Trying to unveil the magic to insane coral growth!

[morrisDR]

Hi. I have been studying for the past years about coral growth. I have been studying everyone with insane coral growth. I'm not talking about a torch having 1 head to 3 in a year. I'm talking about 1 head turning into a giant colony.


So far I have seen a few people having this insane amount of growth. I am going to share it. (Sorry if your were mentioned lol)

1. Reef bum. This guy has some amazing growth on his tank+ amazing colors. I think his main growth is from his lighting which are less that have a MH schedule I believe in them and his kalkwasser that raises his ph.




2. Inappropriate reefer. Since he's been using kalkwasser his torch that had one big head took off and is now a giant colony. Not only that his golden rod anacroporas and jawbreaker mushrooms grow like weed.





3. Realm in perspective, this guy had a timelapse video of 2 years growth. I mean the video speaks itself! I don't understand! All of his corals grew insanely fast and his using LEDs no metal halide nonsense.




4. Tonycass12 a member from reef2reef had amazing growth on his bird's-nest. This wasn't any normal fast growth like you expect with bird's-nest. It was done under 3 months!

5. Betex also a member from reef2reef had some insane growth! I mean aside from that huge torch you can also see that the hammers and sps grow insanely fast

 

[morrisDR]

1. Parameters (sadly cannot find inappropriate reefer his parameters)

Kh: 8-9, all of them keep it in this range

Ca:
Reef bum: 410-430
Tony: 420-450
Realm in perspective: 420-460
Betex: 420-450

Mag:
Reef bum: 1400-1440
Tony: 1300
Realm in perspective: 1350
Betex: 1350-1400

No3:
reef bum keeps it at 2-5
Tony keeps it at 50
Realm in perspective: ?
Betex keeps it at 15 but has kept it at 50 in the past

Po4:
Reef bum: 0.02-0.05
Tony: 0.6-0.8
Realm in perspective: 0 (9 years ago so bad test kits)
Betex: 0.05-0.1

 

[morrisDR]

Dosing
Reef bum: kalkwasser
Inappropriate reefer: kalkwasser+ reef moonshiners
Tony: red sea A,B,C and on and off acro power into his system.
Realm in perspective: ?
Betex: reef moonshiners, tried multiple things growth seems the same.

Weekly water changes

Lightning:

I believe all of them are using LED

 

[morrisDR]

What I have noticed regarding torch coral growth is that they grow the best under high light. Inappropriate reefer and betex have by far the best LPs growth. A girl named queen of reef seems to also have amazing torch coral growth. All of them seems to have the same amount of par across would have.

 

[morrisDR]

If someone maybe has the same or even more growth than these guys above pls show me some pictures + parameters + extra dosing like acropower etc.

 

[Tonycass12]

@morrisDR this is a great writeup. Interesting seeing the comparisons the way you laid them out, im a bit of an outlier with a higher nutrient system. I upgraded to a 120gallon display in February and I am running LEDs, a mix between my reefbreeders photon and 2 xr15s. Very high par. 2 months ago i actually turned my lights down. I realized i was pushing 400par on the sand and 700par just above the corals. Im much closer to 250-300par across most of the sandbed and between 500-600par at the upper portions of the corals. Ive noticed my colors improving with the lower intensity and not much of a difference in growth. Here are a couple updated photos. The green birsdnest now resides on the bottom of my rock in 2 locations. Here is just a little over 4 months of growth from july 2nd to yesterday. The colony on the right has already been getting regular trimmings by me and the tangs bumping into it. Consistency is key when it comes to coral growth!

If anyone wants more details you can find them in my build thread. Ive dove a little further in on a couple posts for my lights and flow.

 

[randomfishdude]

What I have noticed regarding torch coral growth is that they grow the best under high light. Inappropriate reefer and betex have by far the best LPs growth. A girl named queen of reef seems to also have amazing torch coral growth. All of them seems to have the same amount of par across would have.

my torches are currently growing like crazy, ive gotten a new head in the past 3 months on 2 of the corals. the larges one i have i dont really notice but i think its made another head.
i have pretty crappy parameters. they are just stable. i also have quite a bit of sps growth on my stylo (my acro is too new) the stylo is growing more than the pulsing xenia in the tank.

