I'm puzzled by the lack of coral growth in my tank.

[SueAubu]

Once upon a time, I had a 40 Long tank whose dimensions were 48"L x 12"H x 12"W. That tank had (4) Loop IC lights for a total of 148 watts. In this tank were a pair of clowns with Anemones and a bunch of Hammers and Zoas. Other than weekly water changes, I didn't use additives of any kind to replenish elements consumed by the tank. Over the course of the next 3 years, the corals E X P L O D E D with growth. So much so, that I upgraded to a 125 gallon.

I knew the LOOP IC lights would be inadequate to provide the necessary light to corals in the new tank as it is 19" deep. So I upgraded to (3) Hydra 32s.

I dose Randy's 2-part formula for Alkalinity and Calcium using the Simplicity dosing system. My parameters (tested today prior to this post) are as follows:

Salinity = 35ppt
pH = 8.2
Phosphate = .04
Nitrate = 30
Alkalinity = 8.8
Calcium = 480

The problem I can't solve: Why aren't my corals growing? They ARE surviving and healthy, but they just won't grow. It certainly isn't chemistry (I don't believe), and I made a $1500.00 investment into new lighting.

Any ideas?

Thank you,
Dom

I can only speak to LPs and softies, but
Mag
Vitamins
Amino acids
Almost a week after inconsistently adding the second 2 and the first, when needed, there was a noticeable difference in my growth

 

[Borat]

I'm not sure how to respond to this, so I won't.

That was the joke - corals dont grow fast, so take a buddist monk approach - patience.

 

[Jimbo327]

Corals needs time to settle and get used to the new tank and lighting. Once it does, it'll resume growth.

Of course, consistent water changes are going to work very well because you are exporting waste and also replenishing all elements from the salt mix. The challenge when going bigger tank is that these 20%+ water changes start to be cost prohibitive (salt and water cost a lot now), space constraint (RO/DI and mixing tanks cannot make 20%), and time consuming. So that is why ICP and trace elements dosing has become the norm, especially for bigger tanks.

For 125gal tank, I think consistent water changes is still acceptable. Making 30 gallons at a time is not too bad.

 

[Dom]

That was the joke - corals dont grow fast, so take a buddist monk approach - patience.

We're good, bro.