Slow or No Growth

[Exxotic]

I guess it depends on the size of the tank, but my 34g solana maintenance is VERY easy. once a week or two water changes and when i remember change out some medias and wallaaaaa! I really judge things based off how my corals look and the less I mess with it, it tends to look better

[TropTrea]

Yes there are loads of variables. And like you said the less you mess with it the better off you are generaly. But when you do mess with it the secret is to do small changes rather than big changes.

Some thoughts went through my mind today. Theoriticly if you had a tank with nothing in it but salt water and some water circulation the tank would nopt need any filteration, dosing, or water changes. Now fish generaly cause the biggest bioload on a tank with feed, waste products etc. So if you do not keep any fish in the tank but only live corals the need for filteration and water changes would be minimized other for keeping the calcium, magnesium, Alkilinity and trace element up.

Has anyone tried this?

[MHG]

A few weeks ago, I noticed some bleaching in my lps corals so I cut back the light... Now I have zero growth so I am assuming my slow growth issue has been light related. As I slowly crank them back up we will see I guess...

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by MHG

A few weeks ago, I noticed some bleaching in my lps corals so I cut back the light... Now I have zero growth so I am assuming my slow growth issue has been light related. As I slowly crank them back up we will see I guess...

Light is a touchy thing and sometimes hard to balance. The key is that they enough of the frequencies they need without going overboard expecialy on the frequencies that are detrimental to them.

you could say there needs can be calculated by intensity times duration. However if intensity is laclking you cannot make up for it by going over 16 hours of light since they need there dark time as well. Simularly if intensity is too great it will burn them in a short period of time.

If they need an ideal 1,000 units of light every day you can go with 125 units for 8 hours or you can go with 65 uniots of light over 16 hours. but if you give them more than 16 hours of light or less than 8 you realu get a negative response since they cannot adjust to that drastic of a balance in there cycle.

[MHG]

well slowly bumping back up the light. I am getting some growth on my breen birdnest 2/3rds up. nothing on the rest... I am hoping I get some color back on my monti cap but my green button polyps look better now...

I am on the list for the clubs PAR meter so sooon I can make a more educated guess

[Mr. Microscope]

In some cases GFO+Zoas =
Try taking it out and running chaetomorpha instead.

[MHG]

Cheato wont keep the phosphates from food down...

[Mr. Microscope]

Chaeto + a good CUC + LR + water changes should be good enough unless you're feeding on the order of an azoo tank. Not to say that GFO isn't good, I've just found that my zoas consistently react negatively to it. Also, it's known to cause problems with clams.

[MHG]

Actually, I mispoke before. What I meant to say that the cheato did nothing but wither back when I first had a phosphate issue. However it was likely outcompeted by the HA so I will definetly give it a try...


I only feed a pinch of pellets once a day and a small squirt of whatever I have at the time every other day...

[MHG]

So I got my hand on a par meter. Based on the percentages I had my lights at when I first started the tank i had par over 700 at the top and over 200 on the sand. That explains why my coraline was beached off. I did have growth though. After turning them way down and slowly back up I am at par on the sand bet between 50 and 130 on the sand bed and 250 at the top of the rock. I had my lights about 20 percent lower when I started this thread . Since then i was starting to see growth on the birds nest at the top. so in another few months or so I should be at around 400 - 500 at the top. As I turn it up I am seeing a little more growth but very little.

I have some small spots of new coraline starting on the rocks.


My purple Monticello still has zero growth and is at 190 par.... I think it's dead but it has no algae growing on it and does not look dead. It hasn't budged in months.

[MHG]

Ok so the Purple monti is not dead. I can see some polyps scattered about....

Since removing a piece of rubber used to hold the metric output of the skimmer to the us standard PVC I have growth in most of my corals. I think that was the biggest problem...

I will keep you all posted...

[MHG]

Well while I do see improvement, mathimatically it will take 10 years for me to see what others have in 2 years... I wish there was something else I could test for.

[MHG]

So good growth now on most of my sps... Except my monti and my frog spawn. Zero growth in 5 months.... My zoos grow but only one or two heads a month... I have been feeding like crazy. I think I amgonna buy some more fish...

[A. Grandis]

You don't need to feed like crazy.
I guess you are talking about the fish.
Target feed the zoas with good quality dry coral food once a week, small amounts, and you'll see some good results. Do not overfeed.
Make sure the water chemistry is in check, skimmer is good and you have some flow going. Not to mention the bulbs in check.
Assuming everything is ok, the target feeding will help you some.
Same for the fishes. Quality food in moderation is better than excess of anything.

If you have too many organics in the system it can actually be detrimental to the organisms. Make sure you do partial water changes 10% month or 5% biweekly.

Every system is different and you need a good sense to figure out what yours is in need of.

Stability and balance are your best friends!
Good luck!

Grandis.

[MHG]

Well every time I tell people I have zero nitrates they say feed more because the nutrients are too low...

