Neptune Aquatics

How long does it take for frags to grow?

I bought all smaller 10-$20 frags from my LFS, with the only LPS being a small hammer and a 1 headed Duncan .

I can't tell if these Coral are actually growing, but my alkinity dropped from 11 to 10 over the span of a week .

Is it safe to assume that since alkinity dropped that there is some consumption and that there is growth? Would softie growth cause alkinity to drop? I can visibly see those growing
 
Considering parts of the reefs are 5000-10000 years old you can assume they take a while. There is no real way to answer this as every coral has different growth rates in different conditions. Suffice it to say that the tanks you see that have larger colonies are usually a minimum of around 3 years growth. As to softies using alkalinity they use very little. Same is actually true with many LPS. I have a 120 gallon LPS tank and don't even need to dose it regularly if I'm doing at least 15% water changes. Since you metnioned you're doing 25% water changes I can practically guarantee the cause of your tank dropping 1 pt. of alk wasn't consumption. :)
 
Pictures really help you notice growth. Sometimes it is so slow, it'll grow without you really noticing unless you have a picture of it right after it goes into the tank.
 
This is reassuring. I always read threads where people are saying there's a new head every month or a new polyp every 2 weeks...

Only thing where I am seeing noticeable growth is my Kenya tree, GSP and toadstool
 
This is reassuring. I always read threads where people are saying there's a new head every month or a new polyp every 2 weeks...

Only thing where I am seeing noticeable growth is my Kenya tree, GSP and toadstool

Often when they say it's a new head or polyp in 2-4 weeks it's because it's a decent size colony already.
 
I go on vacation for a week or two. When I come back, the corals have all grown. If you look at it everyday, it's hard to see the difference. Hammers and duncans will accept food if you target feed; this may accelerate growth. Good luck!
 
Frags takes awhile to encrust and grow beyond the frag stage. Take for example with sps tanks. Most of the first year of a sps tank is encrustation and very little growth. The second year is when you notice frags settling in, hitting the mini colony in size range. The 3rd and 4th years are when they're colony size (not the tiny colonies that some people call as such; those are frags and you'll see frags from frags that they're selling) and the tank looks filled in and you need to do the actual trimming. They also grow significantly faster at this point.

If you want to track their growth and progress, take a pic of them every once in awhile.

Here's 3 months of growth on a sps frag.
2018_08_03_crystal_jade_3%20months.jpg


versus 3 months of growth on a 3" mini colony (circle area is how big it was as of 3 months ago).
2018_07_02_3monthsgrowth.jpg
 
Frags takes awhile to encrust and grow beyond the frag stage. Take for example with sps tanks. Most of the first year of a sps tank is encrustation and very little growth. The second year is when you notice frags settling in, hitting the mini colony in size range. The 3rd and 4th years are when they're colony size (not the tiny colonies that some people call as such; those are frags and you'll see frags from frags that they're selling) and the tank looks filled in and you need to do the actual trimming. They also grow significantly faster at this point.

If you want to track their growth and progress, take a pic of them every once in awhile.

Here's 3 months of growth on a sps frag.
2018_08_03_crystal_jade_3%20months.jpg


versus 3 months of growth on a 3" mini colony (circle area is how big it was as of 3 months ago).
2018_07_02_3monthsgrowth.jpg
Is that 3 months on the top frags? (the date on pic. shows 15 months)
 
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