Slow growing rates on my Acros

[Ricordeafreak]

Hey everybody,
I have a few small pieces of acros that i bought as small frags about 5-6months ago. I have been getting extremely slow growth rates from them and i have only gotten about 1 small branch to grow from it. These were bought as "assorted acros" so they are not a specific type. I have a 55 gallon tank with a 6 bulb t-5 fixture ( i think its about 320 watts total or something like that) so i know i have plenty of light and i also run these for about 10 hrs on daylight and 12 hours of atinics. I have 2 Koralia evos which both produce about 1200 gph and i usualy constantly run these. I dose Kent Marine 2 part calcium and alkalinity every other day, and my calcium levels are 420ppm and alk 9. I don't understand why these arent growing. I meet most of their needs and i have never had any bleaching but they just don't grow!!! How do you guys get your acros to grow very fast and is there anything I can do to halp them.
Thanks

 

[abrian]

Boy do I hope you get some good concrete answers. I have some acros growing well, but some like my oregon tort are not significantly bigger than when I placed them in the tank 18months ago, although showing wonderful colors and polyps.

 

[Ricordeafreak]

Yes...my two main acros have barely grown over the past few months but the colors and polyp extension have been better than ever...on the other hand i have an orange monti and it grows at least 1" a month!

 

[C-21 USAF]

I have some poccillipora and acros that grow great and some frags that have only encrusted the plug and done nothing else for 8 months....I also noticed some of my frags grow and look totally different in my friends tanks...

 

[beeker]

look into Vodka dosing, i've had it help corals that were stubborn with PE and growth

i'd highly reccomend not dosing it daily though i only dose my tank 3 times a week and only 7 drops each time on a 200g tank it is very effective just go slow with it

make sure your alk is kepth between 8-9 and you'll be ok

Have you tested your magnesium?

i keep my alk at 9 DKH my calc at 500ppm and my mag at 1600ppm

 

[btkrausen]

Magnesium really helped my SPS take off. Then I started dosing MB7 along with it, which really brightened some of my colors. My growth has subsided a little bit due to vodka. I"m on day 60 or something, and I still haven't hit the 0's mark, so I'm hoping that it'll drop soon and I'll see some improvement, but it has picked back up. I was getting the best growth before vodka, but I made the jump to help drop my phosphates to help get rid of bubble algae.

 

[Ricordeafreak]

I've never tried magnesium...i'll read up on it. But about vodka dosing, i have heard so much about this but i cant find any big guides on how to dose it? If you guys know of any good guides on reef central or other sites please tell me!
Thanks

 

[rogerwilco357]

how often do you do water changes?

 

[sjfishguy]

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2008-08/nftt/index.php

Here is a "how to" article for vodka dosing.

I would also cut down on your lighting cycle. There is no need to run full lights more than 7hrs. It has been shown that coral growth is actually inhibited after a certain point. I run my T5s for 6 hrs total.

 

[stevedola]

I've never tried magnesium...i'll read up on it.

woah woah woah, youve never tried magnesium? you dont test for it? you dont add it?

DING DING DING, we have a winner! get a good test kit and check. Low mag will lead to many coral problems. Unless youre salt brand is super high in Mag I would think (if youve never dosed) that you mag level is very low.

It should be 1300-1350 ppm. check that before you look into vodka or any other carbon dosing method.

 

[stevedola]

heres an article by RHF discussing the importance and relevance of magnesium in the home aquarium
http://www.advancedaquarist.com/issues/oct2003/chem.htm

here is the index of other helpful articles by RHF that speaks to water parameters.
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=102605

 

[Grant W]

The mag needs to be looked at but also how long has the tank been up? How stable are your paramaters? The numbers you posted are resonable (po is a little high thou) but stability is the main thing with acros. You are on the right track as the corals are keeping their color and have polyp extension. Assuming you have enough light, how old are your bulbs and where are the corals located in the tank? You just barely have enough light with the T5's so make sure they are up high. Hope this helps

 

[CUNAReefer]

Ph could also be a culprit. Whats your Ph at?

 

[gonpostal]

I agree that the mag needs to be checked, BUT... if it was very low, it would probably be hard to keep the calcium at the current level.
Regarding the lights, how many actinic bulbs do you have? Actinics don't put out nearly as much PAR as daylight or Blue+ bulbs.

 

[Swerve's Reef]

how often do you do water changes?

I have the same problem with acropora growth, I was wondering if I was changing to much water at 20% every two weeks?

My monti's and pocillopora seem to grow, but not really fast with them either at maybe 1/4"-3/8" per month or so. I do have one digitata that's grown from a golfball size to a lady's hand size in 4 months, that's the only one out of maybe 50 frags taking off.

Calcium, magnesium, are at recommended levels and stable using a DA controller. I top off with 100% kalk through a kalkstirrer using a spectrapure UPLC, Alk seems to be 9.5 dkh all the time per salifert. Calcium seems stable enough now, will get a ca reactor eventually. I use gfo, I'm not running carbon, or probiotics if that makes a difference, very little algae grows in DT either. I do feed what I think to be quite a bit for 5 small fish in 150 gallons, I'm paranoid of algae blooms as I've had with other reefs in the pasts..

It's a fairly new tank at 5 months old, but have lots of sponge growth for 2 months now in high flow dark areas. Seems to have a good supply of plankton swimming at night too. Am I just impatient? lol

 

[Nanighan]

If you guys with slow growth dont have any algae issues, I would feed more. I noticed far better growth and color with a slight increase in feeding. Also temps have a lot to do with it. Cooler tanks in the winter will have slower growth due to lower metabolism. YMMV