Coral Growth

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Hello!

I was just wondering, do corals grow exponentially to their size or do they grow faster when fragged like they're being pruned.

tl;dr = Which makes coral grow faster; fragging or keeping as 1 colony
Specially for acans, favias, and zoas!

Thanks!

 

[pga7602]

Colony for sure.

 

[reefstacks]

My experience has been more with SPS, especially Acros, but I have seen much faster growth from larger frags and colonies. Seems to be the same with zoas, although I don't have as much experience to base that on. There is a great research article out there somewhere that compares the growth of a .5" Acro frag vs 1" plus, and the 1" growth is dramatically increased over the .5". I wish I had it to link, but I'm sure Google could help you out. There is definitely a link or two to it somewhere on R2R as well.

 

[that Reef Guy]

The Bigger they are the Faster They Grow.

Some People say some Frags Get a Growth Spurt After You Frag Them (Go Into Survival Mode Thinking They Might Die From Being Cut Mentality).

 

[zoomonster]

While certainly colonies will grow exponentially they are also like plants. Acro's in particular will act similar to a rose bush for example. Proper pruning encourages not only more growth but bushiness and more of a shape you desire.

 

[reefstacks]

The Bigger they are the Faster They Grow.

Some People say some Frags Get a Growth Spurt After You Frag Them (Go Into Survival Mode Thinking They Might Die From Being Cut Mentality).

I've seen a little bit of both growth spurts and slowing after fragging. The survival mode concept makes sense to me, but I have no idea why sometimes they grow fast and sometimes they suspend growth all together.

 

[that Reef Guy]

I've seen a little bit of both growth spurts and slowing after fragging. The survival mode concept makes sense to me, but I have no idea why sometimes they grow fast and sometimes they suspend growth all together.

Yeah, Every Coral is Different. You would need to Frag Each One to See.

Even Better Get 2 Frags (One to Grow and Not Frag and One to Frag).

 

[reefstacks]

Yeah, Every Coral is Different. You would need to Frag Each One to See.

Even Better Get 2 Frags (One to Grow and Not Frag and One to Frag).

Does R2R award any research grants? Lol. I actually plan to do that with a few different corals I have when the time is right, but it will be very small scale and more to satisfy my curiosity than anything else.

 

[blank]

Interesting! I'll definitely have to try my own experiments. Although I have to say, seeing small frags progress and grow bigger and more polyps is pretty exciting :D.

 

[reefstacks]

Interesting! I'll definitely have to try my own experiments. Although I have to say, seeing small frags progress and grow bigger and more polyps is pretty exciting :D.

Agreed! Gotta love seeing the little guys coming up.

 

[blank]

Agreed! Gotta love seeing the little guys coming up.

Haha yeah! I saw some baby zoa polyps on my darth maul frag and started to freak out :D