growth

[kawicivic]

Ok I have heard all of the thoughts on getting zoos to grow faster... cutting the mats, fragging into single heads or multiple heads, making colonies into donuts, etc...

What I am wondering is whether anybody has noticed that zoas as well as other corals seem to grow in phases. I have some zoas that have exploded from 2 heads to 11 heads in about a month after being stuck at 2 heads for about 2 weeks. I have another colony that did the same thing and is at about 20 heads but recently has seemed to stop growing some (no changes in the position of this frag). I also have a birdsnest that started as a "Y" and grew tons of small tips then seemed to stop growing... It has once again branched out tons and I had noticed prior to the recent growth that the coral had become thicker.

I know that fragging can affect growth both positively and negatively. I also know that moving corals all the time can change growth. There seems to be plateaus where the corals are happy then all of the sudden they get quite a few more heads within a week of each other.

I am wondering if others have noticed a similar growth pattern? or if this is due to husbandry of my tank or something else.

I posted this in the zoa forum because I found some civil discussion (for the most part :wink as well as some knowledgeable people here. I am sure I would get tons more responses on reef discussion or maybe even propagation but would rather have a more in depth response than "duh everyone knows that" or a similar post just trying to increase someones post count.

[Agu]

I have found that polyp growth is inversely proportional to aesthetical attractiveness, ugly zoas grow fast and attractive zoas grow slowly. Aggressive feeding, optimal lighting, and perfect flow are parameters that just tease us while the coral does what it's going to do in spite of our best efforts.

[geoxman]

leave them alone is the best thing that you can do- and keep up on PH and Alk IMHO

[Engine 7]

I get my best growth when I miss a water change. Softies seem to like "dirty" water in my tank. lots of flow helps as well as lots of light.

[chillman]

I find my zoas do better when I dont move them around as much. I tend to rearrange frags, replace them after hermits knock them off a rock etc. I noticed ones way in the back that I never touch have the best growth of all my zoas. Interesting. And like Agu said, my plainest brown zoas outgrow every other zoa by 10x in my tank. lol.

[kingfisher62]

Originally posted by Agu
I have found that polyp growth is inversely proportional to aesthetical attractiveness, ugly zoas grow fast and attractive zoas grow slowly. Aggressive feeding, optimal lighting, and perfect flow are parameters that just tease us while the coral does what it's going to do in spite of our best efforts.

You said a mouthfull and it is all true!

[nalbar]

Consistency is your best friend. Not all polyps are alike, and not all like the same set up. IMO this is FAR more true with zoos than many think.

Look at this stunning tank and read what is said about Solomon polyps;

http://archive.reefcentral.com/forum...5&pagenumber=1

Apparently the Solomon's grow in the wild under pretty specific conditions. It's a great example of the diversity of zoos.


geo pretty much does everything I do not do. A lot of flow, quite a bit of dosing of different things, a fanatical feeder, no skimmer. I don't do any of that. Yet how can we have opposite set ups and have success?

IMO it's because we are both consistent in our care. The parameters probably stay withing a certain range.

I sometimes have trouble with certain polyps that I have purchased. Well, using geo's example, it might be that those troublesome polyps are Solomon's, and I am trying to fit a square peg in a round hole. In such a case, I do NOT change my parameters because that ruins consistency. My point is that you accept what you have success with and what grows well in your system. Only if you have CONSISTENT trouble and growth issues do you change things.

Don't chase the 'perfect' growth level. Try to achieve a stable system, and the growth will come.


nalbar

[kawicivic]

I am not looking for more growth or to find the perfect tank. I also know that stability is key to keeping all inhabitants happy. My main thing I was wondering is if anyone else's corals seem to alternately grow up and then out or if they just seem to grow in all directions at once. From what I have noticed is that my corals seem to alternate between growing up (height or # of heads) and growing out (girth of coral or size of mat). I was wondering if people thought this was the corals growth pattern or due to the husbandry of the tank (I lack an ATO for instance so maybe it is based on the salinity between top offs... my water changes typically occur a week apart but sometimes things get busy and take longer... I don't have my actinics on timers so sometimes I choose to leave the lights on longer than usual)