What is "fast" growth?

[cprice]

So as I become more and more successful in keeping SPS, I'm starting to focus my attention on good color and growth. One of the things I don't have a good grasp of is what constitutes "fast" growth? I have a few corals that do better than others and some that just keep encrusting and never start new branches. What do people measure against when determining if they need to make adjustments to their system?

And secondly, when new growth comes in the form of white tips, does that indicate an imbalance in the light/calcium/alk equation?




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[Reel North]

I look at fast growth as " wow. That wasn't there last week" lol

The white tips are the new calcerous growth. It's a good thing, and those tips will colour up.

When a coral encrusts and encrust without growing upwards, it's creating a base for 2 reasons

1. The larger the base, the more secure the coral will be when it grows up and out.

2. territorial domination. If the coral encrusts, it take AWAY an anchor point for a competing coral. Once the coral encrusts to touch the encrusted base of another, they will go up to try to take light and flow from the neighbour.

It also means grow time.

 

[djbon]

I have the same question as yours. I did my own lights, so I am wondering how or what is considered good growth as some encrust more before branching, some the other way round. Experienced reefers with good commercial lights please chime in. Your reply is much appreciated.

 

[nmotz]

I understand the need to ensure our tanks are running at their best, but a lot of this hobby is subjective. What you think is fast growth may or may not be the same as what another hobbyist thinks. I tend to agree with Reel North. I just look at the corals and if there are white tips everywhere and obvious branching or encrusting that I can see over the course of a few days, I say "fast growth."

But there are certainly a lot of corals in my tank that grow slowly compared to the same coral in someone else's tank. Just do your best, read, maintain stable chemistry, keep things clean, and your corals will tell you how you're doing by growing/coloring up.

 

[old_mr2]

1mm per day is fast and achievable with perfect conditions.

 

[Reel North]

Funny. I responded, and then went down to check on the Angels I just put in.

I had to do something, so I turned off all the flow and got up into the canopy and looked DOWN on my tank. Yowzah. So much branching off the back side I can't see from the front.

I have quite a few "white tips" right now. I actually prefer the encrusting more though. The more they go out the more they go up later.

 

[Potatohead]

I have a red dragon and a pink lemonade that both did nothing for a couple months and now are both encrusting about .5mm per day easily, probably more. I expect they'll go nuts upward once they feel secured. Some corals take a long time to get going and some grow right away. I have a red branching digitata that has only been in the tank a couple weeks and it is growing like a weed.