What makes corals GROW?

[JT101]

I have several button polyps, some small zooanthas, a sun coral and two brain corals in my tank. All but one of the brains are doing fine (I have a thread on that one on this site, I will post a pic this weekend). Anyway, despite the fact that they are all thriving, I don't really see any "growth". I mean, they are healthy, but they are all the same size. I don't see any new polyps growing.

What can the average reef tanker expect in terms of growth? My tank was only fully established in July so we're only talking 4-5 months here, and the range of how long I have had corals in my tank is only between 3-4 months. Does it take years, months or just weeks to see corals "grow"? Do I need to put in additives? I have been doing large weekly natural seawater changes so I assumed that I'm automatically adding "addivite" every time I do a change, but maybe I need to supplement anyway...??

Thanks
John

[corrado007]

What type and how many corals and what type and how much lighting do you have? Also, by natural sea water changes do you mean that you're getting buckets of water from the ocean (I see you're located in NY)? Sorry if the question seems silly but the way it's worded that's how I took it.

[michael_cb_125]

There is no standard growth rate for any coral. It all depends on conditions.
Granted some corals are labeled as fast growers, and some are labeled as slow. But this is just a guideline. I have corals in my tank that are supposed to be slow growers, but mine are growing like crazy. I have others that are supposed to grow super fast, but they just push on at a slow steady pace.

Stony corals need and depend on Calcium, and Magnesium, in conjunction with many other elements. Lighting is a huge factor in coral growth. For many corals the better and brighter that light the more growth they will exhibit. Water quality, also makes a huge difference in coral growth. Poor water conditions=poor or little growth.

What are your Nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia levels at. Also Salinity, and PH.
There is not ONE factor that controls coral growth. There are many different factors that correspond with eachother, to determine coral growth.
If one factor is out of line, it does not matter how perfect the othet factors may be, the coral growth may be stunted.
~Michael

[BigAl07]

Different corals have different growth rates even within the same classification. Some zoas for instance grow like weeds and others that look similar grow painfully SLOW. And what I've seen is that the more stable and mature the tank is the faster the corals grow. Also many (not all) corals are light requiring and they get a LOT of their food from the algae inside of their body which LIVES off of direct light. THe more light the more food the algae gives to the coral.

Don't add ANYTHING that you're not testing for.

Also I wont go into detail here but I'm not a fan of using Natural Sea Water for our tanks. Too many opportunities to introduce something that's not natural to our reef tanks.

So what are you currently testing for? What are your current test results?

Allen

[boozeman]

it also helps if you hug your tank goodnight before you go to bed

[JT101]

I have been using real sea water for months taken directly from the ocean. Not a bay, not an estuary, not the sound, the ocean. Very clean. I stopped testing the water after the 5th time I tested it, it came back for 0 on ammonia, nitrites and nitrates, 1.025 on salinity and normal for pH and alkalinity...

As far as water quality in my tank, the nitrates have not gone over 10ppm. They are usually around 5ppm.

I tend to manually feed by button polyps and others quite a bit, but I guess there's no substitute for good lighting also.

[tbittner]

Test the phosphates. Phosphates above .25 will completely stop coral growth.

[Dentoid]

Good thought Terry. Coastal waters are high in phosphates from land run off and pollution. I know the water you are collecting is "clean" JT101 but these chemicals can migrate into a clean source.

[JT101]

Originally Posted by Dentoid

Good thought Terry. Coastal waters are high in phosphates from land run off and pollution. I know the water you are collecting is "clean" JT101 but these chemicals can migrate into a clean source.

Actually, I am stumped !!

I never thought about phosphates and I was COMPLETELY UNAWARE of the fact that phosphates will halt coral growth!

Can you recommend a good test kit? I want to get one today and check my local "clean" water before I use it again !

Thanks
John

[boozeman]

DD Merk and Elos make good low range phosphate kits

[Dentoid]

Longterm phosphate levels >0.30 can inhibit the uptake of strontium and decrease calcification in LPS and SPS corals according to Borneman.

Although testing for phosphate is an important maintenance test, I don't really think that is why your corals seem to have not grown. I think it's because they are young and your tank is immature. Soon enough you will see some growth. Give it some time!

[JT101]

Originally Posted by Dentoid

Longterm phosphate levels >0.30 can inhibit the uptake of strontium and decrease calcification in LPS and SPS corals according to Borneman.

Although testing for phosphate is an important maintenance test, I don't really think that is why your corals seem to have not grown. I think it's because they are young and your tank is immature. Soon enough you will see some growth. Give it some time!

Thanks for the boost, I needed that ! I sorta thought the same thing, but I ocassionally see threads about people who have seen their corals grow after only a few weeks, and here I am waiting months with nothing to show for it...

In either case, I'm picking up a phosphate test kit and testing the local water to see how it fares. I wanted to pick up a sample of water tonight but we'er having and ice and snow storm right now and I would bet that this is NOT the best time to check...

[BigAl07]

Originally Posted by JT101

Thanks for the boost, I needed that ! I sorta thought the same thing, but I ocassionally see threads about people who have seen their corals grow after only a few weeks, and here I am waiting months with nothing to show for it...

In either case, I'm picking up a phosphate test kit and testing the local water to see how it fares. I wanted to pick up a sample of water tonight but we'er having and ice and snow storm right now and I would bet that this is NOT the best time to check...

Of course you can't believe EVERYTHING you read too.

[tbittner]

My corals weren't growing for almost two months. I started running Phosban and testing my phosphates, seemingly over night my corals started spreading. It is truly amazing.

[Bwlr]

Do you have some pictures of the corals to compare?
When you first added the coral to now?

Seeing the corals everyday, it may seem like they're not growing, but if you find an old pic and compare it to a new one, you could see the difference better.