How fast do frags grow?

[swords]

Like the title says, how fast do these things grow? I'm curious what sorta time frame I'm looking at to grow a tank full of the crazy colored collector corals on pieces of reef rubble.

 

I see frags at the local shops for $10 -$40 each but there is way cooler stuff online for comparable prices but there is a very large PETCO in a rich area who has a nice frag tank of better collector frags than all the other dedicated fish shops in MN! (Sad eh?) Anyway, I'm wondering how long does it take for one of these two polyp or guitar pick sized frags take to become a fist sized colony or better? Does it depend on the amount of calcium or plankton that gets fed to regulate growth?

 

Also what is the max temp for a reef tank of corals and CUC & bugs only, like no higher than XX*F?

[gulfsurfer101]

Reef bugs, lol. Imo it takes a few years to get a very mature looking tank overgrown with coral. Things grow from weekly to monthly with good water parameters and stable conditions. I'm talking about a snigle polyp or two but it's amazing to watch your single polyped frags growing out.

[Pilg0re]

Really depends on the individual coral. For example, I have some zoas that grow like crazy yet I have other ones that I'm lucky if I get a new polyp a month.

[Nor_Cal_Cuber]

Depends on many many things. Growth is effected by trace elements, light, flow, food, water quality just to name a few. It's not like growing a plant, it takes longer. But they grow exponentially to their current size.

 

Highest safe temp, 82f

[streakr22]

Where in MN? I might have to check those frags out.

[swords]

82*F thanks, keep all my vivariums about 80*F so the corals will be no different. Nice!

 

Yeah I assume it's a slower process than plants but was just wondering if it's like 5 years on average to get to a nice sized specimen. A polyp a month, isn't too bad, similar to my Nepenthes carnivorous plants who generally grow a leaf and pitcher trap per month. At least with that rate you can still see things are happening.

 

yes, I don't want to buy already established colonies that might have been taken from reefs, I want to do it from the cultivated / named frag cultures. Not only is is more responsible (hopefully) but the colors are just mind boggling on some of them! Not sure how people feel about the comparison but the limited edition corals seem pretty much like plant cultivars. I really love that, like a conceptual crossover in my hobbies! LOL

 

Streaker it's the Petco near Ridgedale Mall on highway 12/394 so I guess that's Minnetonka? It's the biggest Petco I know of. The gal at the fish counter said new corals and fish come in on Fridays and is on display an hour or two before closing Friday nights. Their frag tank is only one walk around 4 ft x 2 ft x 18 inch tank under 4 T5s but they have some pretty nice looking choices. I would have bought some stuff if I had tank setup and cycled. I'm a total beginner mind you (haven't begun yet) but I know when something looks good compared to the other shops.

[Nor_Cal_Cuber]

..... Their frag tank is only one walk around 4 ft x 2 ft x 18 inch tank under 4 T5s but they have some pretty nice looking choices. I would have bought some stuff if I had tank setup and cycled. I'm a total beginner mind you (haven't begun yet) but I know when something looks good compared to the other shops.

 

 

You would probably soil yourself here in my town...I have 6 LFS that all have displays twice that size at the least. No wonder I spend so much money. It's like candy shops everywhere!

[Dani3d]

Like others have said, it really depends on the coral. Some grow really fast and some don't.

 

It's even more complicated than this as some type of coral like xenia can grow like weeds in some people tank and melt and die in no time in some other tanks.

 

I have a montipora cap green that I have pruned and fragged twice already in 6 months and one montipora cap red that has not grown much, not even 1/4". So each coral will grown at a different rate but usualy a 1" sps frag will take a year or more to grow to about 4" or 5", depending on the specie and the stability of the tank.

 

usualy you can expect to have a mature tank in a few years, maybe 2 or 3, if you are starting from small frags, so if you can find small colonies for not too expensive, then get them. You have to be aware that if you pay a frag 100$ it still has the risk of dying. If you buy a frag 20$ and it dies, it won,t be so much of a money loss. So before buying large colonies you better be sure that this type of coral is going to thrive in your tank.

 

As for the crazy color that you see in pics, it is often caused by oversaturated pics and have been photoshopped. To get great color in sps the water must be PERFECT and low in nutriment yet the coral must find a good amount of zooplankton to feed on. Hard match to do and best done with a probiotic system and constant monitoring for the perfect parameters.

[swords]

Thanks for the info Dani, those are reasonable growth times in league with the plants I grow which are small, finicky and slow as well. I'm no stranger to paying a lot for a miniature plantlet with no guarantee of survival despite your best efforts. Cloned highland Nepenthes from Germany or seedlings from Asia can be from $20 - $150 for a thumbnail sized plant that may die in transit/customs inspection, may never develop roots, may die for no discernible reason despite having properly chilled, windy and humid terrariums to mimic the alpine tropics they grow in... I've never been one to choose those boring "easy hobbies"! LOL

 

 

What is the best testing kit setup to get? There are little suitcases with all kinds of test setups in them and then all the individual ones, do they make a test kit setup specifically for coral tanks? Is there a better test setup than another or are they all about the same?

