hard corals won't grow verticle for years

[MattinIdaho]

Ok Ive had my 180 set up for 3 years and I just am baffled as to why my sps and montis wont put on length. I mean no length. I hold great colors and the bases on my sps makes them look like encrusting montis but they never grow otherwise. Polyps do well. My monti plates are so thick I can't break them without clippers.
Here is a basic run down of what I can think about my tank specifics.
180 dt, 75 sump and 40 breeder all tied in as one. Mag 12 and Mag 9 for 180 returns and a 600gpm ocean runner for 40 breeder. 2 Koralia 6's, 1 Koralia 5 and 1 Koralia 4 in dt ran on Koralia Smart Wave set to 15 seconds. GFO and Carbon 24/7, Vodka for 2 years. Only other thing I dose is 35 Ml ak daily and 8 drops Luguls once per week. Water changes are 25 gallons every other week using RSCP salt for 2 years.
ATI 8x80 fixture, ati bulbs. 5 blue Plus, 2 Coral Plus and 1 Purple Plus.
params stay pretty stable and on average as follows
Temp - 79
SG - 125
Ca - 420
dkh - 7.5
Mg - 1300
ph - 8.2
Nitrates - 0
Phosphates - Always read 0 with Hannah Checker but I know that can't be because I have some gha and my macro is growing. Likely the macro is why it reads 0.

I cant think of anything else but if you can think of something Ive missed or have any ideas Im dying to find out what the issue could be. My colors are fantastic and for the most part I can keep anything alive with good polyp extension but it would be nice to have some colonies of stuff to look at

 

[Keithcorals]

How long do you run your lights?

Less light = more vertical growth

 

[Pete polyp]

High flow will cause sps to grow thicker bases and branches. Are they blasted with flow?

 

[MattinIdaho]

Light cycle is 2 blue plus on at 1:30 off at 10:30 with the other 6 coming on at 2:00 and kicking off at 10:00.
I wouldn't say the tank is blasted. Obviously some are but some hard corals are fairly hidden (out of the flow) and don't have any better growth than any that are in more flow. I have my returns aimed really high so as not to blast anything anymore than possible.

 

[ReeferEric]

I want to say its a flow issue as well, too much won't let them go up. If they are blowing towards one side of the tank then you already know which way the flow is strongest.

 

[Mr. Microscope]

It might just be the kind of SPS you have. Some really spread out before branching. Bonsai for example will encrust forever until it reaches an overhang and is forced to branch up. TDF is like that too. Miyagi tort and Hawkins on the other hand hardly encrust at all. They pretty much only branch even as tiny frags. One way to force your acros to branch is to put them on rubble that has sharp overhangs. That way, once they've reached the edge, they either have to grow in the shadows or start shooting up. Also, larger colonies tend to branch more that frags.