Why can’t I grow acros. So frustrated - perfect set up I thought

[jackson6745]

From what you provided 2 things jump out at me. Your lighting is not really uniform in coverage. If it was my tank I would bump
It up to xr-30s over the 15s at the very least, or get rid of the kessils and put 4 xr30 with the t5s.

I would also put the majority of calcification demands on the Kalk, and run the calcium reactor in addition. Check home co2 levels and perhaps running a scrubber or improve air exchange if needed. If You can keep your low ph 8.1 and rise over 8.3 during peak photosynthesis it makes a huge growth difference.

One other thing to consider is sps type, size and condition. Some species I call fluffers. Certain stags, valida, austera, some tabling species, and of course stylo, Monti, birdsnest, anacropora etc. A full tank can be had very quick with less demands going this route.

Many of these tenuis, smoothies and “higher end” pieces are naturally slower growers. What makes it even more difficult is that people are selling and buying DNA samples of these corals, not frags. It takes a long time for a single stem booger to encrust, branch out, and grow exponentially. Do you best to buy actively growing, healthy looking tissue, chunky frags. Pass on the boogers unless extremely hard to get.

Hope this helps, good luck!

 

[braaap]

They have 250-550 PAR in the tank. What do the Radions have to do with anything here? Why single them out when there is clearly plenty of light available?

Your hatred and bias against them is a little strange

Do you have anything constructive?

XR15s are known to be terrible lights when it comes to penetration. And soon as I saw his lighting I thought the same thing. Ya he has 250-550 or so he says. But where? Is just the top 1" 550 and the rest is 250? We don't know. But what we do know is the XR15s have terrible spread and penetration. That is widely tested. I don't think questioning the XR15s is too far off base and it is how I was leaning as well.

 

[twentyleagues]

Do you have anything constructive?

XR15s are known to be terrible lights when it comes to penetration. And soon as I saw his lighting I thought the same thing. Ya he has 250-550 or so he says. But where? Is just the top 1" 550 and the rest is 250? We don't know. But what we do know is the XR15s have terrible spread and penetration. That is widely tested. I don't think questioning the XR15s is too far off base and it is how I was leaning as well.

A par map would be helpful. I assumed (yup that) that the par ratings were at coral level and from min to max during the stated light schedule. We actually dont know if that is true. Simply because that is how I would post it does not mean that is what they posted. For all we know that could be max intensity at water surface across the entire tank. For reference what I posted is at the corals at max intensity during the schedule.

 

[Reefer Matt]

What fish are in this tank? Are any of them nipping at the coral? Also, some of my acros took a couple years to really start taking off. Parameters look okay to me, fwiw. I personally run Ca at 400 and peak par at 280-300 up top, but all tanks are different.

 

[1ocean]

looks good.. I saw results change when I started using my radions app and used the slide for Kelvin giving me more of the 1700k range I want...since I have more lps and a few SPS at top of tank...also added 3 kessils for more fill inbetween each of the 4 radions I have...

 

[bakbay]

One other thing to consider is sps type, size and condition. Some species I call fluffers. Certain stags, valida, austera, some tabling species, and of course stylo, Monti, birdsnest, anacropora etc. A full tank can be had very quick with less demands going this route.

Many of these tenuis, smoothies and “higher end” pieces are naturally slower growers. What makes it even more difficult is that people are selling and buying DNA samples of these corals, not frags. It takes a long time for a single stem booger to encrust, branch out, and grow exponentially. Do you best to buy actively growing, healthy looking tissue, chunky frags. Pass on the boogers unless extremely hard to get.

I would agree with this. Same thing on my soon-to-be 4yo SPS-dominant tank. Old-school SPS grow like weeds in my tank but some “high-end” ones haven’t moved a millimeter in 2+ years!

Therefore, maybe it’s not you & your tank but perhaps where you sourced your frags? After a year mark, I just move the dormant frag to another tank or sadly, stick in a corner somewhere— if you don’t look at them, they “grow faster”!$&@ lol

 

[acropora4u]

Longer trend? Spikes anywhere

It’s pretty stable at these numbers

 

[acropora4u]

Too much par maybe.

 

[Spare time]

Great color but slow growth may be an indication of photosaturation. Have you rented a par meter? Keep in mind it takes less "par" from blue light to hit photosaturation than one might think.

 

[Garf]

Too much par maybe.

Any particular reason you've got calcium and magnesium so high, apart from the slightly elevated salinity (I expect ICP has confirmed your salinity according to a previous response).

 

[Uncle99]

Acros grow very slow and some perish after 6 months or more , but for the most part they will survive. Keep most of their color, but just don’t grow at all. They spread very slowly over the year.


Tank is a 225 gallon peninsula

Lighting -x3 Ecotech Radion XR 15s
X2 Kessel a500x x2 orphek light bars x4 t5s.

For flow we have four MP 60s.

We are at NO3 of 12 ppm .

We are at .10 for po4.

stats for all else below. Par 250-550.

Lights on for about about 12 hours a day with full intensity at about four hours a day.

I run a calcium reactor , protein skimmer , co2 reactors, kalk reactor…

I see very little in the tank shots, very blue
It would be helpful to use some white so we can maybe get a better picture of your issue.

Each coral grows at a different rate than others so without seeing what you have is impossible to decipher.

My acros demand whites for skeletal growth.

