What Is the Most Likely Reason for Poor SPS Coral Growth? My corals aren't growing... See Pictures

[sgrosenb]

Hey all,

So I have a tank that has been up for about 2 years. I have about 30 SPS frags that are in the tank and have been for 6+ months. They are decently colorful, their polyp extension is fantastic, and by all accounts they seem happy. But they are not growing. They're not dying which is good... But for growth, I'm lucky if I get a few millimeters over many months. I have a few that have encrusted some of their frag plug but that is rare. Below are some pictures. I'm purposefully not posting my tank parameters yet (I will after a few responses) because what I'd really like to know is: what are the most likely reasons for lack of SPS growth? I have a feeling I am having testing errors on my parameters so I'm interested to know what the most likely reasons are for happy-looking corals but poor growth; maybe I can work from there. Thanks so much for your insights!

Pics of corals not growing (but looking happy by all accounts):

7/31/2020 RRC Marvin the Martian:

11/8/2020 RRC Marvin the Martian:

7/23/2020 SC Orange Passion

11/8/2020 SC Orange Passion:

7/31/2020 Strawberry Shortcake

11/8/2020 Strawberry Shortcake:

 

[jvb89]

Flow is huge IMO.

 

[Xanthurum]

Growth can take time, focus on keeping parameters stable and maintaining colorful healthy SPS and growth will follow.

 

[ShepherdReefer]

What are your parameters of the seawater? What kind of lights are you using and have you tested the PAR?

 

[Gernader]

- What pumps are you using for flow?
- How much par are they getting?
- Are the parameters stable or do they fluctuate?

 

[sgrosenb]

If we ignore for a second what my lighting, flow, parameters, etc are - what are the most likely culprits for a lack of growth with (seemingly) very happy corals? For instance I'm doubtful it is trace elements or low nutrients given that the coral color and polyp extension are good... but I could be totally wrong...

 

[jvb89]

If we ignore for a second what my lighting, flow, parameters, etc are - what are the most likely culprits for a lack of growth with (seemingly) very happy corals? For instance I'm doubtful it is trace elements or low nutrients given that the coral color and polyp extension are good... but I could be totally wrong...

If everything else is out, then time/patience

 

[Flux Capacitor]

If we ignore for a second what my lighting, flow, parameters, etc are - what are the most likely culprits for a lack of growth with (seemingly) very happy corals? For instance I'm doubtful it is trace elements or low nutrients given that the coral color and polyp extension are good... but I could be totally wrong...

Why would you want to ignore those things? Those are the main things your corals need to grow and survive. Without any of those 3 things you will likely suffer growth, along with have a high mortality rate.

 

[sgrosenb]

Sorry I should rephrase - I'm not saying that my tank levels are perfect and to ignore them (if fact I'm starting to think they really aren't perfect). I'm just trying to figure out what the most likely culprit would be. For instance what if my pH was testing higher at 8.1-8.3 but in fact I had a faulty probe and it was really super low 7.7-7.8 in reality - could explain my growth issues? Or maybe something else that could be stopping the calcification process but not killing the coral?

 

[Flux Capacitor]

I think you first need to answer the question about those main three items plus one more.

What is your flow?
What is your PAR?
What are your parameters?
What’s your maintenance schedule?

Then we can figure out what’s lacking. If your doing regular water changes your trace, and salt levels should be fine. Leading to one of those questions above being the issue.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Lighting, flow and chemistry insight would be very helpful to this thread

 

[sgrosenb]

I guess my thought was that as soon as I put specific params on here people will focus in them and problem solve from there. But what if there were testing errors and those params weren't accurate.... a potential solution could be masked and never thought of because my parameters are just assumed to be good.

That's why I'm tryin to the pose the question at a high level - what are the most likely culprits for good looking corals with slow growth? I'd have to guess at its most basic level, low pH and low alkalinity could be two possible explanations. Or maybe like @jvb89 said flow could be an issue. Could there be something in the calcification process that is stunting growth?

 

[Flux Capacitor]

What if one of the items listed above is the issue? Ignoring it isn’t going the help solve the problem. Unless your tests are expired, and you don’t follow the instructions for the test, it is unlikely you are off by a significant margin for that to be a problem. Remember the tests are hobby grade, so “close enough”.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

I guess my thought was that as soon as I put specific params on here people will focus in them and problem solve from there. But what if there were testing errors and those params weren't accurate.... a potential solution could be masked and never thought of because my parameters are just assumed to be good.

