Is it true? Aussie Gold torches take forever to grow?

[OceanMinded]

About two years ago I got a pretty nice single head of Aussie gold torch from Vivid. The torch has grown a little bit as far as tentacle length and overall thickness, but it hasn’t split or grown a single head since I purchased it. Today I learned that they are notorious for taking forever to split.

What are some tips or tricks to kick start this guys growth? Do I need to be spot feeding everyday? I can post parameters when I get home. I do a 10% water change maybe every 3 weeks. But I also dose All-For-Reef.

 

[Saltyreef]

Cant comment on how to make grow better but yes they grow almost like a wall hammer before they start pinching into heads.
Very very slow process. Not like a normal branching torch.
I had mine over a year and it never grew anymore heads before it succumbed to some idiot moves.

 

[Goaway]

This is my Aussie, over 8" from tip to tip. Each head is over 5". Took it 8 months to fully split a double head. No sign of buds either.

 

[ccole]

I don't have a lot of long term experience, but I do have one head of Aussie gold that I've had for about 1.5 months. It has definitely increased in size since I bought it and is currently in the process of splitting in the sense it now has two distinct mouths. To be fair, it was a fairly large head to begin with.

I keep it under radions and t-5s. My tank is higher nutrient with about 10-15 nitrate and I try and keep my phosphates between .03 and .09. I dose all-for-reef and keep my alkalinity at around 7.8. I don't feed it specifically, but I do feed my fish twice a day and I'm sure it catches some.

The first picture is the day after I bought it, the second is it today. I'm not sure how much is growth vs. more extension. Definitely one of my favorites! Sorry about the dirty glass in the second photo.