 

[IKD]

This may not be popular…you have 4 MP60’s running? What power level do you have them running? The lowest flow setting will be 14,000g per hour (50x) and up to 36,000g per hour (131x!) at max. and that doesn’t count for any return pump flow.

 

[Reefering1]

This may not be popular…you have 4 MP60’s running? What power level do you have them running? The lowest flow setting will be 14,000g per hour (50x) and up to 36,000g per hour (131x!) at max. and that doesn’t count for any return pump flow.

It's 225g, I assume 6 foot tank, that doesn't seem like too much to me. I have 2 mp60, 2 xf250 gyres, and 2 other powerheads in my 180g and it's not too much flow

 

[bobnicaragua]

I think your setup and parameters are good. I like all the light coverage you have. I also agree with increasing your peak time to 6 hours or more.

I got my pink highlighter around the same time I got my ASE rainbow milli. Since then, the milli has grown so big it was shadowing several other acros. I fragged a piece and traded the colony for some other acro frags. It’s already getting too big again. My pink highlighter really only started growing this year. For the first couple years it had no color or growth.

I would try some classic acros and anything from ORA. Green Slimer, rainbow milli, PC Rainbow, bonsai, etc.

 

[VintageReefer]

Too much par maybe.

Where is the sensor for those par numbers ? The t5 is also contributing as well

 

[VintageReefer]

They have 250-550 PAR in the tank. What do the Radions have to do with anything here? Why single them out when there is clearly plenty of light available?

Your hatred and bias against them is a little strange

We don’t see where he’s getting those numbers and it could be an issue with hotspots have high par but other areas don’t, numbers could be taken at the waterline which is essentially useless. Light could very well be uneven

I know you are successful with xr15 on a large tank but you have many more of them, spaced properly, and evenly distributed. They work fine when appropriate amount are used and evenly spaced and there’s didn’t sound like the case from the first post

Even in the pic, there’s a giant dark spot center tank.

In the par results a few posts up we don’t see where the readings were taken.

Just trying to cover all bases as we are not there to see and measure ourselves

And I don’t have a hatred towards xr15. I offered to buy one in another lighting thread from someone who mentioned they have 3 on a shelf not in use.

 

[IKD]

It's 225g, I assume 6 foot tank, that doesn't seem like too much to me. I have 2 mp60, 2 xf250 gyres, and 2 other powerheads in my 180g and it's not too much flow

I said unpopular opinion LOL. At 225g that would be a 62x plus return pump at bare minimum which is fine, but even running at 75% is 120x . I target 60-80 range

OP, are you getting good polyp extension? Also, what SPS are you growing? Maybe you just have acro’s that are slow growers in general.

 

[rtparty]

We don’t see where he’s getting those numbers and it could be an issue with hotspots have high par but other areas don’t, numbers could be taken at the waterline which is essentially useless. Light could very well be uneven

I know you are successful with xr15 on a large tank but you have many more of them, spaced properly, and evenly distributed. They work fine when appropriate amount are used and evenly spaced and there’s didn’t sound like the case from the first post

Even in the pic, there’s a giant dark spot center tank.

In the par results a few posts up we don’t see where the readings were taken.

Just trying to cover all bases as we are not there to see and measure ourselves

And I don’t have a hatred towards xr15. I offered to buy one in another lighting thread from someone who mentioned they have 3 on a shelf not in use.

So why not question the Kessils or the T5s or the LED bars? You want to talk about hot spots and leave out the Kessils that are notorious for lack of spread, super point source light?

It’s just odd to jump to the conclusion that the Radions “might be” the issue.

I ran 6 15s on a 72*36*22 system and was told I couldn’t get enough PAR to keep SPS. The OP has far more light than I did. If it is hot spots and lack of spread, it certainly isn’t the Radions there. The Kessils and Orphek bars would be the first to have hot spots.

I would look at light schedule long before which lights are being used.

 

[VintageReefer]

So why not question the Kessils or the T5s or the LED bars? You want to talk about hot spots and leave out the Kessils that are notorious for lack of spread, super point source light?

It’s just odd to jump to the conclusion that the Radions “might be” the issue.

I ran 6 15s on a 72*36*22 system and was told I couldn’t get enough PAR to keep SPS. The OP has far more light than I did. If it is hot spots and lack of spread, it certainly isn’t the Radions there. The Kessils and Orphek bars would be the first to have hot spots.

I would look at light schedule long before which lights are being used.

Because I made a mistake. I was picturing the two of the dual point source AP kessil and it’s actually the single point source A series.

I’m not questioning t5 or led bars because these are proven to provide even lighting end to end in a tank. These also likely are supplemental and not primary.

A par nap / diagram would be helpful. Overlayed over a fts.

Op might not need more lights at all, and some lens upgrades might balance everything out

 

[rtparty]

Because I made a mistake. I was picturing the two of the dual point source AP kessil and it’s actually the single point source A series.

I’m not questioning t5 or led bars because these are proven to provide even lighting end to end in a tank. These also likely are supplemental and not primary.

A par nap / diagram would be helpful. Overlayed over a fts.

Op might not need more lights at all, and some lens upgrades might balance everything out

The Orphek bars are super focused hot spot machines that need to be mounted 20” or more from the tank to try and mitigate the hot spots.

Not all LED bars are equal or created the same. They each have a use