Accelerated coral growth tricks.

ReeferB28

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Now, I'm sure the vast majority of people who read this , are going to wonder why someone with such a low post count is starting this thread. Judge not! Don't let that get to you, I've been in this hobby since way before radions were the hotness, and way back when Aquamedic HqI fixtures were the thing.
Anyways, I wanted to share this bit of information for the betterment and continued sustainability of our precious hobby.

Now, I've only ever tried this with zoanthids/palys, but since all photosynthetic corals have zooxanthelle in them, I'm sure that if implemented, most people will see accelerated growth vs what they are getting now . Some people won't like that I'm sharing this with the community, but that doesn't phase me. Now, onto the info....

Back in 2004 or earlier, a bunch of environmental scientists got together to discuss coral conservation, and their findings after much research. Tropical coral reefs, only ever get 2.5-4 hours of Peak sunlight. So, naturally zooxanthelle have adapted to do the majority of their photosynthesis during this period. These scientists experimented with these organisms, and discovered that they were able to two growth periods in 24 hours. 4 on , 8 off . Light dependent and independent reactions. Now, I too was skeptical when I first read this. After implementing this, I saw amazing results. For the doubters, feel free to research it.

Just thought I'd drop this here to help everyone out! ;)
 
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ReeferB28

ReeferB28

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Now, I'm sure the vast majority of people who read this , are going to wonder why someone with such a low post count is starting this thread. Judge not! Don't let that get to you, I've been in this hobby since way before radions were the hotness, and way back when Aquamedic HqI fixtures were the thing.
Anyways, I wanted to share this bit of information for the betterment and continued sustainability of our precious hobby.

Now, I've only ever tried this with zoanthids/palys, but since all photosynthetic corals have zooxanthelle in them, I'm sure that if implemented, most people will see accelerated growth vs what they are getting now . Some people won't like that I'm sharing this with the community, but that doesn't phase me. Now, onto the info....

Back in 2004 or earlier, a bunch of environmental scientists got together to discuss coral conservation, and their findings after much research. Tropical coral reefs, only ever get 2.5-4 hours of Peak sunlight. So, naturally zooxanthelle have adapted to do the majority of their photosynthesis during this period. These scientists experimented with these organisms, and discovered that they were able to two growth periods in 24 hours. 4 on , 8 off . Light dependent and independent reactions. Now, I too was skeptical when I first read this. After implementing this, I saw amazing results. For the doubters, feel free to research it.

Just thought I'd drop this here to help everyone out! ;)

-Mike drop
Oh, and one more thing. I used the Fauna Marin line of coral foods, and have been for the past 5 years , along with this lighting trick. Amazing growth, and way more polyps than normal growth rate. !!!
Coral dust and others are the BOMB. FAUNA Marine FTW.
 

Vamsi

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Oh, and one more thing. I used the Fauna Marin line of coral foods, and have been for the past 5 years , along with this lighting trick. Amazing growth, and way more polyps than normal growth rate. !!!
Coral dust and others are the BOMB. FAUNA Marine FTW.
So is this cycle applicable to only soft corals ? Any pics of your tank?
 
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I had to take my last tank down when I moved in January. But I'm setting up my new one in a couple weeks. Currently have all my stuff stashed at our shop display. So, I can post up pics, but don't have comparison photos. When I'm all set up again, I'll be happy to show you. Coral sprint and coral dust is all we use at the shop to feed our corals! Great stuff.
 

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Back in 2004 or earlier, a bunch of environmental scientists got together to discuss coral conservation, and their findings after much research. Tropical coral reefs, only ever get 2.5-4 hours of Peak sunlight. So, naturally zooxanthelle have adapted to do the majority of their photosynthesis during this period. These scientists experimented with these organisms, and discovered that they were able to two growth periods in 24 hours. 4 on , 8 off . Light dependent and independent reactions.
Link to said research?
 
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Unfortunately , I don't remember the exact link. It's been about 7 years since I read it. But, I will tell you where I did find the information. The book is called ,"Practial Coral Farming" there's an original, and a second updated volume. Naturally, I read it and experimented for myself. Book was spot on, and not bs.
 
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Skeptics. Haha. Why would someone bother posting bs? It's free information. Do with it what you will. It was a scientific paper/study regarding experimental coral growth for the sake of conservation.
 
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Try it before you knock it. Will say this worked best with t-5 , halides or Radion gen 3 or 4 lights only. Can't speak to others, because I didn't try it myself. What if I told you that there was an alternative to Furan treatment for zoapox? I read it on reef2reef back in 2011. Cephalexin. Boom! Furan is obsolete, and cancerous.
 

