Acropora not growing at all for six months, some help thanks!!!

[yuzusama]

So I have purchased this tiny acro frag roughly six months ago, and till now I do not see any growth at all or even a growing tip? The tentacles does come out all the time, but I am not sure if I exposed it to too much light, the side where it faces upward slowly bleach out compared to the dark downward side of the frag. All the other sps and lps seems to be growing fine. the water parameter is at Ca: 420 Mg: 1280~1350 Kh: 8. I do water change about 10%/week. Any insights on what went wrong or any actions that I can take to stimulate its growth? (should I try nib its tips a bit? I tried this on my other acro and it actually worked and started a new branch)

Plus all the sps in my tank seem to be a bit diluted in color compared to when they arrived, is it too much light also?

Pic no.5 is the Acro thats not growing

 

[coral reeftank]

It does look a bit pale, it could be related to your lighting. It could also be that it is deprived of nutrients as well.
What are your nitrates and phosphates at?

 

[damsels are not mean]

Sometimes they just take a while. You can try moving it.

 

[yuzusama]

It does look a bit pale, it could be related to your lighting. It could also be that it is deprived of nutrients as well.
What are your nitrates and phosphates at?

Thanks, I do think its cuz of the lighting. there is a distinct line of color different from the side that faces lights and the side faces down.

For nutrients I got 0 for both no3 and po4. I just cant get no3 up even if I feed my fishes twice daily, and before I got no3 up I will face a ton of fish poop at the bottom of the tank first XDD

 

[yuzusama]

Sometimes they just take a while. You can try moving it.

I moved it serval times, and let it sit up about 1 or 2 months, still I dont see any improvements. The other acro I bought already grew 3 times bigger than when it was purchased...

 

[coral reeftank]

Thanks, I do think its cuz of the lighting. there is a distinct line of color different from the side that faces lights and the side faces down.

For nutrients I got 0 for both no3 and po4. I just cant get no3 up even if I feed my fishes twice daily, and before I got no3 up I will face a ton of fish poop at the bottom of the tank first XDD

0 nitrates is a big no-no. I’ve realized that this overtime will lead to pale colors and more issues with corals being pale. 0 nitrates will cause the corals to become more sensitive to lighting as there are less nutrients for them to utilize.

I would recommend that you start to increase the amount of nutrients being put into the system. Whether that is through feeding fish more heavily, broadcast feeding coral foods and amino acids, supplements, or direct nitrate dosing.

Feeding fish more heavily is the most natural way to raise nutrients and that’s the route that I would take. This allows for your tank to naturally process all the nutrients.

Dosing nitrates directly can help in the short-term as well as it will allow you to boost the nitrates much faster than feedings but this route may lead to other unwanted issues.

 

[coral reeftank]

With both 0 nitrates and 0 phosphates you’re essentially running an ultra low nutrient system. This will lead to these pastel/pale colors that you’re seeing in your sps. The only way these systems are sustainable in the long run is through continual nutrient supplementation. This is seen in zeovit systems where one essentially aims to minimize nitrates and phosphates in your system. While these systems are successful at their low nutrient levels, the key to there success lies in the continual dosing of zeovit supplements which replenish the nutrients in the system.

 

[yuzusama]

With both 0 nitrates and 0 phosphates you’re essentially running an ultra low nutrient system. This will lead to these pastel/pale colors that you’re seeing in your sps. The only way these systems are sustainable in the long run is through continual nutrient supplementation. This is seen in zeovit systems where one essentially aims to minimize nitrates and phosphates in your system. While these systems are successful at their low nutrient levels, the key to there success lies in the continual dosing of zeovit supplements which replenish the nutrients in the system.

Thanks for the detailed explanation! I do have zeovit coral vitalizer + amino acid, and seems like I should start using them more often on a daily basis. For fish I only have one yellow wrasse and two clowns for my 40 gallon tank. Should I or can I add more fish? I was always worried about adding too much fish would increase the stress on my tank's processing system. Maybe another blue tang or clown tang?

