No growth in 6 months?

[d2mini]

I have some sps I bought exactly 6 months ago. Some nice sized frags.
Granulosa, Humillis, GARF Bonsai, Millepora... and other than some encrusting over the frag plugs, I see no visible growth. The only thing taking off are my two red planet frags, bought from two different sources. My LPS does well.

Now the tank is still a baby at about 10 months old. I'm just glad the sps survived. And they have great polyp extension. I just would have thought by now I would have seen some noticeable growth. Is it just due to having an immature tank? I don't do full zeovit or biopellets or any of that, either. Just a little Sponge Power, Zeobak and Coral Booster a couple times a week.


All my tank stats are here...
http://www.aquaticlog.com/aquariums/d2mini/1

Thanks!

 

[chris1292]

I have had some sps for almost a year with no growth. While other frags I bought at the same exact time and vendor are colony's already. The ones that dont grow still have awesome color and PE. I dont know why they dont grow though.

 

[Allmost]

po4 is at 0.09 ppm ? that could slow down growth and calcification a bit, but in general I would give them more time. FWIW, I would try to lower Magnesium as well, at 1480 is a bit high.

 

[Nano sapiens]

I have the opposite problem with Red Planet frags being the slowest growers (Milli, Granulosa, etc. grow faster). I also have undetectable PO4 and NO3 (Salifert). It has been noted by some aquarists that the ORA Red Planet likes 'dirtier' water, which may explain why it is growing well in your system while the other SPS do not.

 

[dunc101]

IMO, 10 months is still a fairly new tank. My tank did not grow ANYTHING for the first entire year.... I killed countless SPS frags (upwards of 25-30.some because of alk swings, and others b/c I just wasn't experienced yet... no joke). Once my tank hit a year though, I started seeing things to grow. My tank is 2 years old now. I have seen more growth in the past 6 months that I have the entire 18 months before put together.

IMO, just take your time, keep things steady and stable, and as your tank matures, your SPS will finally take off! That's what mine did at least. Eventually they just got tired of looking the same and decided to grow I guess . Good luck!

 

[d2mini]

Ok, sounds like it's about par for the course.
Just wanted to make sure.

Thanks!!!

 

[d2mini]

po4 is at 0.09 ppm ? that could slow down growth and calcification a bit, but in general I would give them more time. FWIW, I would try to lower Magnesium as well, at 1480 is a bit high.

And yes, my hanna tests usually between .07 and .09
Trying to get that lower.

 

[Touring]

IMO, 10 months is still a fairly new tank.

I put over 30 SPS in a brand new tank and they are groing about 1/2 inch a month. This whole " tank is still new" is ridiculous.

1. Cycle a tank( put in clean up crew)
2. Maintain proper Parameters( i use red sea pro, purigen, chemipure, filter floss and a aero force 2 skimmer) My parameters are Alk 8,cal 450, mag 1350, zero on both nitrates and nitrites. Daily 1 gallon water changes.
3. strong enough light( usually 5 watts per gallon, i have a kessil 350w over a 30G at 100%)
4. FLOW!!!!!! MP10 at 80-100% reef crest,no dead spots!!.
5.ATO !!!!! so parameters dont change to much.


That is it!!!!!! Now you can put any sps you want!!!

NO SUCH THING AS A NEW/NOT ESTABLISHED TANK!!! :thumbsup:

 

[Biocubehqi]

I put over 30 SPS in a brand new tank and they are groing about 1/2 inch a month. This whole " tank is still new" is ridiculous.

1. Cycle a tank( put in clean up crew)
2. Maintain proper Parameters( i use red sea pro, purigen, chemipure, filter floss and a aero force 2 skimmer) My parameters are Alk 8,cal 450, mag 1350, zero on both nitrates and nitrites. Daily 1 gallon water changes.
3. strong enough light( usually 5 watts per gallon, i have a kessil 350w over a 30G at 100%)
4. FLOW!!!!!! MP10 at 80-100% reef crest,no dead spots!!.
5.ATO !!!!! so parameters dont change to much.


That is it!!!!!! Now you can put any sps you want!!!

NO SUCH THING AS A NEW/NOT ESTABLISHED TANK!!! :thumbsup:

I read you the thread where you ranted this. I don't see how this benefits the op.
Not to mention money you will cost newbies that google search and run across a thread that you say,sure throw it in! And cost somebody thousands

Sorry mistaken identity... But still... Same point.