[Trolldoll]

I use Salifert and Tropic Marin test kits. What type of corals do you want to keep?

 

I bought a large frag pack (15) of fancy named collector corals online for $200 shipped. Buying from other reefers will save you a ton of cash.

[Trogdor447]

I use Salifert and Tropic Marin test kits. What type of corals do you want to keep?

 

I bought a large frag pack (15) of fancy named collector corals online for $200 shipped. Buying from other reefers will save you a ton of cash.

 

find a local friend... be tank backup buddies.. in case of a crash

[Mojorizn]

I would advise against spending the $$$ on "collector" corals that may change from the "super bright" color to a plain jane brown in your tank...ya never know. The opposite is also true. That ugly brown stick ya see on the $5 rack may just turn out to be your best specimen.

 

Besides, "collector" coral fads don't last long and that high dollar frag will be just average once the "new hotness" comes out.

 

You'd be surprised at how much color and variety you can find in Zoas/Rics and Palys...most of which can be had for a fair price. Most but not all ...lol. Plus, they can have surprisingly fast growth rates with target feeding.

[swords]

That's interesting that they can change color. Is that an indicator of stress, lessening water quality, low lighting or some reason unidentifiable?

 

I don't know which ones are considered the most popular since I'm new, I only know what looks so neat in the pictures of online vendors and at the store. All those strange psychedelic colors clashing together. Like a living black light poster or a terrarium on an alien ship!

 

I'm interested in all of the really colorful things like the Zoa polyps, mushrooms, various colored stag-horns and chalices. I just want to be sure I don't wind up with any of those aggressive ones that can sting other corals in the tank. I want to eventually have a garden of intensely colored colony's all growing together hopefully side by side in harmony.

 

Something else I wondered about is when doing water changes is it OK for these things to be exposed to air for a minute or so? I mean a tall branchy coral that is 2" from the water surface is going to be out of water during a 20% water change.

[Pilg0re]

Acros in the wild often are exposed to the air during low tide, that being said I'm personally scared of them except my green slimer that thing will live no matter what I do.

 

I absolutely love the colors, it's just they're expensive and I've already killed a couple of them for reasons unknown to me. So even though when I'm looking to make a purchase I avoid them out of pure fear of killing them.

[swords]

I'm not even considering any of those $350 fancy ones or anything like that! lol

Especially not as a total beginner but there are some very colorful corals $20-40 range that I like a lot.

[Pilg0re]

Oh yeah I totally agree.

 

Like I said if you think you're into acros look for a green slimer, really bright green and easy to take care of.

[swords]

I think I've seen that one in catalogs online, I'd like a small collection of like :green, pink, orange and red Acroporas, like a crown at the top of the tank, some cool Montiporas and chalices in the middle like cliffs and a living carpet of various polyps covering the rocks everywhere else.. I'm dreaming again!

[Pilg0re]

That's my dream too, but I'm LPS crazy so I'd love a tank full of chalices and acans and a carpet of zoas.

 

My dream tank is vivid aquariums 800g DT though. The article in reef hobbyist magazine won me over.

http://www.reefhobbyistmagazine.com/archiv...e16/pages/6.htm

[swords]

That's a nice tank - I wouldn't envy the water changes though. Even 10% is more than the max capacity of any tank I've ever owned! LOL

 

I'm gonna bookmark and read those sample issue PDFs thanks for the link!

[Trolldoll]

I'm looking at to grow a tank full of the crazy colored collector corals on pieces of reef rubble.

 

^Thats the only reason I posted it. You can get cheaper frag packs of common frags for way cheaper than 200. If I would have went to a LFS 3 of the frags could have cost 200. I would suggest that you start of with a few beginner corals til you have the basics down. Everything is cool when you first start out so you shouldn't have a problem picking a few common corals.

[AndyK47]

I can attest personally to the color changing corals.... I've had both ways work. Had a BEAUTIFUL blue acro that was a neon blue color with a hint of green in it...added it to my tank and a month later it was a dull yellowish with a tint of blue..... then i added this cheap $10 acro frag that was brown with a hint of purple in it.... it is now NEON purple depending on which angle you look at it mixed with green and has neon green mouths... the colors just seem to really come out under the metal halide.... Water quality is everything in this ball game... i've seen tanks that were 2 years old turn to a swampy mess when not kept up for a few weeks and whole colonies of corals die off because the water wasn't just perfect.... best advice i've ever been given here "nothing good happens fast in this hobby" ....

 

ps.... i dont grow rare plants, but i'm a gardener at heart and you will find this to be an EXTREMELY rewarding hobby, especially if you're a real details oriented person.