[skidoctor]

I get a reading of 0 for phosphates. I do have cyano growing in my sump/ fuge, so I realize that it is a false 0. But since the phosphate is being used by the cyano, wouldn't that remove it from the water column in the DT, allowing corals to grow unimpeded by phosphates?

[MHG]

I had that issue with Hair algae outcompeting my cheato. The phopsphates were 0 and the HA was going crazy while the cheato died... Once I got the cheato under control my cheato is growing a little. I somewhat agree...

[A. Grandis]

I've got "zero nitrates" and feed the zoas small amounts once a week.
Fishes are well fed too with at least 3 or 4 different types of fish foods.
"Like crazy" to me means excess and almost to the point that they can't eat what is offered.
They have their limits to eat and digest. There are limits to the type of food offered also and their particular food needs for each species.

And you don't really need to do that in order to raise nitrates. Just cut down on water changes, if you really want. Depending how much and how often you change, I wouldn't do that. Many people would oe to have low nitrates and they can't. Enjoy your aquarium!

Let them grow on their time... Main thing is that they are healthy and the system is without major problems...

Grandis.

[TropTrea]

Originally Posted by Conrad25

Feeding the tank during the day with the photoplankton and reef snow? If you are I would do that at night with some moonlights on as that seems to get better feeding responses from polyps. The hair algae is consuming all the phosphates/nutrients so that when you test you are getting false readings of 0 when you do have some. Also I would bump the water change up to 20% and would recommend if you can to do more water changes like bi-weekly as that will help you a lot with nutrients and keeping levels perfect. Also you running RODI water at 0 tds?

I'll agree with Conrad with one exception. Rather than jump to 20% water changes simply to them more often. Sudden changes to cause the corals to have to readjust. But small changes done regularly will give you the same or better effect on the chemistry of the water yet be barely noticable by the corals.

I do a max of 10% water changes, but if there is an issue instead of monthly I have even stepped them up to every other day.

[MHG]

Well most of my acros are encrusting the plugs at a pretty good rate....growth on a few in general size has been good. Zoas still slow and two different frogspawns have zero growth but good color....

Now that my green birdsnest is coloring back up since I turned down my lights, I will start turning the lights up supper slowly ...

[MHG]

Originally Posted by TropTrea

So if I gather from the different discussions in various threads here.

1. I should not be discouraged if I see very minimal growth in the first 3 months.

2. Some varieties will take off and grow like weeds after they are acclimated.

3. Some varieties simply do not adjust to the conditions that may me be ideal for other varieties. So occasionally I might get some that just melt away in a few weeks while others types are thriving.

4. I know light is extremely important and different color morphs might have very different lighting requirements. What might be too much light for type A might be insufficient for type B.

you know as time goes on I am starting to agree that some work and some don't....but it is still soo frustrating....when I run out of AA any growth comes to a stop. After a week of dosing AA again, I get a little growth. If these frags don't work out, this is gonna wind up a FOWLR tank....I am not spending any more money on frags.... Free ones I will take..

[milesofreefs]

you know as time goes on I am starting to agree that some work and some don't....but it is still soo frustrating....when I run out of AA any growth comes to a stop. After a week of dosing AA again, I get a little growth. If these frags don't work out, this is gonna wind up a FOWLR tank....I am not spending any more money on frags.... Free ones I will take..

dont get discouraged, it takes time.. !!dont over feed!! i barely feed my zoas ever!! the only time i add phyto is when im feeding my sump to keep my pod count up.. and that goes straight into the fuge with no pumps on... though zoas are considered easy.. they still take time to adjust especially if your always adjusting things like lighting.. consistency is key. from my readings on here most keep there leds blues at 70/100% and whites 40/60% if something high up in the tank is starting to bleach move it down. start all your frags on the sand bed and move them up a little once a week. it takes time for corals to adjust to leds there a much more focused lighting then MH or T5. If your getting 1 or 2 heads a month on a 5 polyp frag thats good youll only see 5or6 new heads when that frag has finally become 20 heads. dont judge growth off of the naked eye take pics once a month and compare ill bet youll see more growth after six month of consistency the tank may take off and become a master piece. Just be patient.

[milesofreefs]

do you run any types of carbon source? like vodka dosing, VC or bio pellets? if not look them up. adding something for nitrates to feed on and turn them into coral food. i run bio pellets and when i do i see much better growth and color from my corals. the nitrates cling to them and become micro organisms that actually feed your corals and pods same thing with vodka and VC.

[MHG]

That's roughly a 2:1 ratio on the lights which is what I run. I do start all my frags on the bottom. Takes me about 2 months of inching them up in par....

I do run biopellets...

[milesofreefs]

That's roughly a 2:1 ratio on the lights which is what I run. I do start all my frags on the bottom. Takes me about 2 months of inching them up in par....

I do run biopellets...

then stop feeding so much.....

and in your other post your cal. is at 500 i think you should maybe lower that to 420/450 like natural see water.....

and be patient.

i didnt see any real crazy growth till my tank was 7 or 8 months.