ZipAdeeZoa

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Skeptics. Haha. Why would someone bother posting crap? It's free information. Do with it what you will. It was a scientific paper/study regarding experimental coral growth for the sake of conservation.

I can tell you the internet is a dark and mysterious place... I'm not saying what you've said is inaccurate (because I don't know) but I can say with confidence that is not the best defence- If you don't think people distort reality, facts and spin the wildest conspiracies because of logic and the inherit goodness in their hearts- Let me be the first to welcome you to the internet;Hilarious

Again, I'm not trying to say there isn't weight behind what you've said, I'm simply stating that we no longer live in a world where we can trust everything we hear, read or see. we must question it, ponder it and if we wish to enlighten others with our knowledge or discoveries we must prove it. Going forward I strongly recommend finding the proof and including it with your claims. It's not anyone else's responsibility to prove that you're right. If the proof is in that book than you are solely responsible for finding it, presenting it and understanding that until you do any claims you make shouldn't be treated as anything more than just a claim.

Try it before you knock it. Will say this worked best with t-5 , halides or Radion gen 3 or 4 lights only. Can't speak to others, because I didn't try it myself. What if I told you that there was an alternative to Furan treatment for zoapox? I read it on reef2reef back in 2011. Cephalexin. Boom! Furan is obsolete, and cancerous.
Technology and science constantly advance and evolve as does our understanding of the world and our place in it. There will always be new discoveries and revelations and anything we know at any given time has the potential to become obsolete and what you've suggested is not immune to that, I'm not aware of anything that truly is.

With all that said I appreciate the spirit you're capturing of freely sharing information for the sake of the hobby and conservation. Once again I'm not trying to go after what you've said or your character. Also a safe deduction from you lower post count is that although you are not new to the hobby you're likely relatively new to the forum so, Welcome to Reef2Reef!
 

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I have heard this before and think I’ve seen the study somewhere along the way. I was considering trying it in my frag tank. I searched online and couldn’t find anything. I did however find a study that seems to indicate that I should be dumping my parrot’s poop into my tank: https://phys.org/news/2019-03-importance-bird-poo-coral-growth.html
 

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Unfortunately , I don't remember the exact link. It's been about 7 years since I read it. But, I will tell you where I did find the information. The book is called ,"Practial Coral Farming" there's an original, and a second updated volume. Naturally, I read it and experimented for myself. Book was spot on, and not crap.
If you want to drop “knowledge” on a public forum be prepared to back up your statements with facts and don’t lash out at people who respond to you when you aren’t prepared with data to back up your assertions. This hobby has greatly benefited from people experimenting. But, you haven’t brought any facts to the table as of yet.
 

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Brew12

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I've never tried it, but this is something that has been in the hobby for over a decade. Some reefers swear by it, others say it causes problems with their fish.
 
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It doesn't really have anything to do with fish, but yeah. I get it. It's all about getting corals to grow, faster than traditional methods.
Now that it's proven I wasn't just running my mouth, can we move forward ?
I've never tried it, but this is something that has been in the hobby for over a decade. Some reefers swear by it, others say it causes problems with their fish.
 

Brew12

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It doesn't really have anything to do with fish, but yeah. I get it. It's all about getting corals to grow, faster than traditional methods.
I only mention the fish because it may not be an appropriate way to get additional growth from a display tank. It seems like fish that graze during the day have a harder time adjusting than fish that hunt at night. Definitely worth a try for maximizing growth in a frag tank without fish.

Now that it's proven I wasn't just running my mouth, can we move forward ?
I agree it is proven for zoas and some other soft corals. Seems like SPS have had more mixed results. Anecdotes range from more growth with worse color to slower growth with better color. I do agree there is more than enough evidence to it to move the conversation forward. It's an interesting conversation to have and the more information that can be gathered the better.
 
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I only mention the fish because it may not be an appropriate way to get additional growth from a display tank. It seems like fish that graze during the day have a harder time adjusting than fish that hunt at night. Definitely worth a try for maximizing growth in a frag tank without fish.


I agree it is proven for zoas and some other soft corals. Seems like SPS have had more mixed results. Anecdotes range from more growth with worse color to slower growth with better color. I do agree there is more than enough evidence to it to move the conversation forward. It's an interesting conversation to have and the more information that can be gathered the better.

That was the purpose of me even starting the thread originally. My goal was to start a thread where open-minded people would come together, experiment with it, and share their experiences so that we can all learn from eachother. I didn't expect to hit that much resistance to free information.
 

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