Strange Milli Growth

[xmetalfan99]

I purchased a red milli from WWC in January. I puttied it down where I wanted it and let it be. In roughly 6.5 months it has not grown up at all, but has encrusted roughly a 3" radius around the base of the frag. Any ideas? What info will help you figure this out? Do i have a "special" milli?

 

[RalphsReef]

Most of the time, they will encrust "out" before they go "up." That way they have a solid base to grow from. Some grow quicker than others.

 

[clowns101]

Alot of millipora will put out a encrusting base to keep them stable and from not moving...if you have alot of flow in your tank,and the millipora was moving a tiny bit,the coral will put out a larger base to resist falling...

 

[KLR]

Most of the time, they will encrust "out" before they go "up." That way they have a solid base to grow from. Some grow quicker than others.

+1

You could relate acropora growth to trees, kinda. A tree needs roots to stay balanced and anchored to the ground or it would fall over. So a wider base on the acropora acts like the roots of a tree in the balance-sense.

 

[xmetalfan99]

Most of the time, they will encrust "out" before they go "up." That way they have a solid base to grow from. Some grow quicker than others.

I figured they would grow up a little bit. It looks like a giant pepperoni with a lump in the middle on my rock. I am just confused. All of my other SPS encrust a little then grow up. I am just confused.

 

[clowns101]

Sooner or later you should start to see little "sprouts" where new branches will form...

 

[xmetalfan99]

Sooner or later you should start to see little "sprouts" where new branches will form...

I have seen some shoots starting to form growing from the encrusting part of the milli. Still nothing from the initial frag though.

 

[kellyjn]

Hang in there. You will have a TON of vertical growth shortly. Be patient. Have a few that behaved this way.

 

[Troylee]

Agreed the bigger the base it lays the bigger and better it will shoot up.... Give it time, my red planet encrusted for a year before it sprouted....

 

[secretreefer]

same here my RP had a large base with a tiny nub. but i just discovered it got caught in my alk swing.....now it's just a tiny nub with no base again.

 

[Nuocmam]

My theory is that with a larger base it has a larger surface area with which it can obtain light. With a larger surface area it can feed itself via photosynthesis and eventually grow upwards. Be patient. I've had some sticks sit there and puddle for a year and then all of a sudden start growing. Its part of the fun to watch it do this.

 

[xmetalfan99]

thank you for the info everyone. I am no longer worried about it and cannot wait for it to start growing up super fast.

 

[Aquaph8]

My pink lemonade encrusted for a year, It finally shot up and just took off after that and hasnt stoped since. Kinda crazy how they lay down a base first.

 

[RalphsReef]

Yeah, once they hit that "upward growth phase", you better watch out!

 

[gar732]

When I first got my RP frag it was three 1- 1 1/2" pieces on some live rock rubble. It encrusted quite a bit then grew like wild fire. It however never grew from the three original pieces, just formed new sprouts and grew from there.

 

[blkhawk10]

Just give it time, I have the same problem with my SPS but it's worth it when they do start shooting up.

 

[xmetalfan99]

I just noticed a large amount of upward growth on the frag. I guess I should have waited another week.