SPS won't grow

[mandarinfanatic]

phosphates being too high limits sps growth however to achieve growth you should not run phosphates at zero as photosynthetic bac need it. however the main reasons sps dont grow is kh being too low. there is research that has shown to increase growth kh needs to be higher. the recommended ratios for growth are as follows. cal minimum 420ppm magnesium must be minimum of three times cal so on 420 magnesium must be min 1260ppm. if calcium is 450 ppm then magnesium should be 1350. correct kh for 420 would be a kh of 10. and for a 450 ppm calcium it would be a kh of approx 11.3. read redsea research.

look at blue acro top left and then second pic four months later

 

[Bugger]

Your water is too clean, no fish and no nitrates to grow the coral.

 

[karsseboom]

phosphates being too high limits sps growth however to achieve growth you should not run phosphates at zero as photosynthetic bac need it. however the main reasons sps dont grow is kh being too low. there is research that has shown to increase growth kh needs to be higher. the recommended ratios for growth are as follows. cal minimum 420ppm magnesium must be minimum of three times cal so on 420 magnesium must be min 1260ppm. if calcium is 450 ppm then magnesium should be 1350. correct kh for 420 would be a kh of 10. and for a 450 ppm calcium it would be a kh of approx 11.3. read redsea research.

look at blue acro top left and then second pic four months later

Thats complete false. a KH anywhere above 6.5 should be fine. There is no reason to rasie the KH above that. Most of the reefers are carbon dosing nowadays and can't rasie the KH above 8DKH or the corals will show signs of STN or burnt tips. Would you suggest zeovit users tor rasie there KH to increase growth? They seem to have pretty good growth already with low numbers.

 

[mandarinfanatic]

Thats complete false. a KH anywhere above 6.5 should be fine. There is no reason to rasie the KH above that. Most of the reefers are carbon dosing nowadays and can't rasie the KH above 8DKH or the corals will show signs of STN or burnt tips. Would you suggest zeovit users tor rasie there KH to increase growth? They seem to have pretty good growth already with low numbers.

you go with that. try reading info on redsea supplements website. they have research labs testing this stuff. your comments are anecdotal at best.

 

[mandarinfanatic]

ps running your kh at 6.5 is living on the edge. kh is called BUFFER for a reason. run it too low and it cannot buffer efficiently. do some research on how kh levels affect growth.

 

[mandarinfanatic]

http://www.google.co.za/url?sa=t&so...s90v77M02ObVCZ4FA&sig2=6s53lS4KqR_RgEF1nLRC1Q

 

[mandarinfanatic]

www.redseafish.com

 

[jerpa]

I'm sorry but I would take information from a manufacturer with a very large grain of salt. Portraying a brochure attempting to sell supplements as some sort of guide to SPS health is misleading. It cited not one scientific source. The only "data" provided was a stylized graph showing growth rate on a birdsnest. I have seen far too many tanks with incredible growth AND color at varying alkalinity levels to put much stock in it.

 

[mandarinfanatic]

I'm sorry but I would take information from a manufacturer with a very large grain of salt. Portraying a brochure attempting to sell supplements as some sort of guide to SPS health is misleading. It cited not one scientific source. The only "data" provided was a stylized graph showing growth rate on a birdsnest. I have seen far too many tanks with incredible growth AND color at varying alkalinity levels to put much stock in it.

no probs go with what you want to follow. there is also non manufacturer research showing that kh is the major growth factor. when i have time i will find the research for you.

 

[mandarinfanatic]

http://www.reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-05/rhf/index.php

 

[epicurus84]

Im thinking that if its your sps thats not growing it may have to do with your LED set up! The par may not be ideal for sps, try to get ahold of a underwater par meter and test! LED seems to work for some people but the most ideal lighting for light loving SPS corals are MH light! You may want to move them closer to the crest of the water! MG and Ca are pretty high, try to let them come down slowly over the next few weeks to more normal levels, Mg 1350 and Ca 420-450.

This part about LEDs is bullshit. Led's will grow SPS corals. Just as wel or better then MH/T5 fixtures. LEP (plasma) works even better.

It can't be that i can run SPS's under LED and others can't. Just because of LEDs. Those who start with LED and can't grow SPS need to look at the other parts of the tank. Or the LED's aren't good enough. The last part is like hanning a 150 W MH at 1m high to light a 4x4 feet tank.

My corals seem to grow better at 410 Ca, and 1300 MG with a KH of around 7.5.

Every system is different. Don't stare too much at the numbers. Also keep it stable thats most important.

 

[jerpa]

I know increasing alkalinity can increase growth in certain systems. I also know that increasing alkalinity can lead to tissue loss in other systems. A dKh of 8 will not cause a complete lack of growth due to low alkalinity though. I merely think portraying a Red Sea brochure as though it were a scientific paper to refute someone else's "anecdotal" evidence is a bit misleading.

 

[mandarinfanatic]

I know increasing alkalinity can increase growth in certain systems. I also know that increasing alkalinity can lead to tissue loss in other systems. A dKh of 8 will not cause a complete lack of growth due to low alkalinity though. I merely think portraying a Red Sea brochure as though it were a scientific paper to refute someone else's "anecdotal" evidence is a bit misleading.

jerpa read the randy farley holmes article i posted the link to and tell me if that is misleading too.

 

[mandarinfanatic]

I know increasing alkalinity can increase growth in certain systems. I also know that increasing alkalinity can lead to tissue loss in other systems. A dKh of 8 will not cause a complete lack of growth due to low alkalinity though. I merely think portraying a Red Sea brochure as though it were a scientific paper to refute someone else's "anecdotal" evidence is a bit misleading.

increasing alkalinity will lead to growth if all perameters are in the correct ratios. as specified earlier. if you increase kh to facilitate growth you need to have a phosphate level of 0.08 and a nitrate of three to allow the growth remembering some phosphates are needed for cell formation and some nitrates to feed the photosynthetic bacteria in sps. if you increase kh in a system with no nitrates and phosphates then the outer tissue on an sps will tear and if there is no phophate to assist growth then the coral will expel excess photosynthetic bacteria and bleach and if it still doesnt get nutrients in small amounts it will rtn from the base

 

[RynosReef]

Hey Sander It sounds like your params are within an acceptable range. Is your magnesium actually 1500, or higher? I know certain test kits don't read any higher than 1500, so depending on your kit, you may have higher mag than that but can't test for it. You're calcium is also a little high. You haven't mentioned anything about your flow. This is very important. Also what is your salinity? How do you manage it? On a 28 gallon tank this is very important.

As long as your corals have polyp extension and no tissue loss I wouldn't sweat slow growth too much. Have your corals puddled at the bottom into the live rock? This can take a while. I've had corals that puddled for over a year before any vertical growth. All you should focus on is getting your params in the proper range and then keeping them there, consistently. I suggest keeping your alk at a level that can allow for mistakes. Keeping it on the low end such as 7 doens't leave you much room for error, especially in a 28 gallon tank where stability is especially difficult.

Good luck and happy reefing!

 

[nbgen12]

increasing alkalinity will lead to growth if all perameters are in the correct ratios. as specified earlier. if you increase kh to facilitate growth you need to have a phosphate level of 0.08 and a nitrate of three to allow the growth remembering some phosphates are needed for cell formation and some nitrates to feed the photosynthetic bacteria in sps. if you increase kh in a system with no nitrates and phosphates then the outer tissue on an sps will tear and if there is no phophate to assist growth then the coral will expel excess photosynthetic bacteria and bleach and if it still doesnt get nutrients in small amounts it will rtn from the base

Jerpa was basically saying the same thing as you, with less detail...