Frag Growth

[techniner]

Obviously it depends on the species, but if you were to purchase a 3/4 to 1 inch frag of lets say a Spider Acro or Favia Colony or Red Devil Favia or even Lobo's what would the average growth be?

With that said are there any frags anyone would recommend that spread rapidly with decent color?

I am not about rushing this second tank I setup but I am just curious.

[crvz]

There's no way of telling. If you want stuff to grow rapidly, I'd stick to softies. Some stony corals will grow much faster than others... but I measure good growth as doubling every year on my SPS corals. However, smaller frags may do a bit better or worse upon first introduction to the tank.

[techniner]

So this brings me to my next question then, in your opinion do you consider a fully developed coral on a rock a hardier coral then if I grew it from a frag.

Personally I find it more gratifying to have grown it from a wee lad.

Just curious if you think its better to spend some extra bucks to get a bigger piece for the tank and in the long run will it matter once it gets comfortable?

[crvz]

I do not think it's better to buy full coral pieces, particularly wild collected specimens, as they do not always fare well when introduced into closed systems and it's unnecessary when aquacultured frags are readily available from proven corals in captive systems.

[wharyat]

One thing I've learned in purchasing large branching stony colonies is that the coral will never do as well as a frag.

The problem with larger colonies (4-6") is that they did not grow in your aquarium so they are not "custom" tuned to your water flow and other important features. In most cases part of the inner colony may die off from lack of flow, or just turn to a non-intended color (normally orange & green).

Frags, IME, don't have as large of color shift and never have many problems adjusting to the tank. I too find it more fulfilling to watch it grow into a large colony. Frags are also cheaper.

Brains and other larger polyped colonies usually do fine when purchased large. Most are much slower growers than SPS and can take years to get a nice "centerpiece" coral out of them.

[Scruffys Catch]

I agree with the guys.
Frags are hard to tell how fast they will grow as they will grow different for everyone.
And I think frags are better for two resons.
1 I like to watch them grow.
2 If it dies for some reason I spent alot less money.

[mcliffy2]

I also agree to go with frags. They are easier to put where you want. They will grow into your system. (I almost always have some part of a wild colony die off because it is shaped such that some part isnt getting the right flow or light)

If you want some fast growers, any basic monti cap will be good. Also, some ORA corals grow pretty quick, and their growth is much easier to predict (I think their website has writeups that will give you a good indication of growth rate).

[Scruffys Catch]

Originally Posted by mcliffy2

If you want some fast growers, any basic monti cap will be good.

That really depends on the tank. We have great luck with them and they grow very fast for us but talking to one of the guys at our LFS he has no luck with them at all

[Seamore]

My monti's grow fast (Cap or Dig), good amount of light and Ca in the 430 range make a big dif.

[TheWeaz]

I agree. My Monti seems to be the quickest grower lately.