 

[coral reeftank]

Thanks for the detailed explanation! I do have zeovit coral vitalizer + amino acid, and seems like I should start using them more often on a daily basis. For fish I only have one yellow wrasse and two clowns for my 40 gallon tank. Should I or can I add more fish? I was always worried about adding too much fish would increase the stress on my tank's processing system. Maybe another blue tang or clown tang?

That sounds like a good plan!
On the fish aspect, adding a tang to 40 gallon might not be the best as they can grow to be pretty large for that size tank. I’d stick to adding multiple smaller fish like blennies, gobies, wrasses and the like. If youre algae, a lawnmower blenny would be a great addition. They don’t get too big and are great part of the clean up crew. They also have fun personalities.
Adding more fish won’t necessarily hurt your nutrient processing, in your case it seems that adding more fish would alleviate your issues long term. As your tank becomes more established you’re going to need more nutrients to supply your coral inhabitants as they grow. 3 fish in a 40 gallon in my opinion is lightly stocked. You could probably have about 10 small sized fish in there and be well off.

I would also add fish slowly and methodically so that your system can slowly ramp up to the new bioload. This way you can make sure that you don’t add too many fish and can mitigate issues like unwanted algae
Everything in this hobby is about reaching an equilibrium of nutrient input and export. In your case it appears that your export is greater than your input leading to you having issues with this acro.

For example, in my 125 gallon sps dominant tank I have these fish
Yellow tang
Powder blue tang
Purple tang
Chocolate tang
Cleaner wrasse
Blue star leopard wrasse x2
Pink streak wrasse


I feed my fish pellets and and approximately 1x1 inch cube of rods frozen food twice daily. I keep my nitrates at 20 ppm and phosphates at .04 ppm. All my fish are nice and plump. I like to see bulging bellies as I know they’re happy and that they’ll make my corals happy when they poop and their waste is processed into viable coral nutrients.

On a side note, if you’ve never done an icp test, administering one would be very helpful just so that you know the baseline levels of all the elements in your tank. It may not be related to nutrients, but perhaps elemental. In your case, to me it seems that you have a relatively lightly stocked system which points to low nutrient levels. In the long run, adding more fish will also save you money on supplements as you’ll need less as you have more happy fat fish pooping around the tank. This means less aminos, less direct coral feedings, happy fish and a happy reefer!

 

[njreefkeeper]

That sounds like a good plan!
On the fish aspect, adding a tang to 40 gallon might not be the best as they can grow to be pretty large for that size tank. I’d stick to adding multiple smaller fish like blennies, gobies, wrasses and the like. If youre algae, a lawnmower blenny would be a great addition. They don’t get too big and are great part of the clean up crew. They also have fun personalities.
Adding more fish won’t necessarily hurt your nutrient processing, in your case it seems that adding more fish would alleviate your issues long term. As your tank becomes more established you’re going to need more nutrients to supply your coral inhabitants as they grow. 3 fish in a 40 gallon in my opinion is lightly stocked. You could probably have about 10 small sized fish in there and be well off.

I would also add fish slowly and methodically so that your system can slowly ramp up to the new bioload. This way you can make sure that you don’t add too many fish and can mitigate issues like unwanted algae
Everything in this hobby is about reaching an equilibrium of nutrient input and export. In your case it appears that your export is greater than your input leading to you having issues with this acro.

For example, in my 125 gallon sps dominant tank I have these fish
Yellow tang
Powder blue tang
Purple tang
Chocolate tang
Cleaner wrasse
Blue star leopard wrasse x2
Pink streak wrasse


I feed my fish pellets and and approximately 1x1 inch cube of rods frozen food twice daily. I keep my nitrates at 20 ppm and phosphates at .04 ppm. All my fish are nice and plump. I like to see bulging bellies as I know they’re happy and that they’ll make my corals happy when they poop and their waste is processed into viable coral nutrients.

