Millepora slowest growing SPS?

[PJtree23]

My millepora frags have shown little growth compared to my other sps which have already begun fully encrusting their bases.

Is this normal?

Photopeiod:

2 x 54W 48" t5 ho Actinic
6am --> 9pm

2 x 250W MH HQI 14k
7am --> 12:15pm

2 x 54W 48" t5 ho Pink Splash
8am --> 6pm

Any body have time lapsed photos of millepora growth/encrustation?

Thanks,

PJ

(I'll post pics of the corals later tonight)

 

[Allmost]

what other corals are growing well ?

millies are one of the faster growing ones in general. and they do appreciate a bit of feeding IMHO just like pocilopora.

how hairy is it the PE. also how long have u had it for ? could be that it needs more time to settle in.

 

[Jeremy Blaze]

Acropora milliapora and its close realitives seem to be one of the faster grwoing Acroporas in my expirence.

 

[bobkill]

Bump jb

 

[MammothReefer]

(I'll post pics of the corals later tonight)[/QUOTE]

I'm in a simliar boat with millis. My milis are fast to encrust and then just sort of go stagnant while other corals tend to sort of ramp up and grow quicker the longer I have them. All stay very hairy as well.

 

[ange062]

Agree with above, mille's are probably my fastest growing acros among quite a few species that I keep. Only SPS in my tank that can beat them in growth rate are the birdsnests.

 

[CUZ]

I have had a few frags that just encrusted then sat still for awhile, I found that once there was a hefty amount encrusted I would snip the original frag off, It usually kicked it into gear and things took off from there.

 

[Reef Bass]

+1 for millis not being slow growers in general.

 

[edsreef]

Here's one of mine. I have others that haven't grown this fast though.
First photo 3/16/2011. Second photo today. I've frageed it a few times to make the colony bigger.

 

[MammothReefer]

I have had a few frags that just encrusted then sat still for awhile, I found that once there was a hefty amount encrusted I would snip the original frag off, It usually kicked it into gear and things took off from there.

Nice, I'm trying that with one of mine. I've had a bubble gum milli frag for over a year now in that time it went from this...

to this + a couple tiny branches that I snipped and gave away, and an encrusted base in a little over a year.

After snipping as above within a couple weeks.. Both the frag and the base healed up.. so I'm hoping it will spark some growth

On a side note of all my millis, this one has always shown the least PE.

I did have one milli that really took off, but it RTN'd when I got a bad batch of salt. It went from a tiny 1/2" frag to a silver dollar ball, but it never started growing branches.

 

[29reef]

Mammoth, if you have a band saw I would cut a small 1/4" wedge out of the encrusting plug. Then mount it over a ledge so ~1/2 of the plug is just floating out in space. Make sure it's getting a lot of water movement after it heals and adjusts to it's new spot. I'd expect it to send up new branches.

Having said that if your water is off, or something is out of line you'll likely end up with a dead plug.

I believe in cutting for growth tips as well as cutting for new growth.

 

[MammothReefer]

Mammoth, if you have a band saw I would cut a small 1/4" wedge out of the encrusting plug. Then mount it over a ledge so ~1/2 of the plug is just floating out in space. Make sure it's getting a lot of water movement after it heals and adjusts to it's new spot. I'd expect it to send up new branches.

Having said that if your water is off, or something is out of line you'll likely end up with a dead plug.

I believe in cutting for growth tips as well as cutting for new growth.

Ya, it's odd my other acros are growing branching, creating new terminal polyps even similar species like my aspera as well.. I'm hoping that laying the main piece over on it's side will educe it to to encrust while the frag branches. It's worked for me with other piece.. If not I'll give your method a shot although I don't have a bandsaw but I can pick one up. This also hasn't been an issue for me in other tanks.. not sure what the deal is here.

 

[29reef]

Ya, it's odd my other acros are growing branching, creating new terminal polyps even similar species like my aspera as well.. I'm hoping that laying the main piece over on it's side will educe it to to encrust while the frag branches. It's worked for me with other piece.. If not I'll give your method a shot although I don't have a bandsaw but I can pick one up. This also hasn't been an issue for me in other tanks.. not sure what the deal is here.

Sorry to be off topic...

IIRC you've dealt with an alk issue recently? A changing alk or any kind of major movement over 1 DKH IME has always caused growth to slow and even reverse sometimes. Given time they recover. Cutting them can be a way to spur the growth sometimes faster then doing nothing if the water is back to normal.

 

[MammothReefer]

Sorry to be off topic...

IIRC you've dealt with an alk issue recently? A changing alk or any kind of major movement over 1 DKH IME has always caused growth to slow and even reverse sometimes. Given time they recover. Cutting them can be a way to spur the growth sometimes faster then doing nothing if the water is back to normal.

Nope, exact opposite really.. I've stabled everything out over the past 2 months seen tremendous improvements in growth / colouration out of everything except the millis seem to be lagging behind (outside of those that are tiny frags and encrusting onto plugs)

 

[phasezero]

I'm in the same boat. We bought a half inch pink millepora that stayed brown and the same size in a 26G LED lit tank for at least 4 months. Decided to move it to my stable 55g with 4 bulb T5 and it still has not budged or changed. Had to cut some of the base off due to STN. After no growth for a month i decided to cut tips off to help initiate growth. It's been about 2 weeks and it looks like the fresh cut ends have polyps growing from them which might be a sign of it working. Every other SPS frag has been growing nicely except this one millepora piece. If nothing happens the next month i'm just going to chuck it in the trash the piece looks so pathetic haha.

 

[daveonbass]

I have a pink with teal polyps milli...its the only milli that I have that I KNOW is a milli, and it hasnt grown at all in over a year since I got it. Sooo...just my 2 cents.

 

[dixiedog]

Millipora is my slowest grower. Here is a blue milli I photographed on 3-1-2010:

Here is the same milli today, almost two full years later:

 

[PJtree23]

Red milli frag. It looks almost the same as when I purchased it but it has grown "hairy" as they say.

This is another coral which was purchased near the same time (08-01-11).

And here is that same coral today

Of course things have been changing periodically with the tank while I was adding the equipment to reduce nitrates and phosphates. One reason that comes to mind is that the other sps had a relatively large base that was mostly encrusted.

 

[Allmost]

the second pic is not a millie to start ....
.
Edit : ok I think I got you wrong, guess your showing that acro's growth while the millie in first pic hasnt grown.

 

[29reef]

Dixiedog. Your coral in the second photo shows no sign of growth tips and very little PE. My guess is that it needs some more flow, some tips cut off, and possibly a move to a new location.