Neptune Aquatics

GROW-OUT CONTEST: Alveopora - Growth Tracking

Crazy growth in the last month.

131+100+89+81 = 401 (+134 since May)

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Here is my submission before the July 7th deadline.... This thing has grown like a weed in my little 10g frag tank. Here are the pics and counts from this afternoon. Also took a picture of the skeleton with a golf ball to give perspective on its size.
129+121+138+118=506
 

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174+113+110+140 = 537 (+136 since June).

Like @Klems , crazy growth... seem to take off when I place it on sandved from higher up. That sai, thos might be the last alve growout i get in on. Keep running out of fingers to count!

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Cool, then it is settled.

The Winners must write a summary of his or her experience with the coral i.e. conditions kept, learning lessons, etc.

@NanoCrazed A 50$ Gift Card to any Local Fish Store
@Klems A 20$ Gift Card to any Local Fish Store

Let me know which fish store and I will make it happen.

Congrats and thanks everyone for participating. I would love a frag of this if we ever meet up. Stay safe everyone!
 
My "write-up":
===

System set-up:
  • Tank volume: 85G DT + 30G sump
  • Lights: 2x Radion XR30W G4 Pro and a non-pro (was running G3 pros for first half) plus reef brights. 11 hour photo period.
  • Temp Range: 78-82F
  • Skimmer
Parms:
  • Alk: 9.8 - 10.2
  • Ca: 440 - 500
  • Mg: 1300
  • Nitrates \ Phos: Unknown... i don't test
Overall, the alve has been pretty easy to keep, as have been other alves that I have / had. One thing I noticed is that my growth exploded when I moved the frag down to the sand bed where it gets about 100 - 150 PAR. At the beginning, I kept it on my rack in the DT where it got about 250 PAR -- color was good but stayed extremely compact, and growth was OK. I noticed that my other alve that I moved down to the sandbed due to lack of space on my rack exploded in size so thought that the grow-out alve would do the same. And it did.

I don't spot feed or broadcast feed specific for corals... only pellets for fish and I run mostly with the 200 micron mesh bad in my sump (idea being the small particles would pass through back into the water column to passively feed my corals and the like).

@glee -- yeah, at the rate this things is growing, I will need to frag in. the very near future.
 
My story:

System set-up:
  • Tank- DIY AIO 10g frag tank- no fish, just some crabs and snails
  • Light: AI Prime 16 HD, mounted about 10" above the surface and 20 inches from the sandbed (don't know par value)
  • Temp Range: 78
  • Fritz salt
  • Rubble rock with a bag of ROX .8 carbon an MJ400 pump
Parms:
  • Alk: 8.3
  • Ca: 420
  • Mg: 1420
  • Nitrates \ Phos: Don't test, but perform a large water change (~70%) every week to keep things nice and fresh

When I first picked up the frag for the contest,(first and second pic) I placed it in my main 50g cube. However, after about 5 days it wasn't looking very happy...not sure if it was too much flow, so I moved it to my small frag tank. There I was able to monitor it much easier. The flow in that tank was lower more linear, but it seems happy. I would spot feed some if the other frags in the tank with a frozen mix of shrimp, clams, salmon, scallops and reef chili. However, since it doesn't appear to have a feeding response like a Duncan or Acan, I would just spray some of the liquid from the frozen mix its way while the pumps were off.
The growth exploded about March (about 2 months in) and it started extending it's polyps about 4-5 inches. (Third pic) So much so that I have to move a few frags around so that they weren't shaded by this monster.
Over the next few months, it's growth was amazing. It closes up during the night, but once the lights come on in the morning it just stretches it's polyps. Not sure if it it's reaching for more light, but the amount of stretch and retraction is astounding.
The last three pictures shows how much the base has grown with a golf ball as a comparison....and the amount of stretch these polyps have in my little tank with a top down view.

The worst part about this contest was trying to get the polyps to retract enough and counting all of the tiny holes
 

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Love the golf ball comparison pic. I realized early on that there was no easy way to judge this contest. Counting holes is a real chore so I appreciate the time and care you put in to the coral and contest.

Thanks for writing this up. A question for both, what power heads do you have in the tank? Flow similar to that for hammers and other fleshy LPS?

True farmers!
 
Love the golf ball comparison pic. I realized early on that there was no easy way to judge this contest. Counting holes is a real chore so I appreciate the time and care you put in to the coral and contest.

Thanks for writing this up. A question for both, what power heads do you have in the tank? Flow similar to that for hammers and other fleshy LPS?

True farmers!
I have XF330s on both ends running random -- mounted high up on a 24" high tank. So, the flow is really modest to low where the alve sits (in the corner between some rocks and glass). When the polyps are extended, there is only slight movement.

My alves have always done well with lower flow than LPSes.
 
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