A bit of background, I’ve been successful at keeping a variety of LPS from torches to Goniopora, all doing very well and have been splitting/producing new polyps regularly. I have decided to jump into acropora as my coraline algae growth has been great over the past couple months, as my parameters have been very stable, keeping Hannah in business checking my parameters almost daily.
The issue I’m having is that I find my acropora growth has been extremely slow. I have one Mille that’s been encrusting well, however all of my tenius and other acros have basically stalled out. I have good/decent polyp extension and coloration but little to no growth at all. Nothing is dying, but nothing is growing. I have had these frags for about 1 month now, and I’m thinking I just need to continue to be patient, as I know some frags do nothing for months before taking off. The tank is very young as well, only 6 months old, which I believe is a contributing factor as well.
parameters:
Alk: 8.5
Calc: 435
Magnesium: 1350
Nitrates: 12.1
Phos: 0.06
Salinity: 1.025
Temp: 77-78
pH: 8.0
Using a bubble magus protein skimmer, AI Hydra 26 running mostly blues with 10% whites and 3% reds and greens on a 12 hour cycle with 3 hours ramp up/down. Plenty of random flow with polyps constantly moving.
Something I’m wondering is whether to try and get my nutrients down to match my Alk, or raise my Alk to match my nutrients. Or don’t chase numbers and just be patient, which has been my approach so far. I’ve also been considering adding a Refugium to increase my nutrient export and raise my pH, to potentially increase coral calcification. Thank you everybody in advance.
The issue I’m having is that I find my acropora growth has been extremely slow. I have one Mille that’s been encrusting well, however all of my tenius and other acros have basically stalled out. I have good/decent polyp extension and coloration but little to no growth at all. Nothing is dying, but nothing is growing. I have had these frags for about 1 month now, and I’m thinking I just need to continue to be patient, as I know some frags do nothing for months before taking off. The tank is very young as well, only 6 months old, which I believe is a contributing factor as well.
parameters:
Alk: 8.5
Calc: 435
Magnesium: 1350
Nitrates: 12.1
Phos: 0.06
Salinity: 1.025
Temp: 77-78
pH: 8.0
Using a bubble magus protein skimmer, AI Hydra 26 running mostly blues with 10% whites and 3% reds and greens on a 12 hour cycle with 3 hours ramp up/down. Plenty of random flow with polyps constantly moving.
Something I’m wondering is whether to try and get my nutrients down to match my Alk, or raise my Alk to match my nutrients. Or don’t chase numbers and just be patient, which has been my approach so far. I’ve also been considering adding a Refugium to increase my nutrient export and raise my pH, to potentially increase coral calcification. Thank you everybody in advance.