 

[Seansea]

From seeing other peoples tanks and they way they run them it seems to me ph stable at 8.3 with kalk and high lighting are keys to growth. I get terrible growth on most things except montis. So i know i am doing it wrong

 

[ConnorDaReefa]

This is pretty interesting. Ive struggled with coral growth, specifically in Lps and I think I might send in an ICP test because my parameters are fairly stable, the lighting and flow seems good, but I cant even get a simple hammer or duncan coral to grow. My soft corals grow like crazy though.

 

[The_Paradox]

This is June and a couple days ago. Between then and now I added the anemone and the long tentacle torch. Most of the softies and LPS had some frags taken out somewhere along the way. Not crazy growth but steady.

 

[morrisDR]

This is pretty interesting. Ive struggled with coral growth, specifically in Lps and I think I might send in an ICP test because my parameters are fairly stable, the lighting and flow seems good, but I cant even get a simple hammer or duncan coral to grow. My soft corals grow like crazy though.

I'm just the same as you regarding to growth

 

[morrisDR]

This is June and a couple days ago. Between then and now I added the anemone and the long tentacle torch. Most of the softies and LPS had some frags taken out somewhere along the way. Not crazy growth but steady.

That's some nice growth already on my opinion

 

[morrisDR]

I think the reason some corals just won't grow is a trace element that may be to low in your tank. Let's say iodine is to low and the coral needs this to split then it wil never split and just keeps getting bigger. That's my conspiracy

 

[morrisDR]

From seeing other peoples tanks and they way they run them it seems to me ph stable at 8.3 with kalk and high lighting are keys to growth. I get terrible growth on most things except montis. So i know i am doing it wrong

My pH is finally rock high but it only causes my montipora to grow like weed now and my LPs are stil slow growers. Also soft corals don't get an impact on ph and my zoas never grow for me

My Coraline algea just doesn't grow for me. I believe if you have fast Coraline algea growth that equals fast coral growth

 

[Seansea]

My Coraline algea just doesn't grow for me. I believe if you have fast Coraline algea growth that equals fast coral growth

This is not true. My corraline is growing out of control like plating out of control but get slow growth on alot of corals. Alot of my lps and a few acros mostly. Montis ,some zoas, duncan ,stylo cyphastrea leptos and of course green star polyps great growth.

 

[Seansea]

Candy canes are horrible slow. Put 4 heads in in december last year. They still 4 heads

 

[Dburr1014]

My pH is finally rock high but it only causes my montipora to grow like weed now and my LPs are stil slow growers. Also soft corals don't get an impact on ph and my zoas never grow for me

My Coraline algea just doesn't grow for me. I believe if you have fast Coraline algea growth that equals fast coral growth

Ha, my coraline covers the front glass every couple weeks.
I wish my corals grew that fast.

 

[morrisDR]

Oh damm I guess you just need good luck then? I would like to hear more of someone who has amazing growth on LPs,sps and soft corals and hear their conspiracy.

 

[morrisDR]

From my understanding I have read that a kh above 9 gives faster growth and a kh below 9 gives more color because you can keep your nutrients lower. I have also read that temperatures from 27 to 29 degrees celcius gives faster SPS growth. But all the people above keep kh a little lower so that's off..

 

[Tonycass12]

From my understanding I have read that a kh above 9 gives faster growth and a kh below 9 gives more color because you can keep your nutrients lower. I have also read that temperatures from 27 to 29 degrees celcius gives faster SPS growth. But all the people above keep kh a little lower so that's off..

Faster growth at a higher risk of complications in my opinion. When you are over 9 you don't have much room for errors. That can be something as simple as something else upsetting corals and growth stalling then you get an alk spike that gives you burnt tips and tissue recession. Staying mid range is much safer bet over the long term.