Slow growth under T5s

[Jarrett]

I have a tek light elite system 6 bulb, all ati bulbs 4 blue plus, 1 purple plus, 1 aquablue special bulbs are about 4 months old. I am just curious how everyone elses experience with T5 and growth with there sps are. for me growth is really slow and i am not to sure why or if its something i am doing wrong or i am just expecting to much to quick. a little background on the tank

75 gallon/20 gallon sump
swc 150 bmk protein skimmer
nitrates- 0
phosphates- 0
alk- 8.4
cal- 445
mag 1320

I have seen some good growth with my monti caps, but my sps are all really slow growers as well as my LPS, they have started to encrust a little bit but i have had most of my pieces for 3 months + they are all 1 inch frags i was wondering if this has any factors to do with it, that they are all starting off really small? who knows figured id see if i could get some opinions from you guys thanks.

 

[Jarrett]

and btw my photo period is as follows

12:00PM 2 blue plus bulbs turn on
1:00PM all bulbs are on
9:00PM 4 bulbs turn off
10:00pm all bulbs off, moonlights on

 

[jerl77]

I have great growth under mine

 

[xblueonex1977]

i have the same light i think with the same bulb choice no growth at all, only the growth is on duncan and acans nitrate 0, calc. 450-500, phosphate 10

 

[Jaftica]

I have awesome growth under my T-5's

 

[Jarrett]

hmm mixed reviews then lol. i love my T5 bulbs the color is amazing just no growth how long did it take you guys to grow your little frags into colonies. maybe 3+ months isnt long enough to see significant growth?

 

[James983]

Jarrett, 3 months is a relatively short time, especially if your talking about frags. I know a new frag will take 3 months easy in my tank before I see any growth.

I always take pictures of new frags and take more as the months pass. It's much easier to measure growth that way. You may not even notice new growth as many grow a good base before growing upward.

 

[Jarrett]

thanks james, that makes sense then because i do see the bases on all my frags encrusted, just got to be more patient i guess i want to see some branches!! haha.

 

[anthony27]

I have great growth under my led t5 combo

 

[anthony27]

how are your water pram. are they stedy all the time

 

[jerl77]

3 months is a short time in my book

 

[jerl77]

All depends on the coral you are trying to grow too my birds nest grow every day my blue tort tools years what coral are you trying to grow ?

 

[piranhapat]

One thing alot has to do with size of frag and which type it is. A frag say 3 inch will grow a lot faster than a 1inch frag. Second flow has a lot to do with growth too. Light is important and your water par has to be good. But size of frag and flow will be a factor of growth.

 

[MIKE NY]

there are many contributing factors involved in the color and growth of corals other than lighting from the species to flow and water quality....I have some corals that grow like weeds and others that just encrusted and stayed frags for one to two years already...

 

[TRIGGERMAN]

Different corals grow at different rates which is why you will see some corals be very expensive compared to others. Just be patient, everything takes time in this hobby. You won't have a 1 inch frag turn into a 12" colony in 3 months,well maybe a toadstool or something could do that but most other stuff will not. Just be patient you will see growth soon enough. I swear by my T5's like a lot of others do but if you really want quick growth switch to metal halides.

 

[Jarrett]

well lets see, as far as anthonys question my params have been stable consistently for probally 3 months, i dose alk and cal every day and have maintained those numbers consistently that i listed at the top. as far as coral stock i have SPS: montipora, montipora setosa, blue tort, 2 differant millies dont know there name, garf bonsai frags,birdsnest, strawberry shortcake, Purple pocillopora(this has deff grown), Green pocillopora, and one other one i dont know the name of, and i have some torches and a toadstool which hasnt grown at all since i have gotten it, and a GSP well obv that grows lolol. Ooo and flow is really good i have 4 pumps in my system 2 hydor 750, 1 no name 750, 1 hydor 1050 and they all alternate through my RKL controller.

 

[Jarrett]

i think i might just be impatient and expecting to much to soon lol

 

[bizzarro]

Why not add some bulbs in the 5000-6500K range.

 

[Mattl22]

3 months is nothing for sps growth especially when ur getting sm frags could take yrs too grow out to colonies!! Be patient keep parameters stable !

 

[Jarrett]

will do matt thank you