Feel like quitting 2 years almost no growth please help sps dominate

[Ryan Mansa]

Hey guys my first post on here , I’ve been in this hobby a decent ammount and I’ve tried sps dominate for the first time , I’m about to give up everyone always comments “wow those are glowing sticks !!!” Okay so what they are 1 inch tall , I must have 40 acros maybe more , and only 3-5 of them have actually grown into a 4-5 inch piece or more , im stumped can anyone see if I’m missing anything ?
Red Sea reefer 250
2 mp10s at 100 percent short pulse back wall
2 gyres at 100 percent alternating
A skimmer rated for 150 gallons ,
T5 radion hybrid 3 xr15pros with all blue plus and 2 reef brite style bars
T5s on 9 hours
Radions on ab+ for 12 hours with 1 hour all blue in am and 2 hours all blue pm 9 hours of core spectrum and they are at 100 percent intensity
I dose acropower and b ionic and Red Sea color program
I have 13 fish
I do water changes and log Prams religiously on clanader
I check po4 and alk every morning
Po4 0.05-.11
Alk 8.5-8.8
No3 15-20
Mag 1400
Cal 450
I take care of this tank like I would a kid I’m getting ticked off at this point I see people with similar setups get wall to wall sps in 1 year , I’m at almost two years and still looking at nubs any ideas !?!? Thanks ryan !!!

 

[Spare time]

The only thing I can think of is too much par, resulting in increased coloration from chromoprotein production but a decrease in growth rate.

 

[Ryan Mansa]

The only thing I can think of is too much par, resulting in increased coloration from chromoprotein production but a decrease in growth rate.

Interesting , never thought I could over par it with the set up I have I was thinking my lights where not power full enough , I did par the tank out middle of the scape I was hitting 500 seemed okay to me 220-250 sand bed 450-500 mid

 

[Copingwithpods]

What do you dose to maintain trace elements?

 

[Ryan Mansa]

What do you dose to maintain trace elements?

I only use bionic , bionic mag , acropower , and Red Sea color program line , am I missing a specific product maybe ?

 

[Ryan Mansa]

I would also like to add , I have done a icp test and nothing was out of wack , I religiously change 9 gallons of water every Sunday morning , and I change my RO DI Filters every 4 months

 

[fishguy242]

tank looks great btw,i see healthy corals,all but a couple only growing tips,also see what i believe are plating montis,growing thick not plating?? you have come to the right place for help,experts will follow

 

[Mikeltee]

Wow beautiful tank! They seem pretty crowded. Do they possibly give off some sort of hormone to tell the other corals that they are encroaching on their territory therefore causing a stunt in growth?

 

[Hemmdog]

Following, mine don’t grow that fast either lol.
The only thing that stands out to me is the 9 hour peak, that’s fairly long.

 

[Ryan Mansa]

tank looks great btw,i see healthy corals,all but a couple only growing tips,also see what i believe are plating montis,growing thick not plating?? you have come to the right place for help,experts will follow

Thank you ! Trying not to loose motivation because I’m going above and beyond and just don’t feel like I’m getting it in return from my tank , those are all monti caps they grow very thick but never really “grow “ , also yes my sps base out constantly but never decide to go up , maybe that’s my frustration as well , because all of them have laid down a nice “foot “ and some have such shaggy pe like a dogs hair haha but I’m just not getting that explosive upward branching

 

[Rick5]

Hey guys my first post on here , I’ve been in this hobby a decent ammount and I’ve tried sps dominate for the first time , I’m about to give up everyone always comments “wow those are glowing sticks !!!” Okay so what they are 1 inch tall , I must have 40 acros maybe more , and only 3-5 of them have actually grown into a 4-5 inch piece or more , im stumped can anyone see if I’m missing anything ?
Red Sea reefer 250
2 mp10s at 100 percent short pulse back wall
2 gyres at 100 percent alternating
A skimmer rated for 150 gallons ,
T5 radion hybrid 3 xr15pros with all blue plus and 2 reef brite style bars
T5s on 9 hours
Radions on ab+ for 12 hours with 1 hour all blue in am and 2 hours all blue pm 9 hours of core spectrum and they are at 100 percent intensity
I dose acropower and b ionic and Red Sea color program
I have 13 fish
I do water changes and log Prams religiously on clanader
I check po4 and alk every morning
Po4 0.05-.11
Alk 8.5-8.8
No3 15-20
Mag 1400
Cal 450
I take care of this tank like I would a kid I’m getting ****** off at this point I see people with similar setups get wall to wall sps in 1 year , I’m at almost two years and still looking at nubs any ideas !?!? Thanks ryan !!!

