Slow coral growth

[JCH]

Hey everyone , I’m stumped as to why my corals grow so slowly? I see all these videos with tanks newer than mine with a lot more growth. Mine is a 70 gallon reef. Salinity is 1.025 , cal stays around 430 , mag is around 1200 , alk is 10.9 , 2 mp40’s for flow and I’m running Kessil 360’s that ramp up to 80&90% for about 4 hours and then ramp down. Feeding coral daily with a mix of Red Sea reef energy, reef chilli, pohls vitalizer and seachem phytoplankton and of course fish poop ! Phosphate stays between 0.05 and 1 and nitrate between 5 and 10 . What the heck am I doing wrong? Any idea’s! Thanks in advance !

 

[crazyfishmom]

Hey everyone , I’m stumped as to why my corals grow so slowly? I see all these videos with tanks newer than mine with a lot more growth. Mine is a 70 gallon reef. Salinity is 1.025 , cal stays around 430 , mag is around 1200 , alk is 10.9 , 2 mp40’s for flow and I’m running Kessil 360’s that ramp up to 80&90% for about 4 hours and then ramp down. Feeding coral daily with a mix of Red Sea reef energy, reef chilli, pohls vitalizer and seachem phytoplankton and of course fish poop ! Phosphate stays between 0.05 and 1 and nitrate between 5 and 10 . What the heck am I doing wrong? Any idea’s! Thanks in advance !

What type of coral are you trying to grow?

My first thought is that alkalinity is pretty high for the level of nutrients in your water.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Would suggest to rent a par meter to get an idea of the levels.

4 hours of lighting sounds very little to me, in nature its about 8-10 hours. I have metal hallides on 9 hours a day and then OR3's for another 3 hours, and believe me my corals grow.

 

[JCH]

What type of coral are you trying to grow?

My first thought is that alkalinity is pretty high for the level of nutrients in your water.

Mixed reef with lps on the lower half and spson the upper

 

[Formulator]

Your magnesium is quite low. Aim for 1350 ppm. Also might be good to get your trace elements checked and look for any impurities with an ICP-MS test. I recommend Oceamo, but there are several options and opinions you can find on here about which is the “best” test lab.

 

[crazyfishmom]

Mixed reef with lps on the lower half and spson the upper

I guess another question is: what’s your expectation for growth? For SPS for example, a fast grower will usually grow about an inch a year unless you have one of the magical tanks. Sometimes it’s easy to get discouraged if you’re starting out from small frags.

For LPS if we are talking about gonis, 1 mm of skeleton every couple of months is reasonable.

For torches or hammers it can take a month for a new head or 6 months depending on the variety.

It’s all over the place.

These numbers make me feel better.

 

[JCH]

Would suggest to rent a par meter to get an idea of the levels.

4 hours of lighting sounds very little to me, in nature its about 8-10 hours. I have metal hallides on 9 hours a day and then OR3's for another 3 hours, and believe me my corals grow.

Yeah lights are on for 12 hours but lower intensity other than 4 hours midday

 

[JCH]

Your magnesium is quite low. Aim for 1350 ppm. Also might be good to get your trace elements checked and look for any impurities with an ICP-MS test. I recommend Oceamo, but there are several options and opinions you can find on here about which is the “best” test lab.

I’m dosing 50ml mag , maybe I should up that

 

[JCH]

I’m dosing 50ml mag , maybe I should up that

Starting to wonder about my water , we have a community well where I live

 

[JCH]

I guess another question is: what’s your xorctarion for growth?

Not sure, but when I see all the videos on YouTube and they talk about how much growth they’ve had a one year ,I’m like what the heck im I doing wrong! Lol !

 

[Sisterlimonpot]

Do you monitor pH? That's just as important and I didn't see you mention it.

Keeping it 8.1-8.3 will make a huge difference.

 

[JCH]

Yeah lights are on for 12 hours but lower intensity other than 4 hours midday

Well, maybe I should try raising my intensity, don’t want to burn up the lps they seem to like where it’s at now. Idk you think they can take more maybe?

 

[crazyfishmom]

Well, maybe I should try raising my intensity, don’t want to burn up the lps they seem to like where it’s at now. Idk you think they can take more maybe?

If you do it slowly (increasing 15 min a day for 3-4 days at a time) you can get them up to a full day no problem.

 

[JCH]

Do you monitor pH? That's just as important and I didn't see you mention it.

Keeping it 8.1-8.3 will make a huge difference.

Yes I do it hovers around 8.15 with salifert test and Apex reads lower around 7.9 and I am dosing all for reef and a little soda ash

 

[JCH]

If you do it slowly (increasing 15 min a day for 3-4 days at a time) you can get them up to a full day no problem.

I’ll try that

 

[ryanjohn1]

Not sure, but when I see all the videos on YouTube and they talk about how much growth they’ve had a one year ,I’m like what the heck im I doing wrong! Lol !

My experience is they do just about nothing for the first year and then explode with growth

 

[Formulator]

Starting to wonder about my water , we have a community well where I live

Are you using well water to mix your salt without any purification? If so, I can almost guarantee that is your problem.

 

[MattPLaw]

My experience is they do just about nothing for the first year and then explode with growth

I am about 3 months in and also frustrated with slow growth. I am trying to be patient but it is tough. I am really hoping this is true, if so I can wait.

 

[crazyfishmom]

I am about 3 months in and also frustrated with slow growth. I am trying to be patient but it is tough. I am really hoping this is true, if so I can wait.

Many of my corals took about 3 months to “settle” when placed in the tank. Then it took about a month to start seeing growth. Now I have several where I see measurable progress it feels like every other week. It’s really all over the place though. Some definitely grow much faster than others.

 

[JCH]

My experience is they do just about nothing for the first year and then explode with growth

Yeah , this tank has been set up for 15 months. I am getting growth better on the LPS , very little on SPS . But not nearly what I see in these WWC videos. Makes me wonder if I’m doing something wrong