Do corals grow faster the bigger they get?

Miami Reef

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I have a green star polyp and I have a question, do they (and other corals in general) grow faster the more bigger they get. The GSP doubled in size in a few month. Is it going to grow even faster now that it’s bigger?
 

DLHDesign

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Assuming consistent resources (minerals, growing conditions such as light and flow, empty space, etc.), then the coral's growth rate should remain consistent. But since it's growing, it's giving more of a base. Since yours is doubling, that means 1" becomes 2", 2" becomes 4", 4" becomes 8", etc. So the growth rate is constant, but the resulting volume from that growth increases.

Note that the most of the time, the coral will run into less-than-ideal environmental conditions (too much/not enough light and/or flow, lowered nutrients, competition with other corals, etc.) and that will stunt it's growth.
 

Kremis

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Yeah they will, for example a birdsnest coral. When it starts out, it might have 3 growth tips. Over time, it gets more growth tips which in turn makes it grow faster.
 

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