Rouge Milli and slow growth

[Charterreefer]

Has anyone out there in SPS land been able to get one of these beauties to really grow?? I have had one of these for 3 years + that is very colorful and healthy, the only problem is that it just doesn't seem to grow. Has anyone been able to get one of these on a growth spurt? If so what do you think can be attributed to it?
From what I have read (and noticed first hand), these sps are notorious for there slow growth.

 

[Reefpharmer]

My rogue was slow while encrusting but after it got to a point of being encrusted, it grows fairly quickly. The frag that’s fast growing is up top, high light, high flow. Frag that’s slower

is mid tank, less flow and less light.

 

[Reefer40b]

My mille's are never really happy unless they have alot of flow...

 

[Charterreefer]

My rogue was slow while encrusting but after it got to a point of being encrusted, it grows fairly quickly. The frag that’s fast growing is up top, high light, high flow. Frag that’s slower

is mid tank, less flow and less light.

Do you know how much PAR your Rouge is receiving? How about your water parameters? I'm trying to nail down critical parameters that seem to be lacking in many tanks trying to grow this challenging coral. "High light" is another very relative term.

 

[jda]

This is one of my nemesis corals. It never seems to do much... either growth or color... and it has plenty of light and good water quality. Everybody has one or two of these that other people have good success with.

 

[Charterreefer]

From what I have read on this site and others the Rouge Millepora seems to be very challenging for most reefers. Likewise, I have over 50 different sps corals for about 3 years (in my current tank) and this has been one of the toughest corals to get growing in my system. I was hoping, with more people performing triton testing, we could collectively nail down the optimum nutrient, trace element and lighting requirements for this beautiful coral.

 

[jda]

If you figure this one out, then let me know. There are a lot of SPS that just need more light, or more daylight or less white LED... but I have this one under everything from 6500k to 20k MH and it never seems to change for me. The only thing that I have not tried is dirtier water... my N and P are NSW level and maybe this one just needs higher values to thrive, but I am not going to experiment or change for this one coral... and I cannot really do much about it anyway.

My other nemesis is Vivid Rainbow Delight... grows like a weed, but does not color up like it does with some.

 

[Charterreefer]

I can't help think that if the correct conditions were found to get the Rouge milli to thrive that other coral would benefit as well!! Maybe your Vivid Rainbow is looking for the same missing thing.

 

[jda]

I learned a long time ago about the fools errand of chasing one or two acros... usually to the detriment of the rest of them. About all that I am willing to do is try different places for different lighting intensity.

 

[Reefer40b]

I learned a long time ago about the fools errand of chasing one or two acros... usually to the detriment of the rest of them. About all that I am willing to do is try different places for different lighting intensity.

Words of the wise. Its not uncommon to have a acro just never settle in, I have held on to one for almost 2 yrs that I just could not make happy, but theres not much more than me changing placement that I would try seeing how 90% of other corals are colorful and growing.

 

[ryshark]

I had luck with the Rouge Mille back in the day under 250w radiums.
Here is a pic of the day I bought it from Tyree and another pic 1-year and 5-months later.

 

[Mattrg02]

My LFS has a nice colony. He’s got it down low, lots of flow still. My frag has stayed a frag with not a single bit of growth. It’s brown and has no PE. I have it up high nearby a bright Acid trip Milli that is just loving life. I’m beginning to take it personal and am considering eviction. It’s in a prime spot and I’m sick of looking at this middle finger of a coral.

 

[acro-ed]

Mine has been very slow. I have higher nutrients (25-30ppm nitrate), high light and high flow. I have dozens of other acros that are doing great. For reference I've had this about 2 years and its gone from a 3/4" frag to a cluster about 2.5" across. Some of the other acros that I got around the same time are far larger.

Truth be told, most of my milles don't really like my tank.

I'm still chasing the optimal points for my system. Overall, I have very good color and growth, but some acros just don't like it.

