How to get my SPS to grow rapidly

[preston469]

Okay I'm sure this is already posted somewhere but I'm tired of guessing at my problem so I figured I would ask the pro's, I Have just recently started collecting sps about 3 to 4 months ago. I try and keep my perimeter's on check. I do water changes every 2 weeks in my tank.

My setup:

45 Gal rimless
Aquamaxx HOB-1
Maxspect Razor 27.5" 16,000K I run 75%W and 100% B for my peak of the day my lps and nems have been in love lol
I use Chemi pure elite, and a few other thing I cant remember the names right now.
I skim 5 days out of the week.
I use THRIVE aquatic products. for my Alk, Mag, & Cal.

My lps grow like crazy!, but I have a few Sps that haven't seem to grow a mm after a few month's except my shortcake and birds nest.

My usual Perimeters
Alk- 8.4-9.0
Cal- 400-420
Mag 1360-1440
Phosphates 0-0.3
Salinity- 1.024-1.025

PLEASE HELP ME TO GET MY SPS TO GROW LIKE WILD FIRE Maybe i'm missing something who knows

 

[CoryC]

I had this problem, until I stopped messing with my tank. Now they grow like mad. Also, my salinity was bad off due to an incorrect calibration solution, i seldom even test. Running t5s though.

 

[uhupong]

Pics please

 

[Battlecorals Verified Sponsor]

Well for all practical purpose Sps really don't grow like wildfire. Moreover the transition from small frag to mini colony is by far the slowest. As opposed to after hitting critical mass where they will grow considerably faster.

Sps keeping is a patient mans game. Some do grow faster than others. But it takes years to grow frags into colonies.

 

[rajkovich207]

Give acro power a shot. Cheapest on fosternsmith stuff works, trust me I dose 1ml a day and it's been in the ball park of 6 weeks, I see a noticable increase in encrusting a bit in upwards growth a lot of pe and a bit of coloring up. Man I hope that makes sense, sorry been up 3 hours for work lol

 

[falconerr]

Just curious why do you only skim 5 days a week and not just let it go 24/7. I have seen this in a few other posts and just don't understand why. Also like said above time is your only way to get sps to grow. When they are frags there is just not much surface area growing which makes any growth not as noticeable.

 

[jduck]

Just curious why do you only skim 5 days a week and not just let it go 24/7. I have seen this in a few other posts and just don't understand why. Also like said above time is your only way to get sps to grow. When they are frags there is just not much surface area growing which makes any growth not as noticeable.

Over skimming can cause the water to become too clean. You need some nitrates and phosphates.

 

[nola90]

Keeping your parameters stable is a must for good growth. I had about a 6 month span where I didn't dose accurately, didn't maintenance properly, and I noticed that my sps slowed down. In the last 2 months, I had a coral that was idle and didn't grow at all in my tank for the 6 months of flux end up tripling in size when I had a more accurate dosing regimen and maintenance. Don't search for a 'magic number', but figure a consistency for the tank to grow.

 

[mgdmirage]

Well if you dry skim your skimmer only skims when it needs to plus keeping a skimmer running all the time is great oxygen for the system.

 

[Torx]

Being constant is important for SPS. Do not do any changes and it will start on its own. Also, SPS is typically much slower then LPS/Softies. From there, there are some types that are even slower then typical SPS. But also, by the sounds of it you use a lot of different chemicals in your tank, so who knows what is really happening in there.

 

[diesel3443]

Well for all practical purpose Sps really don't grow like wildfire. Moreover the transition from small frag to mini colony is by far the slowest. As opposed to after hitting critical mass where they will grow considerably faster.

Sps keeping is a patient mans game. Some do grow faster than others. But it takes years to grow frags into colonies.

This

 

[StikHedRon]

SPS take anywhere from 6 months to a year to really start their growth spurt.

 

[Torx]

SPS take anywhere from 6 months to a year to really start their growth spurt.

True enough.

 

[evolved]

Well for all practical purpose Sps really don't grow like wildfire. Moreover the transition from small frag to mini colony is by far the slowest. As opposed to after hitting critical mass where they will grow considerably faster.

Sps keeping is a patient mans game. Some do grow faster than others. But it takes years to grow frags into colonies.

+One Million!

Being constant is important for SPS. Do not do any changes and it will start on its own.

Greg Carroll's moto could never be more true - SPS: Stability Promotes Success

But also, by the sounds of it you use a lot of different chemicals in your tank, so who knows what is really happening in there.

I think you may be mistaken as to what constitutes a chemical additive. Replacing essentially elements as they are depleted is much different.

 

[Torx]

I think you may be mistaken as to what constitutes a chemical additive. Replacing essentially elements as they are depleted is much different.

I am referring to the chemipure elite and unrecalled others. Plus phosphates at 0-0.3 is crazy high for most sps. Those posted results leads me to 2 thoughts. Either he is using an API test kit, which is not nearly as accurate as needed, or he needs to reevaluate his husbandry to lower that number to a constant <0.10

He will probably have to target feed lps at that point though

 

[Aquaph8]

Well for all practical purpose Sps really don't grow like wildfire. Moreover the transition from small frag to mini colony is by far the slowest. As opposed to after hitting critical mass where they will grow considerably faster.

Sps keeping is a patient mans game. Some do grow faster than others. But it takes years to grow frags into colonies.

I'm with Adam

 

[Battlecorals Verified Sponsor]

Plus phosphates at 0-0.3 is crazy high for most sps.

I am going to go ahead and disagree:angel:. been trying to talk people out of chasing phos #s for a couple years now

pics take same day for a similar thread.

 

[Torx]

I am going to go ahead and disagree:angel:. been trying to talk people out of chasing phos #s for a couple years now

pics take same day for a similar thread.

But you solidify my point at 0.18. Even that is a little high IMO, lower would be even better, but posting 0-0.3 is a huge swing in phosphate, something sps does not like. It needs to come down and stay constant.

 

[Battlecorals Verified Sponsor]

But you solidify my point at 0.18. Even that is a little high IMO, lower would be even better, but posting 0-0.3 is a huge swing in phosphate, something sps does not like. It needs to come down and stay constant.

you know what I am sorry man. I saw his reading and I thought it was .03.

I totally agree with you.

.3 is too high. something not quite right there.



Preston,

Are you using tap water?

 

[nwpowell0481]

Here's my 2 cents. On a 45 gallon system IMO your water changes should be more frequent. Smaller, frequent water changes will provide more stable parameters and more stable export of nutrients. The smaller the raise and decline of parameters in your system, for everything including phosphates and nitrates, the more stable the system is going to be. Anyone who has had even a small spike in any parameter knows that it takes longer than a week for corals, especially sps, to recover and start growing again. Doing water changes every two weeks allows for parameters to swing more than doing a change once a week. I also definaty agree that having phosphate levels of .3 is too high. Don't worry about achieving a certain ultra low level but do try and get those down to a lower levels. Again just my 2 cents.