Quitting?!? Bud, you're being dramatic. You have a nice tank.

Any chance the pieces that aren't growing are wild or maricultured?

How are you dosing 2-part (e.g. doser or by hand)? How large are the water changes and if they're large, what salt are you using?

Are you sure you have realistic growth expectations?

 

[Ryan Mansa]

Following, mine don’t grow that fast either lol.
The only thing that stands out to me is the 12 hour peak, that’s long.

Ab+ is on for 9 hours at 100 percent rest is just blues from 7am to 8 am and 5:30 pm to 7:30 pm

 

[Ryan Mansa]

Quitting?!? Bud, you're being dramatic. You have a nice tank.

Any chance the pieces that aren't growing are wild or maricultured?

How are you dosing 2-part (e.g. doser or by hand)? How large are the water changes and if they're large, what salt are you using?

Are you sure you have realistic growth expectations?

Everything is on a doser spaced out properly , I’m just seeing tanks online here and Instagram and other places setup same time as mine and theirs are blowing mine away , So I’m confused now at this point

 

[Ryan Mansa]

Everything is on a doser spaced out properly , I’m just seeing tanks online here and Instagram and other places setup same time as mine and theirs are blowing mine away , So I’m confused now at this point

Using instant ocean regular , 9 gallons every Sunday am

 

[2Sunny]

A couple thoughts. One your corals are beautiful and highly colored. Your sand appears to be immaculately clean. I would say you are doing way better than average at keeping your nutrients just right, but often that means the corals don't get a lot of "food" in the form of fish waste. Also, todays world of half inch frags for high prices makes growing coral colonies VERY difficult as few corals like to start life so small. Another consideration is that you do have an awful lot of frags concentrated in a small area all of which appear to be working hard at basing out instead of growing up. I'm no biologist, but I just wonder if they don't sense the competition for space. If it were me, I'd say you've got really nice purple and green colonies growing so the pink, yellow, and oranges really jump out at me, and the pink with 3 pieces growing out of the base looks about ready to start "taking off".

I wouldn't give up just yet as it looks like you will end up with some spectacular colonies in just 6-9 months more. Are you dosing live food of copepods and phyto from someplace like AlgaeBarn? You might try that plus Reef-roids which is a very popular coral food. Also what do you feed your fish and how often? I am a HUGE fan of Hikari Mega Marine Algae for all my fish. Next, and this is just me, but I believe in keeping parameters as close to natural sea water as possible. I've not seen scientific research showing that slightly higher calc and alk is of any benefit. I know some very successful reef keepers are doing that just not sure it's helpful and for sure I know it's not necessary as I have never done so. Lastly I do not think 2 years is a long time. It usually takes me about 3 years to grow my tank back to a full reef when I start over, and I have started over several times in the last 20 years.

Bottom line: one guys advice - keep going - you're SOOO close to seeing an explosion of beautiful SPS in your tank ( but maybe sell a couple of frags )

 

[Bpp124987]

Beautiful tank.

Salinity? Ph? Ph throughout the day and night?

 

[Ryan Mansa]

Wow beautiful tank! They seem pretty crowded. Do they possibly give off some sort of hormone to tell the other corals that they are encroaching on their territory therefore causing a stunt in growth?

Didn’t think they could sense that !? Wow interesting

 

[X-37B]

Very nice tank. I dont think I would change a thing imo.
In my 11 month old 120 some corals grow fast others are still nubs.
I have 2 green slimers that have done nothing but plate out with no vertical growth in 9 months of being in my tank. Only now they are sporting several vertical branches.
I have a purple stag that has gone from 2" to 8"+ in the same time frame.
Removed a elkhorn monti as it became the coral weed in my tank.
So some just grow faster than others.
As long as you are getting color and growth like you have enjoy your reef.
Many people would love a reef like yours and never come close.

 

[Ryan Mansa]

Beautiful tank.

Salinity? Ph? Ph throughout the day and night?

Thank you very much salanity is checked daily with Hannah pen always 1.026 temp is 78-79 ph is pegged I have a co2 scrubber and I open cracked window

 

[fishguy242]

the thick growth in monti's,the concentrated base growth,??? too much flow??? i don't think possible,throwing it out there,for expert opinions??