Corals aren't spreading/growing

[shallowreef]

I have to ask only because i am stumped. I have had my tank setup since July of 06 and so far i have had some tough breaks in the tank but my coral has always survived anything life has thrown at me. Knock on wood but every coral i have bought for this tank has kept on living which i think is a great sign. But for some reason none of my coral is spreading. For instance my zoathids will not spread out onto the rock that i buy them on. My Xenia are staying put and even my star polyps aren't moving. Could something be causing this or am i just impatient and unlucky? If i could get my corals to start spreading i would invest more money in frags but right now the way my tank is going i have just been buying colonies which aren't exactly cheap.

Nobody in the tank is picking at the corals. I dose Kalk twice a week and my ph hardly swings. I buffer the tank once a week. The only thing i don't do is feed my corals.

Whats the deal?

 

[spongebob lover]

how long have you had your corals dood?
if it wasn't to long then your impatient, if you bought them about 5-7 months ago THEN there's something wrong .
zoos can take a couple months for them to spread (or at least mine ), also remember that they like light but not to much light so it depends on where you have them.
soft corals don't need to be fed, and you do have a decent amount of fishes, so don't worry about that.

 

[shallowreef]

Most of the corals i am concerned with are at the 4-5 month stage. I know that my new ones are not going to start growing for a while but still. My xenia and star polyps aren't spreading thats a sentence that shouldn't exist!

 

[spongebob lover]

what's your ph at?
do you ever dose iodine (doods are gonna tell you to dose if you don't do that yet, but be carefuldon't dose without testing )

 

[shallowreef]

My ph stays between 8.1 and 8.3 i add iodine once a week and do small water changes every other day. By small i mean between 2-5 gallons. I do this only because i want to keep my QT tank levels at zero sice i don't have a great filter on it.

 

[DonW]

My ph stays between 8.1 and 8.3 i add iodine once a week and do small water changes every other day. By small i mean between 2-5 gallons. I do this only because i want to keep my QT tank levels at zero sice i don't have a great filter on it.

Is your tank clean meaning no green or need to clean glass on a regular basis? If so how often do you feed your fish? You may just be starving them.

Don

 

[The Shark]

Corals

I am in the same boat man...

I have had a frogspawn for over a year that has never grown another head. My devil's hand has not grown an inch, and my zoas grow about one new one every three months.
My brain has gotten fatter though, and xenia just started spreading after three months.

I would love to hear an explanation. I don't dose anything except extra calcium to water changes...I would rather let nature run it's course.

 

[shallowreef]

Well to answer your question Don i would say that its not spotless. I have to clean the glass every 2-3 days but even then its not discustingly think its just a dustiong of algae or a very light film. I feed my fish daily. I also run a refugium and a sterilizer both are on/lit 24/7.

 

[DonW]

Well to answer your question Don i would say that its not spotless. I have to clean the glass every 2-3 days but even then its not discustingly think its just a dustiong of algae or a very light film. I feed my fish daily. I also run a refugium and a sterilizer both are on/lit 24/7.

Its really hard to tell if they are being staved via a forum conversation, but thats what it sounds like. When you feed your fish do they go nuts devouring the food quickly or do they take their time eating?

Don

 

[spongebob lover]

it sounds like youre doing everything right.
do you run a skimmer in that tank?

 

[shallowreef]

No they go nuts when i feed them. Most of the food is gone before it hits the bottom. Only a few pieces towards the end get past my fish.

 

[shallowreef]

Gabby,

I do run a skimmer and i skim 24/7 until my collector fills and then the skimmer is shut down till i empty the skimmer. Sometimes it will be down for a few days before i notice.

 

[spongebob lover]

hmm i asked you about the skimmer because right when i started i didn't have a skimmer and i remember at that time my xenias all died on me.
how about lighting? what are you running ?

 

[DonW]

No they go nuts when i feed them. Most of the food is gone before it hits the bottom. Only a few pieces towards the end get past my fish.

Try feeding more than once a day. Try to use the fish reaction to food as a judge. Shoot for something in the middle of going nuts for food to not caring. Your fish will definately be happier and your corals will get fed more. Your tank is much larger than mine so I assume you have more fish? and I feed 1/2 tsp small pellets 3 times daily and 8x10 sheet of nori daily. Plus my nightly oyster chow.

Try it for awhile and see what happens.
Don

 

[spongebob lover]

yeah more poop more food .

 

[shallowreef]

Wow, really? I always thought that the less waste in the tank the better? Well i can deffinately try feeding a little more. Would you say that i have clean water? Like good enough for sps? I have been wanting to try but i always felt my tank was way to dirty. maybe not? this may explain why my green slimer frag is doing so well.

 

[spongebob lover]

Wow, really? I always thought that the less waste in the tank the better? Well i can deffinately try feeding a little more. Would you say that i have clean water? Like good enough for sps? I have been wanting to try but i always felt my tank was way to dirty. maybe not? this may explain why my green slimer frag is doing so well.

soft corals need more of a dirty water.
lps and sps need more of a clean water... i mean they still need the poop but if you want success with them you gotta have clean water and be on top of everything.

 

[DonW]

Wow, really? I always thought that the less waste in the tank the better? Well i can deffinately try feeding a little more. Would you say that i have clean water? Like good enough for sps? I have been wanting to try but i always felt my tank was way to dirty. maybe not? this may explain why my green slimer frag is doing so well.

Its really tough to say without seeing the tank over a period of time. You really have to experiment. No one can tell you exactly what will work, we can only tell you what works for us. I think a well set-up system can easily starve even sps corals. This is why I use the fish as a judge, besides it is a fish tank and they need the same quality care as the sps. IMO ravenous fish are starving fish. If you cant keep your water quality up while keeping your fish from being ravenous then its time to rethink the system or the fish.

Make sense
Don

 

[SueT]

what does your calcium and alk run?? I know it's not as important as with sps corals and are your testing for magnesium?? Just thinking out loud...

 

[shallowreef]

Gabby-i run a dual 250w 14k w/ t5 actinics hamilton fixture and thelights are on for 11hours a day (sunrise to sunset)

Don-Yes it does make sense.

Sue- I do not test my calcium well at least not in a really long time and i have no way to test for magnesium (salifert P.O.S.) since i threw that test kit out. As for my alk it runs anywhere from 7-8. Usually its around 7.

My corals all look healthy and happy they just aren't spreading which takes all the fun out of keeping them.