curious about sps growth time frame

[tsmitti99]

I've just recently come off of a reef crawl with my local club, and have now accumulated quite a few different frags of various sizes. I am curious about how long it takes for them to attach to the rocks, and when I can expect some visual growth out of them.

My tank is:
65 gallon tall breeder w/ 20 gallon sump
2-250 watt de halides w/ 2 96 watt T-5 actinics
ASM G2 skimmer
5 powerheads in various locations w/in the tank

livestock:
sailfin tang
2 maroon clowns
3 b cardinals
2 clown gobies
shrimp
2 sandsifter stars
long-spined urchin
2 rose anemones, leathers, zoos, xenia, star polyp, assorted mushrooms

levels:
salinity - 1.026
calcium - 540
alkalinity - 10
ammonia/nitrite/nitrate - negligable

 

[SVXH6]

your calcium is way high.. id lower it to 450..

 

[gemxsps]

Yap..calcium is little bit high. Growth and enclusting bottom is quietly different depending on what kind of frag do you keep.
Also depends on your tank condition and light (10K, 14K or 20K).
Usually frags enclusting bottom around 1 month later then grow 0.5-1 inch per month.

 

[tsmitti99]

i think they are 14ks, i got the light used on ebay, but i have 10k xms that i will put in when i move in a couple weeks

thx for the input

 

[bond007069]

i heard Borman say that typically frags take 3 weeks to encrust.

so somwhere around there

 

[Philwd]

The answer is it really depends. Some frags will encrust for 5 months then take off. Others will only put down a small base then start to grow. 1" per month on a small frag is not common. After they grow a bit growth will accelerate.

 

[Justin/TiV]

I agree...I have a tort that has grown a little bit. But for the past few months done nothing but encrust. Other corals seem to only get new tips and growth...and no encrusting at all

 

[tsmitti99]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7772685#post7772685 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Justin/TiV
I agree...I have a tort that has grown a little bit. But for the past few months done nothing but encrust. Other corals seem to only get new tips and growth...and no encrusting at all

encrusting..what does that mean/look like? i thought only "encrusting montiporras" encrust...feel free to laugh at my lack of knowledge.

 

[Justin/TiV]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=7775401#post7775401 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by tsmitti99
encrusting..what does that mean/look like? i thought only "encrusting montiporras" encrust...feel free to laugh at my lack of knowledge.

Meaning grow or encrust around the rock or whatever you attached it to, rather than growth from the tips

 

[Jovreefer]

All SPS encrust ... they must put down a base to grow. If they did not put down a base then you'd just have a glue'd stick that fell over all the time. The encrusting base ancor's them to the rock

 

[tsmitti99]

ok, the pieces i have are of assorted sizes from a half inch to 3 or 4 inches, but most tend to keep falling over and i have to fix them upright constatly, this probably slows their ability to 'encrust' does it not?

 

[Jovreefer]

Are your frags glue'd to something?

Some people actually prefer to glue their frags sideways, this way more light is getting to individual polyps and making each one grow up, some say faster than if you mount is straite up so light is only hitting the very top polyps.

I mount mine at an angle... kinda the best of both worlds, it does not look super funky laying sideways and light hits more than just the top polyps.

And to answer your question ... if they keep falling over, they are not stable, an unstable coral will not grow. they need to be secured to a rock somehow.

 

[twon8]

actually i have had better luck laying them down, that way they get more light, the whole frag can encrust, and growth for me has been much quicker that way. you have to think about how a broken piece would land in the ocean. it wouldn't be sticking up, but horizontal.

 

[tsmitti99]

ok, thx for the advice, i'll secure them down and on angles, and let them be, try to exercise some patience.