SPS frag growth timeframe

[ScottR]

A friend of mine recently gave me some frags of staghorn and birdsnest. Saved me some $$$. Each piece is about 2” long. To see one inch of growth, about how long would it take in a tank with ideal conditions? Ballpark figure. I’m thinking about glueing them to rock in the next few weeks and size and placement are something I’m taking into account.

 

[James M]

There’s no specific growth rate. Could be a month or 3 months.

 

[ScottR]

There’s no specific growth rate. Could be a month or 3 months.

Interesting. I was thinking closer to a year. If I get an inch of growth in just 2 months even, that would be crazy.

 

[Hemmdog]

Interesting. I was thinking closer to a year. If I get an inch of growth in just 2 months even, that would be crazy.

Birdsnest are quick. In my build there’s pics of my colony. That was a frag. My tank is only 8 months old. Lolz

 

[ScottR]

I checked out your build thread. There’s 15 tabs and like 300 comments. I’ll check later Cool set up though

 

[James M]

Interesting. I was thinking closer to a year. If I get an inch of growth in just 2 months even, that would be crazy.

It varies from tank to tank. That’s just a random guess

 

[Hemmdog]

I checked out your build thread. There’s 15 tabs and like 300 comments. I’ll check later Cool set up though

Thanks man! lol.

 

[ScottR]

It varies from tank to tank. That’s just a random guess

I totally understand. I keep mostly LPS and they’re no different. This is my first venture into SPS. I only took them because they’re free but want them to do well. Moving LPS down to make room for SPS.

 

[SeaDweller]

It depends. You might have something easy that is dormant for a while because it doesn’t like something in your tank, and it explodes in growth for everyone else. You could have something difficult and just grows and grows for you. I’d say a few millimeters per month is pretty normal.

 

[jda]

If you really know what you are doing, you can have a softball sized piece in a year, then a cantaloupe the next year and then a watermelon the year after that. If you frag it a lot, then that makes a difference.

Although growth is different in each tank, most SPS grow exponentially and grow faster when they get larger.

 

[ScottR]

If you really know what you are doing, you can have a softball sized piece in a year, then a cantaloupe the next year and then a watermelon the year after that. If you frag it a lot, then that makes a difference.

Although growth is different in each tank, most SPS grow exponentially and grow faster when they get larger.

Thanks. SPS is so different from keeping LPS. For some corals, I worry they grow too fast - for others, too slow.

 

[tnyr5]

Under absolutely ideal conditions for a particular coral, you can expect 1/2in per branch, per month on the fast growers.
Acropora will usually spend a few months making a base first. During this time, there will be little upward growth.

 

[HOOPDEEZ]

A lot of times an acro will acclimate to your tanks conditions, and may hardly grow at all for a couple months. Then boom it takes off and that is when you start to see consistent growth.

 

[CMO]

Birdsnests grow FAST and a lot of stags too. Here are both a 10 month old green birdsnest and blue stag both grown from small frags in a new tank. That birdsnest has actually been trimmed a few times already as it's running into neighboring corals.

 

[ScottR]

Birdsnests grow FAST and a lot of stags too. Here are both a 10 month old green birdsnest and blue stag both grown from small frags in a new tank. That birdsnest has actually been trimmed a few times already as it's running into neighboring corals.

Wow. That stag is nice. Thanks for sharing.

 

[MARK M. DAVIS]

Birdsnest grows fast and big. It's also very aggressive with other coral.

 

[Grsfish]

 

[Grsfish]

Here are mine and they have grown a lot more since.

 

[ScottR]

Here are mine and they have grown a lot more since.

Thanks for sharing. That’s amazing growth! Now I have an idea of how to space them out.