That's why I'm tryin to the pose the question at a high level - what are the most likely culprits for good looking corals with slow growth? I'd have to guess at its most basic level, low pH and low alkalinity could be two possible explanations. Or maybe like @jvb89 said flow could be an issue. Could there be something in the calcification process that is stunting growth?

My ph was 7.7-7.9 for a couple years with decent growth. I added a co2 scrubber to get it to 8.1-8.4 and haven’t noticed much difference. Maybe a little but I still have some Tenuis that haven’t changed at all.

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Too much par for long periods of time can stun photosynthesis. Too much or poor directional flow would cause issues with tissue and/or irregular growth.

 

[EMeyer]

In my experience, not enough light and not enough flow are the most likely culprits, assuming that food availability and seawater chemistry are within the usual range.

 

[sgrosenb]

Okay thanks for all of the info. Sounds like params, etc would be helpful. Here they are:

Tank: 165g 5x2x2 with sump & fuge
Alk: 8.6dKH like clock work - tested with Trident and confirm with Hanna Alk Test. BUT - Red Sea, LaMotte, and GHL KH Director all consistently read about 1.0 dKH lower than that - ~7.6 dKH
Ca: 450 (steady)
Mg: 1360 (steady)
NO3: 5-8ppm
PO4: 0.03-0.10
Fish: roughly 15 which I feed 3x daily pellets and frozen mysis shrimp
pH: Reads 8.0-8.3 like clockwork each day, but I have reason to believe the probe is off (even though I've calibrated many times) and might be reading higher than it actually is
Lighting: T5/LED Combo:

• 4x Radion XR15 G4 Pros with Diffusers on SPS AB+ from 10am-6pm 85% about 9inch from surface
  • I also run them at <10% on only the Royal Blue (100%) and Blue (80%) spectrum from 5am - 10am and 6pm-10pm. Not sure if this could possibly impact anything?
• 4x T5 (2 BluePlus, 2 CoralPlus) on 10:30am-4:30pm

Flow: 2x Maxpect Gyre 250's on anywhere from 30-80% depending on time of day
I also run a Protein Skimmer 24/7 and dose 2-part. I dose small amounts of NO3 to keep it around 5ppm. Feed Reef Roids every once in a while, but PO4 has no issue stating in range of 0.03-0.10.

ICP Test Results recently show good levels all around:

• Triton
• ATI

 

[X-37B]

Stability is my main focus if parameters are correct.
Pic the levels and keep them in range is what works for my system
I run a carx so ca and alk are stable at 7-7.5.
I dose trace to keep k and mag and others in the correct range.
I do no scheduled water changes.
Ran t5 for 14 months now MH.
If you run leds set them and do not adjust.
Po4 and no3 need to be low and stable.
With all the above even some corals just grow slow.
Flow and temp need to be stable too.

Best advice I could give is set and maintain parameters and growth will follow.

 

[SMSREEF]

Have you checked the PAR?
There are some reefers on here that get extra growth with cloud cover feature when PAR is really high because it gives the coral a rest once in a while.
Not sure wether it will help in your case, but this is a great thread

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

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...

www.reef2reef.com

 

[Charlie’s Frags]

Okay thanks for all of the info. Sounds like params, etc would be helpful. Here they are:

Tank: 165g 5x2x2 with sump & fuge
Alk: 8.6dKH like clock work - tested with Trident and confirm with Hanna Alk Test. BUT - Red Sea, LaMotte, and GHL KH Director all consistently read about 1.0 dKH lower than that - ~7.6 dKH
Ca: 450 (steady)
Mg: 1360 (steady)
NO3: 5-8ppm
PO4: 0.03-0.10
Fish: roughly 15 which I feed 3x daily pellets and frozen mysis shrimp
pH: Reads 8.0-8.3 like clockwork each day, but I have reason to believe the probe is off (even though I've calibrated many times) and might be reading higher than it actually is
Lighting: T5/LED Combo:

• 4x Radion XR15 G4 Pros with Diffusers on SPS AB+ from 10am-6pm 85% about 9inch from surface
  • I also run them at <10% on only the Royal Blue (100%) and Blue (80%) spectrum from 5am - 10am and 6pm-10pm. Not sure if this could possibly impact anything?
• 4x T5 (2 BluePlus, 2 CoralPlus) on 10:30am-4:30pm

Flow: 2x Maxpect Gyre 250's on anywhere from 30-80% depending on time of day
I also run a Protein Skimmer 24/7 and dose 2-part. I dose small amounts of NO3 to keep it around 5ppm. Feed Reef Roids every once in a while, but PO4 has no issue stating in range of 0.03-0.10.

ICP Test Results recently show good levels all around:

• Triton
• ATI

Have you checked your par?