BigR WD Frag not taking off

[mavena]

Hi guys, my BigR WD Frag is not taking off since 1 Year :-( Yes i have split the two glued frags and they have built a Base but no vertical growth.

Is this very unusual? What can I do?

I know that Acropora frags can take a while to take off but 1 Year ???

The tank is full of mature and strongly growing Acropora Colonies, so the basis should be good.

The frag receives about 350 PAR with KH 7, CA 400, MG 1350, No3 2, PO4 0.05

Thank you vers much
Marco

 

[celebrityovernight]

The skin looks a tiny bit tight. How's the flow where it currently is sitting? btw, is that a rainbow chalice on the bottom right? It looks amazing!

 

[mavena]

Hi,

yes the skin looks a little tight and polyps are not as super extended as some other corals. Flow in the tank is generally very strong but the walt disney receives moderate random flow that is just able to gently move the polyps all the time. You think more flow or less?

Yes thats a rainbow chalice, a flaming bugatti as we call them in switzerland. It really developped the colors very nicely :-)

Thanks Marco

 

[celebrityovernight]

By the way it's looking, the coral looks like it went dormant. I would just move it to a new spot to see if it spurs it along to start growing again. Usually when I see limited polyp extension and tight skin, it's an indicator of something being too intense. Could be flow or light.

 

[jackson6745]

WD’s are bug magnets. A $70 digital microscope from Amazon will show you things that you wish you never saw lol.

 

[Dburr1014]

Hi guys, my BigR WD Frag is not taking off since 1 Year :-( Yes i have split the two glued frags and they have built a Base but no vertical growth.

Is this very unusual? What can I do?

I know that Acropora frags can take a while to take off but 1 Year ???

The tank is full of mature and strongly growing Acropora Colonies, so the basis should be good.

The frag receives about 350 PAR with KH 7, CA 400, MG 1350, No3 2, PO4 0.05

Thank you vers much
Marco

My take,

Your Walt Disney looks healthy. It's going to base out for a bit before it grows. And little frags tend to take a little longer.
Looking at the latest photo, it looks like it's ready to take off. I would just hold on a bit and get a couple more months. All those little nodules coming off Where it based out look like they're ready to sprout up. It actually has some decent color too.
Good job, but just wait longer.

 

[gspeed124]

WD’s are bug magnets. A $70 digital microscope from Amazon will show you things that you wish you never saw lol.

I am in a similar situation with my WD, Would you break off a walt disney that seems to have stalled out and stress it out?

 

[mavena]

Thanks guys,

I moved the Frag(s) like a few months aho to this spot where they receive more light and they started basing out significantly faster …

So maybe I really just wait a bit longer for it to hopefully start taking off ….

Will for sure update!

 

[jackson6745]

I am in a similar situation with my WD, Would you break off a walt disney that seems to have stalled out and stress it out?

If it would destroy the coral, no, but maybe inspect another tight polyped coral under a microscope for bugs to confirm. If confirmed, then a round of interceptor treatments or whatever etc. White bugs are something that’s inevitable for an acro keeper. Most guys are unaware that they have them. Dry looking tissue and sucked in polyps are usually a sign of them, however, a starved system can show the same symptoms.

 

[slingfox]

Unfortunately it is time to give up on these frags. Let me know when I can come by to take them off your hands!

 

[Reefer Matt]

Mine took about 2-3 years to start branching out. And even at 5 years old, it’s only 4” across. But still my favorite. Patience.

 

[mavena]

Mine took about 2-3 years to start branching out. And even at 5 years old, it’s only 4” across. But still my favorite. Patience.

Wow yours looks amazing :-) I will observe mine and inspect for bugs aswell.

 

[mavena]

In Switzerland I think its not possible to get interceptor and generally people dont trest their corals with aggressive chemicals as far as I know … I could try a Coral Rx dip on the smaller frsg maybe, but will observe first

 

[NeutronMan]

Reminds me of my Insanity acro. It’s just sat for months without doing anything other than getting some color.

 

[thamnasteroid]

A little bit off-topic but your other acros shape/structure are unusually similar to wild Acros; usually Acros (along with most other stony corals) tend to deform under aquarium conditions. How did you get them to grow like that? Is it because of the stratons and their large form factor, or possibly that they get a high amount of flow, or do you feed your acros?

To answer your question about your frag, Walt Disneys are tenuis (technically bifaria or kenti now), which have a reputation for being one of the hardest/most finicky Acros to keep/grow. Your frag doesn't seem to be in poor health or dying off, so I wouldn't worry about it too much.

 

[coral reeftank]

This could also be due to competitive exclusion from your other acros. Your WD is relatively small in comparison to your other colonies. It could be possible that many of the resources in your system are utilized by your more established pieces compared to your WD.

Trimming back its neighbors could free up more resources and redistribute the resource pool in your system.

 

[mavena]

A little bit off-topic but your other acros shape/structure are unusually similar to wild Acros; usually Acros (along with most other stony corals) tend to deform under aquarium conditions. How did you get them to grow like that? Is it because of the stratons and their large form factor, or possibly that they get a high amount of flow, or do you feed your acros?

Hi,

since 1 have only one reef tank I lack comparison to other methods but I believe that factors that I provide and that could be important are:

- Evenly distributed light (Had ATI Sunpower in the beginning and now ATI Straton Pro 204 st 38%, rather white, not blue). This I think is the most important.
- Very strong chaotic flow - two MP40 are mounted exactly opposite of each other and their flow crashes into each other. Mainly on Reef Crest Asynchronous and 2 hours a day on Gyre Asynchronous
- Near natural Seawater conditions (KH 7, CA 400, NO3 1, PO4 0.03)
- Trace Elements available through ATI Essentials SPS