everythings living-----but nothings growing

[dclegern]

I've got a healthy tank, everything is alive and well. Just nothing seems to grow!!!!
Shrooms are pretty, but stagnant. Polyps are there, but not spreading.
etc. etc.

it's a two year set up, just changed out the sand bed for a crushed coral bed.
sundial t-5 lighting w/ nightlights. @2.5 watts per gallon.
5 fish and a good clean up crew.......... shrooms, zenia, polyps, and a leather.
plenty of live rock, decent flow, skimmer.
A hang of the back, for a little more flow (or any adds I need to put in from time to time)

[hobogato]

ok, you are gonna have to give us a little more info :)

how long has the tank been set up?

tank specs like lighting, flow, filtration

maintenance and feeding schedule?

too many things that it could be without more info

[Europhyllia]

I just read an article not too long ago that said: If it's not growing, it's starving
Are you feeding them?

[hobogato]

ok, first, you may be a little low on the lighting side. what and how often do you feed the fish, and what size tank is it?

[dclegern]

65 gallon tank, and depends on what type of feeding...........but I'd say just about everyday i give "them" somehing.
enlighten me please on any and all.

[hobogato]

you may be a little sterile for those soft coral to flourish. five fish is a pretty light bioload and if you are only feeding them once a day at the most, that may be the case. it is a difficult line to walk - feeding enough without feeding too much. what food do you feed and how much?

[dclegern]

reef roids, frozen brine, frozen cytoplex, some flake food that they seem to love.
essential mineral supplements, pytopankton mix,

odd question........should I turn off the skimmer when feeding/dosing? never could figure that one out.

[hobogato]

many people will turn of the return pump all together so all of the food stays in the display tank (if they have a sump). if it is a HOB skimmer and no sump, yes, i would recommend turning it off for at least 20 minutes when feeding.

[Europhyllia]

I got one of those timers that use the little green and red pieces you stick in for on and off. My return pump is plugged into the timer.
I don't use any red 'off' pieces though. Just green 'on' pieces spaced about 3 hours apart.
When I feed - especially phytoplankton or small stuff like rotifers and sea fan food - I simply manually roll the timer over to 'off' and automatically within 3 hours it comes back on.
Otherwise I'd be prone to forgetting.

[dclegern]

Thanks Hobogato,
I'll give it a try............ Any other food/reef supplements that you might recomend?

[hobogato]

that is a great idea karin

you might change from brine to mysids since brine are not all that nutritious. mu fish really like bloodworms as well.

[kkiel02]

I got one of those timers that use the little green and red pieces you stick in for on and off. My return pump is plugged into the timer.
I don't use any red 'off' pieces though. Just green 'on' pieces spaced about 3 hours apart.
When I feed - especially phytoplankton or small stuff like rotifers and sea fan food - I simply manually roll the timer over to 'off' and automatically within 3 hours it comes back on.
Otherwise I'd be prone to forgetting.

This is kinda funny because I went skimmerless today. I forgot to turn the return back on after feeding this morning. I noticed my clam isnt out like normal I hope he makes a turn around.

[ErikH]

what are the dimensions of that tank? I couldn't really get much to grow under my sundial either. I got shrooms to grow, but that was right under the surface with the light on the plastic legs. Also, things won't die, but they won't grow either if your CA and Alk are low. a large (40%) water change usually makes things multiply as long as you do not do them too often. Kind of like a forced bloom for the corals. FEED FEED FEED, BAM, huge water change.

[CoryDude]

Agree with Ace, 2.5 watts per gallon may be a little weak in the light dept. May want to bump that up a little (not much).

What about iodine? I had softies for years and had lots of luck with lugol's solution.

A few times a week, I'd also add a couple of teaspoons of blended frozen fish food at night to feed the corals.

Stable alkalinity (7+dkh) and ph (8.3-8.4) also helped a lot. Be sure to check your readings at night and day to see how much of a swing there is on these levels. You'll want to minimize those swings as much a possible.

[Kristy]

+1 on lighting and pH... those seem to be the biggest factors for my non-calcium consuming growth.

[twychopen]

Still have yet to see the water parameters. I know my tank has been going through the same things recently but since I have started dosing and keeping the Mag, Calcium, Alk where they should be, things seem to be multiplying.

[Big_Pun]

i had the same problem i was getting some growth but it was slow. talked to a local LFS and he suggested ESV b-ionic and that i feed my coral a lil more. so ive been using the b-ionic and coral frenzy also some diff phyto foods and have noticed a big difference in my corals health. also reading up and learning how and what your coral needs for nutrition helps, sometimes even "spot feeding" helps alot. also the best growth and health improvements ive seen came from better lighting. not saying dosing will help you but trying diff techniques till you find what your system needs is what your going to have to do.

[Mike]

I know some people have talked about the lighting maybe being too weak, but another consideration is how old are the bulbs? How do you do on growing nuisance algae? If you are having to clean the glass all the time, it might be time to change your bulbs. They lose some strength and usefulness over time. Just a thought...