On a side note, if you’ve never done an icp test, administering one would be very helpful just so that you know the baseline levels of all the elements in your tank. It may not be related to nutrients, but perhaps elemental. In your case, to me it seems that you have a relatively lightly stocked system which points to low nutrient levels. In the long run, adding more fish will also save you money on supplements as you’ll need less as you have more happy fat fish pooping around the tank. This means less aminos, less direct coral feedings, happy fish and a happy reefer!

^^^everything @coral reeftank just said.

To expand, literally nobody needs coral foods, aminos and all the supplements until their corals are wall to wall in the tank and you simply can’t feed the fish enough. Most people will find that even then they don’t need the bottles. Until that happy day comes where you have enough fish for your sized tank and nutrients are still dripping, always opt for more fish kept happy and fat.

Tuning a skimmer down to let the nutrients rise a little goes a long way as well.

 

[yuzusama]

^^^everything @coral reeftank just said.

To expand, literally nobody needs coral foods, aminos and all the supplements until their corals are wall to wall in the tank and you simply can’t feed the fish enough. Most people will find that even then they don’t need the bottles. Until that happy day comes where you have enough fish for your sized tank and nutrients are still dripping, always opt for more fish kept happy and fat.

Tuning a skimmer down to let the nutrients rise a little goes a long way as well.

Thanks! Right now I would just stir up the detritus in the sand bed(1~2cm deep) every 2 days so they wont root under the sand, and also provide food and no3 for corals like you mentioned.

 

[yuzusama]

That sounds like a good plan!
On the fish aspect, adding a tang to 40 gallon might not be the best as they can grow to be pretty large for that size tank. I’d stick to adding multiple smaller fish like blennies, gobies, wrasses and the like. If youre algae, a lawnmower blenny would be a great addition. They don’t get too big and are great part of the clean up crew. They also have fun personalities.
Adding more fish won’t necessarily hurt your nutrient processing, in your case it seems that adding more fish would alleviate your issues long term. As your tank becomes more established you’re going to need more nutrients to supply your coral inhabitants as they grow. 3 fish in a 40 gallon in my opinion is lightly stocked. You could probably have about 10 small sized fish in there and be well off.

I would also add fish slowly and methodically so that your system can slowly ramp up to the new bioload. This way you can make sure that you don’t add too many fish and can mitigate issues like unwanted algae
Everything in this hobby is about reaching an equilibrium of nutrient input and export. In your case it appears that your export is greater than your input leading to you having issues with this acro.

For example, in my 125 gallon sps dominant tank I have these fish
Yellow tang
Powder blue tang
Purple tang
Chocolate tang
Cleaner wrasse
Blue star leopard wrasse x2
Pink streak wrasse


I feed my fish pellets and and approximately 1x1 inch cube of rods frozen food twice daily. I keep my nitrates at 20 ppm and phosphates at .04 ppm. All my fish are nice and plump. I like to see bulging bellies as I know they’re happy and that they’ll make my corals happy when they poop and their waste is processed into viable coral nutrients.

On a side note, if you’ve never done an icp test, administering one would be very helpful just so that you know the baseline levels of all the elements in your tank. It may not be related to nutrients, but perhaps elemental. In your case, to me it seems that you have a relatively lightly stocked system which points to low nutrient levels. In the long run, adding more fish will also save you money on supplements as you’ll need less as you have more happy fat fish pooping around the tank. This means less aminos, less direct coral feedings, happy fish and a happy reefer!

I got a blenny today and it started to graze on the rocks & glass for algae. With two days of manual dosing amino acid and coral vitalizer I can notice a increase in different algae in my tank and hopefully my nutrient level will be up and the blenny can take care of those extra algae created during the process.

Also, what are some of the detritus feeder you guys use? I got a sea cucumber arriving tmrw, and two starfish in the tank already. Are there other options for cleaning sand bed?