SPS keepers constant search for growth rate improvements leaves them vulnerable to product claims.
Can increased growth rates have negative effects on the coral overall health?
Are faster growing coral more suseptable to disease organisms?
What causes increased growth rates in coral?
If you increase the skeletal growth rate of coral, what effect does this have on the coral tissues and vice versa?
Modern science is working on these questions and with some searching you can discover some known answers. Negative as well as some positive results have been discovered.
Simply increasing the alk and calcium levels in your tank water will increase coral skeletal growth, but at what expense? The same with changing lighting?
What effects are there on other organisms in your tank when you tamper with coral growth rates using different types of measures?
The bottom line: Are the risks worth the benefits when trying to increase coral growth rates?