 

[Tactics]

I have some sps I bought exactly 6 months ago. Some nice sized frags.
Granulosa, Humillis, GARF Bonsai, Millepora... and other than some encrusting over the frag plugs, I see no visible growth. The only thing taking off are my two red planet frags, bought from two different sources. My LPS does well.

Now the tank is still a baby at about 10 months old. I'm just glad the sps survived. And they have great polyp extension. I just would have thought by now I would have seen some noticeable growth. Is it just due to having an immature tank? I don't do full zeovit or biopellets or any of that, either. Just a little Sponge Power, Zeobak and Coral Booster a couple times a week.


All my tank stats are here...
http://www.aquaticlog.com/aquariums/d2mini/1

Thanks!

Dennis - I think you definitely should see growth, especially the milli. I was using the same equipment as you (Radions/MP40s) and had great growth from the start. I think I found the sweet spot early on with my settings because I never lost a piece.

I was running Nutrient Export Mode and creating a 1" wave. My Radions were ramped up to 90% 14k for 11 hours a day. My SPS polyps were swaying gently back and forth and looked "happy." Weekly water changes also helped a lot.

Are you touching/moving your corals around a lot? Or are inverts knocking them over? Any pests bothering your corals?

 

[karsseboom]

Sometimes frags just don't grow. I had some frags in my old tank that sat there for over a year and never really grew, or started to grow a little and then stopped? I would add other larger frags/colony's and they would take off buy not the frags? It's really frustrating...I had this 1" frag a couple years ago that was from a colony that rtn. I saved a small frag and seriously in 3 years all it did was encrust on the plug....never grew' I finally threw it in the trash lol

 

[tmantaylor18]

You could try cutting off a few tips and seeing if that helps.

 

[epicurus84]

I read you the thread where you ranted this. I don't see how this benefits the op.
Not to mention money you will cost newbies that google search and run across a thread that you say,sure throw it in! And cost somebody thousands

Sorry mistaken identity... But still... Same point.

I agree here, putting sps in a new tank as new tank owner is basically killing of sps (and money) or having good luck.

in any case my second tank had sps in after 2 weeks (upgraded tank with old rocks, some new rocks, and 70% added water to the old water).

Here it worked out, but i would never say it's a good idea.

Also it's now 8 months old, most sps grow pretty well. But others took over 7 monts (or more) to start growing. But when they go they will go fast.

 

[Touring]

I read you the thread where you ranted this. I don't see how this benefits the op.
Not to mention money you will cost newbies that google search and run across a thread that you say,sure throw it in! And cost somebody thousands

Sorry mistaken identity... But still... Same point.

My post will probably help him by reading how i was successful in my tank and what i did.

I was a newbie and did exactly what your saying is a bad idea and it worked for me.

 

[shaggss]

Hi Dennis

What intensity are you running your radions? I was too cautious with my LEDs fearing I was going to bleach the corals. I have since increased the period to 4 hours that my LEDs are at their highest intensity (85%) and starting to see better growth. I will keep increasing slowly until I see a negative effect.....

 

[alexander_ktn]

I put over 30 SPS in a brand new tank and they are groing about 1/2 inch a month. This whole " tank is still new" is ridiculous.

1. Cycle a tank( put in clean up crew)
2. Maintain proper Parameters( i use red sea pro, purigen, chemipure, filter floss and a aero force 2 skimmer) My parameters are Alk 8,cal 450, mag 1350, zero on both nitrates and nitrites. Daily 1 gallon water changes.
3. strong enough light( usually 5 watts per gallon, i have a kessil 350w over a 30G at 100%)
4. FLOW!!!!!! MP10 at 80-100% reef crest,no dead spots!!.
5.ATO !!!!! so parameters dont change to much.


That is it!!!!!! Now you can put any sps you want!!!

I actually agree with this and have set up many tanks that way without losses. The main point for waiting months and months at the start is not for the tank but the new hobbyist to learn how to keep things stable imo. If you are versed in what it takes to do that you can certainly add SPS quite early and have them thrive.

 

[Allmost]

I put over 30 SPS in a brand new tank and they are groing about 1/2 inch a month. This whole " tank is still new" is ridiculous.

