interesting way to grow acros

[Chad Vossen]

ok, does anyone think this would make some interesting acro growth? the green boxes would be lighting, which would surround the acros and provide for exelent lighting. flow would either come upwards or downwards. i think this would be interesting because there wouldnt be a dark side like in aquariums and the ocean, and flow could be changed, maybe even reversed everyother day.

just an idea that hit me and thought it might be worth looking into..
think the acro would grow into a ball shape? growing equaly on all sides?

 

[raddogz]

The coral would never form a base - i.e. base forms when attached to rock.

I would imagine it would grow, but you don't find corals suspended in the ocean waters, so I don't know how well it would grow.

 

[mokujin22]

that would be pretty cool to see what happened. sort of like that flame in zero gravity test they did on the space shuttle. you'd be best off trying a fast growing variety.... perhaps two different corals at once with different growth forms.

are you thinking of trying it? wonder if it's been done before?

tony.

 

[cj_basser]

This would be kinda like Suspension Propagation.. i.e. when a coarl is tied onto a paice of fishing line, and suspnded in the aquarium so it gets total flow and movement, along with eqaul amounts of light over the entire coral.

it is supposed to make the coral grow faster, at a rate in which propagating is easier to do.

 

[Kip]

i believe calfo details this type of growout in his book of propagation

 

[Pyrrhus]

I've seen recently imported acropora that had 100% tissue coverage on every side, no rock, just the coral and no breakage points.

 

[Psionicdragon]

Calfo has spoke about this before. I lost the site when my comp crashed.

The Suspension propagation method will allow different flows to hit different angles of the coral. By doing so, the growth pattern will very. If I remember correctly, this method is for fast growing.

 

[OCDP]

my local LFS does this as well... seems to work mighty fine IMO

 

[Chad Vossen]

yea, just because you find them attached to rock in wild, and do so in your tank doent mean they must encrust.

i figured that if the light covered the entire coral, equal on all sides, and something to keep it turning so that gravity doesnt mess with the growth, and the flow of course will be perfect.

i think if all conditions were good, it would form a "core" instead of crusting on a rock, and from this core, it would branch out in a ball shape or football shape if the tube has any affect

wouldnt that be neat :d and i wont be doing this. im still workin on growing a monti from a frag hardly bigger than a pea. and aside from that, im overcoming a hair algae bloom in my 20 gallon, with pc lighting. i cant afford to try this experiment but i had the idea and wanted to throw it out and if any of you wealthy people with those 300 gallon sps dominated tanks would like to give it a shot or know someone who has, i would like to know the results :rollface:

 

[Reeftoker]

If you read Calfo's book it details this process and it is supposed to work good

 

[Ti]

when lit from all sides, it will maintain color all over and grow on all sides.
It's a good idea, but not readily applicable for the everyday hobbiest

 

[Chad Vossen]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6699623#post6699623 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Ti
when lit from all sides, it will maintain color all over and grow on all sides.
It's a good idea, but not readily applicable for the everyday hobbiest

but would be very good for people who sell frags.

i kinda thought it might be interesting to have this ball shaped colony of acro and put it into the aquarium on a rock, id assume the bottom would die, but the edge-bottom might encrust right? then that frag would have at least 8 (hopfully more)heads to grow from. then maybe in 1 year you would have a very dense colony right?

 

[MiddletonMark]

If you're lighting from the side - the light would have to go through a curved cylinder [glass?] ... probably not the most efficient method of lighting.

Combine that with any light-loss from the glass ... and the need to clean the glass daily to improve light transmission.

Suspension propagation is interesting, and something worth experimenting with. I'm unsure if it would be the most efficient use of space [maybe problematic for other reasons] ... but worth a try, like most things

 

[Ludwigia73]

How about a variation on this... It seems to me that 2 lights for 10 hrs per day would work fine, but how about 1 light on a rotator. The light works its way around the central cylinder over a 24 hr period. That way, at any given time, the coral receives a dawn, daylight, dusk effect.

 

[majesticangelfish]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6700627#post6700627 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by MiddletonMark
If you're lighting from the side - the light would have to go through a curved cylinder [glass?] ... probably not the most efficient method of lighting.

Combine that with any light-loss from the glass ... and the need to clean the glass daily to improve light transmission.

Just what I was thinking. Agreed

http://reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=768533

Better:

http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2002-05/ac/index.php

Cheers

 

[cj_basser]

I have had an unknown acro frag suspened for less than a week..and already am seeing great growth. The tips began to whiten the third day it was suspended...and that means growth!!! It has definantly grown faster than it did just sitting on a rock. It is getting quite a bit of flow, as well.

I am going to try this method with a few different acros. So far, though, I am really impressed.