Would you consider this to be good growth?

[Wiskey]

Hello all!

I started another thread with the purpose of increasing my growth rates, a couple people in that thread mentioned that they thought I had pretty good growth, so I'm starting this thread to see what everyone thinks.

Would you consider this to be good growth? Keep in mind this green slimer is a fast growing stag.
These pics are about a month apart:

May 19, 2015:
IMG_5048 by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

Today, June 24, 2015:
Slimer by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

Thank you!
Whiskey

 

[kevin_e]

I would say that pretty good for a fresh cut.

 

[rovster]

That's excellent, but I have LEDs so my perspective is skewed lol!

 

[Pife]

Looks good to me. It will only grow faster and faster the bigger it gets.

 

[DubiousMaximus]

Definitely good growth for a month, stag has better pe than the first pic too. Can see it in the base.

 

[rt67ghy]

Looking great; nice dense growth. Colour is brighter too.

 

[Gmerek2]

Doing better than me and I had size advantage. may 20 June 22

 

[Wiskey]

Thank you for the comments everyone!

Whiskey

 

[plyle02]

Yep,
Great job, looks very happy, encrusting well, and growth on the tips with new branches coming in, this one will probably change weekly

 

[Tnconcept]

Growing faster then mines.. Lol what are you running calrx or dose?

 

[Wiskey]

Yep,
Great job, looks very happy, encrusting well, and growth on the tips with new branches coming in, this one will probably change weekly

That it does! Love the quote in your sig.

I'm still a bit worried about my PAR though, this coral is only getting about 200, most successful SPS tanks push 600.

Whiskey

 

[Wiskey]

Growing faster then mines.. Lol what are you running calrx or dose?

I use a CA Reactor, it's set at a very low level right now though, I only have a few frags. I'm running 2 drops per sec effluant, and a PH of 6.6. When my 180 was in full swing I had a waterfall coming out of that thing, I measured in ml/min then.

Alk = 9.6
CA= 420
MG = 1300

Whiskey

 

[plyle02]

Wiskey,
Only thing that I have learned in this hobby as of late is not to get caught up in the numbers game, allowing for observation to be my compass for success. This coral is on a great growth trend, IMO don't let PAR values change location, let things be, the coral will eventually extend to higher more intense light levels as it grows. How about other sps in the tank, are they experiencing the same happiness? Keep up the great work!

 

[Wiskey]

Wiskey,
Only thing that I have learned in this hobby as of late is not to get caught up in the numbers game, allowing for observation to be my compass for success. This coral is on a great growth trend, IMO don't let PAR values change location, let things be, the coral will eventually extend to higher more intense light levels as it grows. How about other sps in the tank, are they experiencing the same happiness? Keep up the great work!

Not quite actually. This my cap, and my birdsnests are the only corals to show vertical growth so far. The rest have good color, good pe and they are encrusting well, but after about a month and a half we have not gotten past that.

Whiskey

 

[Cosmojo]

Excellent work on here, definitely some great growth

 

[reefmutt]

its very decent growth, imo..
and it looks super happy.
encrusting is growth as well, just not in the direction that we would like to see.
every tank is different, not to mention every coral..
give the tank some time and keep doing what you are doing..
most of my corals are only encrusting. my tank is about 8 months old, in its current configuration, but the system is almost 3 years old.
i have growth on some encrusting on others...
give it some time...

 

[Wiskey]

Thank you Reefmutt and CosmoJo!

Now what do you think about this? I just took some PAR readings with Just my T5's, and the T5's and newly added LED's to boost the figures a touch:

Here is a picture of the Light Fixture:
LightNet by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

Here are the PAR numbers:
DualTankNetSize by Wiskey2727, on Flickr

What do you think about these numbers?

Whiskey

 

[reefmutt]

I'm no expert on par readings...
Do I see 4 t5 tubes and the LEDs?
I'm not sure what type and strength the LEDs they are but I would be inclined to add another 2 t5 bulbs to keep sps happy..

 

[DavidinGA]

The numbers say you need more light.

The pictures say you are fine.

Lol

 

[markalot]

IMO you are getting good growth, no changes needed.

So I can offer some comparison, hopefully this helps. My slimer at the moment is growing at a rate I thought was impossible.

6.5 KH (it's been chronically low for a month now as I bump up dosing)
400 Ca
.02 - .1 PO4 (I've got a leeching issue)
2 - 4 NO3

It's getting 400 to 450 PAR under a 6 bulb T5 unit supplemented with BML 20K LED strips. I've grown it under less with good results as well.

Slimer coming in from the left.

5/25

6/18

It's a big colony now, and all my staghorn types are growing fast now that I've gotten PO4 under control, but the slimer is annoyingly fast. Make sure you place it where you won't have to trim every month. If PO4 rises, in my experience, color stays good but growth slows down a lot and tips are more tan than white.