Encouraging Acro Growth

Coralsdaily · Jan 19, 2015

I can attest to the slow start with frags. They are so painful to watch when they are 2-3" frags, but first they will need to spread out and encrust for a good foot hold,then when you see multiple bumps start to rise from the encrusting is when things will really begin to take off!

Fishguy597 · Jan 19, 2015

Isn't that what thales had going on when he put an ats into his tank? The corals looked drab And he was having problems. I have thought about carbon dosing but I have no doser and I'm afraid about missing a day. I run a carx and most everything is automated. But after looking at your pics it's making me rethink my methods.

jackson6745 · Jan 20, 2015

Fishguy597 said:
Isn't that what thales had going on when he put an ats into his tank? The corals looked drab And he was having problems. I have thought about carbon dosing but I have no doser and I'm afraid about missing a day. I run a carx and most everything is automated. But after looking at your pics it's making me rethink my methods.

I lost touch with that thread, but i am amazed that anything is alive let alone colorful with his super high nitrates and combined phosphates. Even though it can be done, I don't think high po4 and no3 together is something we should strive for. From what I have seen on many high nutrient local tanks, low po4 works better. I have to go back and read about his ats problems. As long as it's extremely balanced, I think skimming/carbon source is very effective for fast growing colorful SPS. Better than any traditional method that i tried in the past.

Colorado reefer · Jan 20, 2015

I think what threw us off was your first line (So like many other reefers I find myself strugling to get Acros to grow.)

Anyways good read so far...following.

macscale · Jan 20, 2015

Colorado reefer said:
I think what threw us off was your first line (So like many other reefers I find myself strugling to get Acros to grow.)

Anyways good read so far...following.

Lol, yeah... I was gonna go back and edit it to note I was talking like a lot of new SPS keepers think, so that they could see people's opinions from their view.

Mr. Microscope · Jan 20, 2015

I try to keep alk as stable as possible (manual dosing at the moment), in the 8-9 dKH range. I run barebottom, low nutrient tank utilizing All-In-One biopellets/skimmer, etc. Having no sand allows me to have insane amounts of flow (MP-10 shortest most intense Long Pulse Mode + WP10 in Else mode running at 75%). Lighting is DIY LED's, 28x3watts running at about 700mA over my 25 gallon cube. I only have two fish and am extremely careful when feeding them (only a couple pinches of pellets every other day and I make sure they eat every one).
All of that stuff counts for something, but the main factor in SPS growth IMO is feeding. I target feed with a pipette (with pumps off) and broadcast feed a mixture of Nutri-Cell, BRS Reef Chili, and AcroPower every other day (about 35mL tank water, one scoop Nutri-Cell, one scoop Reef Chili (both measured with the scoop that comes with Reef Chili), and 2mL AcroPower). I also use Red Sea Reef Energy A&B about every 3rd day (4mL each)
I also agree with the above statements that smaller frags take longer to take off and once they reach a certain size, they tend to grow faster. Finally, it should be said that some acros encrust much longer than others before they start shooting off branches. For that reason, I try to isolate acros with larger overhangs so that they can only encrust to a certain degree. Then, they have no choice but to shoot up a branch if they want to keep growing without encrusting into the shadows (which they still do on occasion (I HATE YOU BONSAI ACRO!!)).

Okay, enough chatter. Here's the results of my technique (which I'm continually attempting to hammer down). I made the animations by taking images once every two weeks, hense two weeks between each frame. Total growth time is 3-4 months.

Palmer's Blue (prostrata)

Random LFS acro I believe is an acropora nasuta

jackson6745 · Jan 20, 2015

Awesome Mr. Microscope. Those are the coolest growth shots that I've ever seen!!!

You certainly don't have the faded colors that I usually see in smaller low nutrient tanks. The feeding must be key. Growth is quick for 3-4 months. What are you getting for nitrate and phosphate test readings?

Mr. Microscope · Jan 20, 2015

Thank you Jackson! I haven't tested in a while, but I usually get unreadable to 0.04ppm on PO4 and about 0-0.75 on NO3.

hart24601 · Jan 21, 2015

Feed the things! I hear so many people talk about getting max coral growth but rarely I do see feeding. Here is a research article about stony coral (sps in our terms) feeding and growth:

PLOS ONE: Augmenting the Post-Transplantation Growth and Survivorship of Juvenile Scleractinian Corals via Nutritional Enhancement

Pocillopora was used, and it showed dramatic increase in growth with feeding.

rayn · Jan 21, 2015

So going off what I am reading here. Nitrate should be 0 to just barely there. Phosphate should be just barely there. Feed heavily and have good filteration, even carbon dosing to help the bacteria levels. Have a good light schedule, and the right lights as well...also not starting the debate.

Then if the reef gods like you, the acro will begin to encrust onto the plug and then start to grow?!

scardall · Jan 21, 2015

1/2 this distance from coral base to plug filled up in 4 months

My tri-color 3 months ago

Colorado reefer · Jan 21, 2015

Rayn that sounds like pretty good notes to me! I'm still learning a lot about SPS. Every time I think I have it all figured out I run into a problem, or an idea I haven't heard before and realize I have so much more to learn.

Colorado reefer · Jan 21, 2015

Like Mr Microscope, I also have a 25 gal cube that is bare bottom. I used to have sand but it limited the amount of flow and had a I hard time with debris build up, so I removed it and it's doing much better now. I also do a 1 gallon water change before I go to bed and when I wake up...just what I found works for that tank. I've had issues finding the perfect amount of carbon and phosban to use, and have had some STL when too much...but I think I got it down now. Also dosed too much alk to fast once...and lost all my color, which took over a month to get back. I feed the corals every other evening, and filter hard the following morning until the

ImageUploadedByREEF2REEF1421895900.404377.jpg

next feeding.

Jeff.:P:. · Jan 21, 2015

Mr. Microscope amazing growth do you have a fts? Or thread?

Mr. Microscope · Jan 23, 2015

Jeff.:P:. said:
Mr. Microscope amazing growth do you have a fts? Or thread?

Thank you Jeff! I have a tank thread on here somewhere, but i haven't updated it in like a year. I'm not super active on R2R (mostly just the SPS forum), but here's my FTS from December. I haven't taken one this month yet, but have since added a very nice colony of Hurlock and a chunky octospawn.

scastillo813 · Mar 4, 2015

So, are there common things that would possibly stunt SPS growth?

ie. Washing filter socks with bleach, too much skimming, old carbon/gfo, ect.

Tek · Mar 5, 2015

Too much light intensity will stunt vertical growth.

erk · Mar 6, 2015

So, I hope this doesn't upset anyone, but I've been reading a lot about Zeovit and one of the issues encountered in a Zeovit system is faded colors. It seems to usually be attributed to low Potassium, ie below 400ppm. Does anyone test their Potassium when their corals begin to fade? I also noticed a common thing between everyone's posts here and even those I read on the Zeovit forum. Once your tank reaches low nutrients, you have to start providing food and supplements for the corals. Part of the food supplied is the bacteria that is grown through carbon dosing. If food and supplements are not supplied, the corals basically fade away. These are just my observations from reading the countless threads here and other forums.

kevensquint · Mar 6, 2015

Look down at my thread if you want to see great growth with some helpful details. IME, maintain K for good health and color. But IMO the whole color type programs don't work for everyone, and each tank is different and dynamic. You likely won't get best results by adding bits and pieces of different methods that fallow a specific complete tank program. Get to know your tank, and maintain the 5 main elements as stable as you can. Some say old GFO or old carbon inhibits growth/color. Well, I never use any. Use principals to get the tank on track. The tune it through observation and slow adjustments/trials.