Hi guys, can anyone help me. I've had my corals in my tank for almost 8 months, and haven't seen any growth at all. My cal, alk, and mag, are all at good levels. My salidity is perfect, and I'm running the kessil a360 ne. Plus I'm feeding them reef rapids once a day. And dosing aminos, iodine, and strontium. Someone please help, I'm out of answers
Corals won't grow.
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doubleohwhatever
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What size tank is this on? Can you post a photo of the tank showing the light coverage on the corals?
Hi,
I don’t know if by “reef rapids” you mean “reef roids”, but if you do, then once a week is way too much. I disperse a measured amount of reef roids once a week and my trumpet coral has gone from having 2 heads for 4 months to 5 heads in 2 months! Also i find that when you disturb the tank, it hinders growth drastically, so I would consider keeping your hands out of the tank as much as you can as well!
Hope I helped. Good luck!
I don’t know if by “reef rapids” you mean “reef roids”, but if you do, then once a week is way too much. I disperse a measured amount of reef roids once a week and my trumpet coral has gone from having 2 heads for 4 months to 5 heads in 2 months! Also i find that when you disturb the tank, it hinders growth drastically, so I would consider keeping your hands out of the tank as much as you can as well!
Hope I helped. Good luck!
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Welcome to R2R! Can you share with us your exact parameters along with what corals you have that you are having issues with? Also, do you have test kits for all the elements u are dosing? It could be a parameter way out of wack. Rule of thumb is if you can't test for it dont dose it.
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Brittany Marie
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I dose my reef roids with polyp booster 45 mins prior, 3 days a week. Almost always target feeding. And I dose koralcolor the alternate 3 days a week. And yes, please dose parameters. Good levels to one person could be terrible levels to another!
Cal is at 420, alk is at 9, and mag is at 1350
Oh sorry, yeah I meant reef roids lol. Really? I thought the more you feed them, the better? So you just do once a week? And you don't even spot feed? You just let it flow throughout your tank?
Brittany Marie
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How are the placements? Hammers like a more moderate flow (I believe) zoas are usually happy just about anywhere. And acans (at least with mine) likes mid tank with moderate flow
Ishaithecoralguy
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I have a 30 gal and i dont know what my levels are but my corals grow very fast. I just ordered kalkawasser to sustain the alk and calcium. But all my sps and lps are great. I use metal halide though and i also run carbon and a refugium.
Ishaithecoralguy
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I find led to be too finicky with spectrum and par, better if you get a radion because those have proven settings that are fantastic. But if you dont have them money get an hqi metal halide or t5. And maybe increase and randomize your flow.
Brittany Marie
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Really? My LEDs I love. Can you explain more?
Ishaithecoralguy
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Just I’m bad at not messing with them. I like plug and play and i think halides are great thats all.
Brittany Marie
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Ahhh you like playing with all the colors
Also depends on the corals you have, the placement on the tank, the flow and the lights. IF those corals are not on the right place they will grow slowly or not at all.
Reef roids, just like any other food will increase your phosphates, and that's why people feed only once or twice a week. If you change your water frequently or have some kind of phosphate control, I'd say go for twice a week. Spot feeding can definitely help but I personally find it unnecessary.
Crashjack
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My suspicion is a lack of nitrates and phosphates. I never had problems with growth when I was in the hobby in the mid-90s through early-2000s. When I got back int it summer 2017, I started with all dry Pukani rock. Initially I had some hair algae, diatoms, and such, but then the tank started looking very sterile. When I added corals, they never grew or spread, and if there was much color initially, it typically faded. I rarely tested nitrate/phosphate in the past, and was a lot more worried about nitrate/phosphate being too high than too low. When I finally tested in my new tank, my nitrates and phosphates measured zilch. I still didn’t think much about it and eventually ended up with a bad dino problem. When I started dosing nitrates and phosphates to combat the dinos, my corals started growing and spreading, and started coloring-up. I accidentally let my nitrates/phosphates get too low again, and one of the tell-tale signs was coral color fading and certain corals not opening up as large or as often.
Ishaithecoralguy
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Yep