1. Cycle a tank( put in clean up crew)
2. Maintain proper Parameters( i use red sea pro, purigen, chemipure, filter floss and a aero force 2 skimmer) My parameters are Alk 8,cal 450, mag 1350, zero on both nitrates and nitrites. Daily 1 gallon water changes.
3. strong enough light( usually 5 watts per gallon, i have a kessil 350w over a 30G at 100%)
4. FLOW!!!!!! MP10 at 80-100% reef crest,no dead spots!!.
5.ATO !!!!! so parameters dont change to much.


That is it!!!!!! Now you can put any sps you want!!!

NO SUCH THING AS A NEW/NOT ESTABLISHED TANK!!! :thumbsup:

waiting for pic to back up your statement.

 

[Allmost]

I actually agree with this and have set up many tanks that way without losses.

point wasnt that SPS will die in new tank .... I stock my new tanks form day 4 of cycling with SPS .... point is growth and encrusting and colouring up

 

[d2mini]

I put over 30 SPS in a brand new tank and they are groing about 1/2 inch a month. This whole " tank is still new" is ridiculous.

1. Cycle a tank( put in clean up crew)
2. Maintain proper Parameters( i use red sea pro, purigen, chemipure, filter floss and a aero force 2 skimmer) My parameters are Alk 8,cal 450, mag 1350, zero on both nitrates and nitrites. Daily 1 gallon water changes.
3. strong enough light( usually 5 watts per gallon, i have a kessil 350w over a 30G at 100%)
4. FLOW!!!!!! MP10 at 80-100% reef crest,no dead spots!!.
5.ATO !!!!! so parameters dont change to much.


That is it!!!!!! Now you can put any sps you want!!!

NO SUCH THING AS A NEW/NOT ESTABLISHED TANK!!! :thumbsup:

Ok, first of all... i'm not a newbie. This is a new tank but i've been in the hobby for years.
Second, i have done everything you stated and more. My tank has two mp60's and 2 mp40's, as well as a BeanAnimal overflow with reeflo barracuda gold return pump. Let's just say i have flow. I also have a Vertex Alpha 250 skimmer with red dragon pump, couple reactors running gfo and carbon, a GHL Profilux controller running the tank, including automatic water changes that changes out 4 gallons every single day, and this is combined with an ATO. The tank was set up this way from the start. For lighting i have 4 radions. Were gen1's and now i have Pro's.
Third, i have seen people do what you have done and lost all their spa that was moved over from their old tank.
And lastly, I didn't lose coral that I put in from the start... just saying i haven't seen the growth. But this is similar to past tanks. SPS (for me anyway) doesn't seem to take off until the tank is around 1 year old.

Dennis - I think you definitely should see growth, especially the milli. I was using the same equipment as you (Radions/MP40s) and had great growth from the start. I think I found the sweet spot early on with my settings because I never lost a piece.

I was running Nutrient Export Mode and creating a 1" wave. My Radions were ramped up to 90% 14k for 11 hours a day. My SPS polyps were swaying gently back and forth and looked "happy." Weekly water changes also helped a lot.

Are you touching/moving your corals around a lot? Or are inverts knocking them over? Any pests bothering your corals?

Yeah, it's weird. The mille is actually one of my worst! Good PE but no growth at all. My profilux is running the main mode most of the day, then nutrient export at night after feeding and then lagoon mode at a low setting all night. I've been experimenting with the main mode during the day, trying different ones. I have a mixed reef so I can't go to crazy with the vortechs, but have been trying to get that back and forth wave motion and having problems. I actually have a thread in the ecotech forum going right now. It's a 7' tank with an MP60 on each side.

Hi Dennis

What intensity are you running your radions? I was too cautious with my LEDs fearing I was going to bleach the corals. I have since increased the period to 4 hours that my LEDs are at their highest intensity (85%) and starting to see better growth. I will keep increasing slowly until I see a negative effect.....

Well, i felt like I was getting too much light so i was turning it down recently. I'm running a tweaked version of the Radiant Color graph and i have all points turned down to 55%. I had switched to the Pro's just a few weeks ago so i figured it would be best to start lower anyway. I didn't even have the TIR lenses before. So maybe i need more light? I got an ORA Ponape Birdsnest recently and mounted it halfway up and it lost all color and has only the most minute PE.

 

[Dugless]

I would recommend stability. From lighting, flow, placement, chemistry, etc...just let everything get comfortable. I've found the more I meddle with moving corals or pumps the more of a setback I can expect with coral growth.

Dare I say it, the only other thing I can think of is AEFW or red bugs. Might be worth dipping one piece to see if any thing comes off. Any pest will inhibit growth on a smaller piece almost entirely.