-Ed

 

[Charterreefer]

I had luck with the Rouge Mille back in the day under 250w radiums.
Here is a pic of the day I bought it from Tyree and another pic 1-year and 5-months later.

Wow!
Do you remember what your water parameters were and what kind of filtration i.e. carbon, gfo, etc?

 

[Charterreefer]

Mine has been very slow. I have higher nutrients (25-30ppm nitrate), high light and high flow. I have dozens of other acros that are doing great. For reference I've had this about 2 years and its gone from a 3/4" frag to a cluster about 2.5" across. Some of the other acros that I got around the same time are far larger.

Truth be told, most of my milles don't really like my tank.

I'm still chasing the optimal points for my system. Overall, I have very good color and growth, but some acros just don't like it.

-Ed

I don't think anyone really knows what optimum points are really. We collectively seem to know what not to do. The mystery still remains as to getting corals to show max color and in the case of corals like the rouge milli, to actually grow.

I think all tanks have certain corals that do well and others that do not. There's still many missing pieces to what optimum water chemistry and lighting is for sps corals. Even with tests like triton and all the new lighting technology it's still hit and miss with many sps corals. And, there is still a lot of anecdotal evidence floating around which keeps things murky.

I have had the same mixed results with millie's growth... slow in general. I haven't lost any, they exhibit great color although, they grow extremely slow! On the other hand, I have a tranquil millie that just grows and grows while the Rouge milli next to it just sits there. Maybe the folks at Triton can find what the optimum parameters are for these challenging coral although, it seems that there aren't water tests available yet as to test for all the elements required to make rouge millies (and the like) grow well. I believe Rouge milli's are a good indicator coral that can be used to help bring this hobby to the next level.

From the start of this post I still haven't acquired any data to aid in the growth of these beautiful corals.

 

[ryshark]

Wow!
Do you remember what your water parameters were and what kind of filtration i.e. carbon, gfo, etc?

Yes, back then, around 2011, the trend was to have much cleaner water. I ran both GFO and GAC often in that tank and I had a pretty big skimmer which was rated for a much bigger tank. My nitrates were undetectable with ATI test kit most of the time, but my nitrates never got higher than 5 and my Alk was a stable 9. My water temp would swing a few degrees per day because of the halides. Usually around 78-81. Calcium was about 400-420. I share your love for the Rouge Mille and its not easy to find anymore.

 

[Charterreefer]

Yes, back then, around 2011, the trend was to have much cleaner water. I ran both GFO and GAC often in that tank and I had a pretty big skimmer which was rated for a much bigger tank. My nitrates were undetectable with ATI test kit most of the time, but my nitrates never got higher than 5 and my Alk was a stable 9. My water temp would swing a few degrees per day because of the halides. Usually around 78-81. Calcium was about 400-420. I share your love for the Rouge Mille and its not easy to find anymore.

Did you dose any additives and /or trace elements on a regular basis? What was your water change schedule like? What salt and salinity did you use then?
Do you still have the rouge milli?
Hope you don't mind all the questions.

 

[ryshark]

Did you dose any additives and /or trace elements on a regular basis? What was your water change schedule like? What salt and salinity did you use then?
Do you still have the rouge milli?
Hope you don't mind all the questions.

I don't mind the questions at all.
-I didn't dose any additives or trace elements besides Alk/Cal and occasionally Mg.
-I changed water on average I'd say about 1x per month around 15%.
-I used ESV Saltmix at 1.025 to 1.026
-I wish I still had it. I sold and gave away a ton of frags, when I got out of the hobby (I'm back in now) I sold the entire colony. When I got back into the hobby I contacted everybody I could remember who had a piece of it but unfortunately everybody either lost it or was out of the hobby. Even the person who bought the mother colony from me lost it in a tank crash. I really want to find an original Tyree Rouge Mille again one of these days. I actually did several months ago, but lost it, I realized later I had a metal screw in my sump after getting Triton testing and tin was super high.