SPS growth or lack of.

[mthomp]

I run a 90gal tank that is lit by 2 AI sol Blues.
The flow is from 2 MP40s that are set to reefcrt mode and turned up on full.
calcium is 420 alk 9 and mag 1300.

After a year of putting acros frags in my tank there has been little to no growth from them. They look wonderful and have great polyp extention and color but just seem stunted.

Acans, chalices pallys all seesm to grow wonderfully but can not seem to get a sps to grow at all.

Any thoughts here?

 

[ChrisKirkland]

Your calcium is a bit low for me and your mag could use a small bump. Also what is your PO4 and NO3?

 

[Allmost]

Your calcium is a bit low for me and your mag could use a small bump.

what do you mean low for me ? are you a SPS coral ? lol
calcium of 420 PPM is same as NSW .... where corals are from, so lets not just post something ....

to OP. check your po4.
how do you deal with nutrition control ?

 

[mthomp]

I do not run any kind of reactors in my tank and according to my hana Po4 checker it is 0
trates are about a .25

 

[Allmost]

any algae growth ?

how do you deal with nutritions ? just live rock and skimmer ?

 

[mthomp]

no algae what so ever unless you count coralline, not even a hint of it. I only use my LR and a skimmer

 

[Allmost]

po4 would stop/limit calcification, but if no po4, then that cant be ure problem.

next would be if they didnt have enough food, which is not true since your LPS are growing.

if KH and ca++ were un-stable, you wouldnt have amazing colors you describe.

so I am puzzled as well sorry.

but share some pics with us we all love colorfull reefs.

 

[mthomp]

Ill try to get some pics. Thy usually fail because its a cheap camera phone. I ave this Green acro , not a slimer, that is as bright as my OME. My red planet has so many red polyps on it you cant see the base underneath it.

Yeah Im baffled as well. My buddy who is a reefing god is as well, but then again he doesn't understand how my water quality is where it is with no reactors.

 

[franklypre]

A lack of nutrients can very well cause issues though typically more with the color rather than the growth, what is your WC schedule? Only thing I would guess at is a lack of some particular element such as strontium, I personally prefer a higher cal to ensure I don't dip anywhere near NSW levels. I know it's not what you wan't to hear but atleast you have good color in you SPS rather than a steady decline.

 

[mthomp]

I do WC every 2 weeks and use Salinity salt. Raising Calcium shouldnt be a problem with out having any adverse effects so I will give that a try and raise it 20 pts.

I should add I keep this tank pretty well stocked with about 14 fish, the largest being a kole tang.

I feed rods food daily and coral frenzy twice a week.

 

[franklypre]

Well that eliminated my thought on minor elements, are you getting any encrustation or literally 0 growth?

 

[mthomp]

all plugs have completely encrusted.

 

[M007]

So you have encrusting growth?

 

[jcw]

Could the corals be shielded from flow or that in reefcrest mode, the flow is too low too often?

I use the mp40's in long pulse mode full blast.



Maybe it's the particular coral. For many reasons my red planet hasn't been growing well for the past 6 months either. I expect my oregon tort and purple monster to be slow.


Did you address your lighting?

I know that the topic of allelopathy is controversial. Do you have any large leathers?

 

[jcw]

I see you have ai sols and only two... (honestly I think this is your problem but I don't want to start an internet throw down)

 

[MHG]

I have the same problem. while I have not cured my problem, I do have some suggestions... Borrow a PAR meter and see where you are at. I also think that if you have good color, light is not the issue. I would suggest dosing daily with Amino acids. While it did not fix my problem it did help a little. Also some Pohls XTRA and Coral Vitalizer. I have seen signs of improvement with those.

My problem is light related. I have enough lights but I am still sutning them up slowly because when I go to fast I get bleaching. My max PAR is around 290. I wont reach 500 for another couple of months... I will see what happens then...

 

[Allmost]

all plugs have completely encrusted.

:hmm6:

that means they Grew !

you have no Vertical growth.

try placement. many sps encrust first, then shoot out branches. I usually place them on an edge, so once encrusted a bit, they have no where else to go but up.

 

[swanny]

I have three AI sols over a 120 and I added three ATI t5's, purple plus, blue plus, and true actinic. My growth and colors have been outstanding since I did this. Just a thought if you have the room to add a few.

 

[bobssecrtsn]

I have three AI sols over a 120 and I added three ATI t5's, purple plus, blue plus, and true actinic. My growth and colors have been outstanding since I did this. Just a thought if you have the room to add a few.

+1 i switched from ai sol nano to a 4bulb combo. and my growth has been twice has.much then when i had my ai nano. check out my thread in lighting and filtration. thread is called "input on ai sol nano". i also have a deeper more vibrant colors

 

[swanny]

+1 i switched from ai sol nano to a 4bulb combo. and my growth has been twice has.much then when i had my ai nano. check out my thread in lighting and filtration. thread is called "input on ai sol nano". i also have a deeper more vibrant colors

I didn't get rid of my led's like you though, I just added some t5's. Don't want to confuse op. I love my ai ramp up and ramp down effects.