[lindsay]

I have seen a good few tank pictures over the years showing very fast growth of sps corals especially species of acropora and montipora .Not forgetting the saying they are growing like weeds .In the past i can remember reading that in nature a fast growing Acropora Formosa ,one of the fastest growers of the Acroporas could grow up to 6 to 7 inches a year .Its true to say that food ,light and flow along with many minerals that have come along could have a hand in fast growth .
How about two basic parameters in reef tanks dKH and Calcium .
Natural sea levels are 7 to 8 dKH and 400 to 420 Calcium approx but it is often recommended to keep dKH from 7 to 12 and Calcium 450 ppm or higher in aquariums .
Could elevated dKH and calcium levels also be a possibility for fast growth and if this was the case at what cost to the corals .
Is it possible that the skeletons of many sps may grow fast but also be more fragile and softer than that of wild sps .
Is it also possible that fast growth could also put a lot of demand on the coral with things like die back at the bases and tips happening because of the pressure on zooxanthellae to keep up .
If fast growth does have any of the above effects on sps what about immunity towards disease and pests long term .
What do you think ?.

[dylan]

lindsay, on Jan 21 2009, 02:20 AM, said:

I have seen a good few tank pictures over the years showing very fast growth of sps corals especially species of acropora and montipora .Not forgetting the saying they are growing like weeds .In the past i can remember reading that in nature a fast growing Acropora Formosa ,one of the fastest growers of the Acroporas could grow up to 6 to 7 inches a year .Its true to say that food ,light and flow along with many minerals that have come along could have a hand in fast growth .
How about two basic parameters in reef tanks dKH and Calcium .
Natural sea levels are 7 to 8 dKH and 400 to 420 Calcium approx but it is often recommended to keep dKH from 7 to 12 and Calcium 450 ppm or higher in aquariums .
Could elevated dKH and calcium levels also be a possibility for fast growth and if this was the case at what cost to the corals .
Is it possible that the skeletons of many sps may grow fast but also be more fragile and softer than that of wild sps .
Is it also possible that fast growth could also put a lot of demand on the coral with things like die back at the bases and tips happening because of the pressure on zooxanthellae to keep up .
If fast growth does have any of the above effects on sps what about immunity towards disease and pests long term .
What do you think ?.

well id love to have 2 tanks sat side buy side same size same lights skimmer etc feed one heavy use all the additives that im useing now and do a water change say once every 3 weeks which what im basically doing now , in the other tank i would do a weekly water change no additives what so ever perhaps 1 light feed a week and see what happened , when i was changeing the water weekly in my tank i use to get a bit of a drop of in levels as i dont run a calcium reactor at the moment so for a couple of days i was fighting to get the calcium and kh levels back up over the periiod of a month i definatley noticed a slow down in sps growth, since i've gone back to a water change every 3 weeks im able to keep the calcium and kh up high for a longer time resulting in better growth ,i basically see some of the foods and additives i add work in different ways ie gamma nutra plus reef feed for growth and a+k for the colour of the sps, i stopped useing a+k for a little while and noticed a drop of in colour on the stags, the only corals i have in my tank that i would say are fragile would be my monti digi's i find these to be very brittle they are fast5 growers so this could be the reason for this or are they like this in the wild??

[lindsay]

Got some nice looking acros Quigs ,that may start growing upward now the tips are starting to show .If they carry on encrusting at the same time they may end up being quite large acros .
Dilan digis are often more brittle than other sps but i would say tank grown digi,s are more brittle than the wild ones we get in .

[Dave.I]

One things thats has realy kicked growth off for me is magnesium.Im going onto the balling method this week and i wanted to saturate the system with mag before doing so.I kept the mag up at around 1500/1600 ppm for 6 weeks with daily dosing until it now holds there with very little dosing.The rock and sand has now absorbed all the mag its likely too and im now just dosing the corals and not everything in the tank.
As a result of this i have noticed the corals have taken off in growth and my calcium level is dropping at twice the level it was,due to the growth.
I think youre on to something about the fast growth causing problems linds but i think it would have to be very extreme to cause an issue.

Quigs,what sort of flow are your corals getting? Maybe if theyre getting realy blasted they are trying to get a good solid foot hold before growing upwards?

Dave

[Norvern Rob]

int-admin, on Jan 23 2009, 02:58 AM, said:

Ok lets use the word ''plant'' not the horticultural term but the placement of corals in the home aquarium, To me this excelled growth is a survival
technique that the coral is simply using.

I dont think growth in the home tank is a good thing as they are simply out competing each other for survival , plant stinging nettles and an azalea in the same tank and the strongest one will live and grow unnaturally.

Given all this then they aren't doing what nature intended so therefore are more likely to suffer from disease and thinner growth!.

Might sound negative but who's to say over time we aren't just keeping corals that are permanently stressed in there own quest for survival
and to ponder why they die should be very obvious?.

Lets observe a tank over 3 years old and see whats alive! from the very start not much i bet, You can plant potatoes in a small plot just dont expect another species to live next to it for very long, Nature has survival techniques and that starts in our tanks from the very start when we add water.

Bit off track i know, But excellarated growth imo is down to survival more than raised calcium or kh levels

Of course it's what nature intended, corals fight and try to out-compete each other on a reef as well.

[bobba fett]

Good points, well presented.

But also bear in mind that a single coral head in isolation will still grow. I have seen single heads in the Maldives 3 ft across, ther are no increased Ca or Mg levels etc, no corals nearby, they are just doing what comes naturally to them with what is availiable in the water that washes over their particular spot.