another is a milli, I don't know the others. None of the corals show signs of being eaten or attacked.

I have three fish: a royal gramma, a checkered cardinal and a harp tail fang blenny. The only soft corals are two small gorgonians, some palys and a few zoas.

The lighting is a Maxspect Razor 10k 160 watt unit over a 65 gallon tank. Two Jabao Rw-8s move the water. I feed the LPS with small pellets but don't put in anything for the SPS. Still, the zoas are growing without being fed and so are my cyphastrea and montipora. Algae is growing too but my army of breeding trochus snails keep it mowed down to almost nothing.

 

[bobssecrtsn]

Hey, welcome to the addicting world of SPS, do you mind showing us a picture of your corals, that would do alot for us to point you in the right direction,

i do see that you have algae growing, what is your filtration like? usually with new frags, they can brown out and it takes 1-2 months depending on husbandry. but if the corals has been in your system for 5 months and they're brown and not growing something is stunting their growth,

 

[M007]

You need more fish. At 0 NO3 and only 6PPB P04 there isn't much to work with. How are the colours on the thriving SPS?

 

[nyxx]

I haven't had my tank up much longer than you, but it does seem like it just take some patience. The acros I've put in my tank of really started to show signs of growth at around the one month mark. After that it seems like they take off. I do have a few that just do nothing as well.

 

[ReefBum]

Can you tell us more about your setup in terms of calcium/alk addition, flow, husbandry, etc?

 

[ben01]

Can you tell us more about your setup in terms of calcium/alk addition, flow, husbandry, etc?

The RW-8's are cranked up near full power so flow is pretty good. I have a Tunze ATO so the salinity doesn't change much and I have a doser that pumps in 77ml a week. The tank is 65 gallons (about 50 minus the rocks) which comes to 2.3 dKH a week i think. The only filter is a HOB reef octopus skimmer. The tank is sumpless. I have no sand, just rubble at the bottom. Water get changed about 5 to 10 gallons a month with RC but I'm going to change the IO since the calcium and alk are closer to what I want.

As I said before, other types of coral are growing. I even have some decent growth from a (plain brown!) M. Digitata. Some zoas and an encrusting cyphastrea that I never feed are growing too. Its just the acros that aren't doing anything so far and a birdsnest that seems to be stuck in second gear.

On the bright side my three head duncan now has eight heads so I must be doing something right.

 

[outssider]

some acro frags grow very slow, especially in the beginning......

 

[Wazzel]

Check the base to see if it is encrusting. Most will encrust quite a bit before they start to go up and out. Sometimes that takes a while to get going.

 

[Icefire]

160w is a bit on the low side, I got 2x120w on a 60g cube

What are your setting? I use 100% blue 70% white on both

 

[ReefBum]

You might want to consider more frequent or larger water changes....and I agree with M007 about having more fish. Fish poop is a good thing for SPS.