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Corals.. Call me a newb but..

A

Anthonyjiz

Hey guys, you might find me stupid in every aspect but I don't even have my first reef yet I'm still trying to set-up.. I have a question about corals.. specifically polyps because I love them.. What's the average growth chart on them? Lets say I get a 1"-2" frag of a green polyp.. How long would it take to grow to 4-5" or etc.. and if you guys know the charts of other corals please tell me, I would love to find these kinds of things out before getting anything!

Thanks again,
~ Ant!
 
W

Whitebird1

Average 2-6 years before anything gets any bigger then when you purchased it. The main reason for this, myself as a main example, is the learning curve that it takes to run a reef and not crash it on a regular basis. Start slow and with beginner stock, softys, small frags, read alot and double check what you read.
Good Luck, Welcome to the club.
GregH
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
+6 on Greg's answer. I've just hit the 5 year mark and I MAY have just figured this whole thing out!
 
A

Anthonyjiz

Wow! 2-6 years! I would have never guessed that much.. Atleast we're in a good state and don't get many power-outages, if any so hopefully I can keep a nice reef for a while!
 
Phyl

Phyl

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
Some people have crazy good luck (or very good habits) from jump and get mad growth in the first 6 months (see Jersey Wendy's tale of the tank. Oooooh). Just that not all of us are that diligent/lucky. There are many ways to fail. The slightest imbalance can knock out a year of growth in a colony (or your whole darn tank).
 
H

Hirobo

2-6 years? I would say that depends on what type of coral. Mine are growing mad crazy

Red planet bought in july
redplanet.jpg

and today
DSCF6883.jpg
 
A

Anthonyjiz

Might I ask where you got that red planet, how much it was, the exact size, and what are the requirements for it? It looks marvelous..
 
J

john90009

NJRC Member
Some people will pick up their tanks requirements alot faster that others. So some people can get real in-tune with there tank and make sure everything is stable and water changes arent forgotten and then you can get them to grow fast - but if you forget to do something a shock might take place and the corals wont be happy. Others may forget to do minor things causing crashes more.
 
JohnS_323

JohnS_323

Officer Emeritus
Officer Emeritus
As Greg said, the 2 to 6 year estimate includes time to get to a point where frags will begin to grow. Very few people should introduce a red planet (or any other SPS) as their first coral ever and expect it to do well. The more prudent course is to take it slow and realize that it takes a bit of time to get your system established enough to keep beginner corals.
 
A

Anthonyjiz

I guess you guys are right.. I think I'm just gonna stick to polyps, anemones, and shrooms for the most part.. Thanks alot for all the help though!
 
Hawkeye

Hawkeye

Anthonyjiz said:
I guess you guys are right.. I think I'm just gonna stick to polyps, anemones, and shrooms for the most part.. Thanks alot for all the help though!
Click to expand...


Besides zoas, mushrooms - I would also suggest looking into star polyps (e.g. GSP), xenia (not easy, but for some people it grows like a weed). I would also suggest some LPS to provide some height - such as Frogspawn or hammer corals.

But the most important piece of advice is to go slow. You have a freshwater tank and quite honestly it is not anything like a reef tank. I could see a jump to Fish only (or fish only with live rock).

Finally - I would really caution against any anemone until at least a year after your tank is set.
 
D

Dave

Anthonyjiz said:
I don't think I can have LPS, so Ive been told.

Why can't I keep an anenome for so long? =O
Click to expand...

A couple of thoughts.

1. You mentioned anenomes (as in plural). I would definitely start with one, and since I am not sure how big your tank is, one may be all you should ever consider. This is highly dependent on species and tank size.

A tank usually will stabilize over time, and as a result there are less chances for it to have the types of swings that can kill an anenome.

I am not clear why someone would tell you that you cannot have LPS, but if you cannot have LPS then you certainly cannot have an anenome or SPS.

IMO, the amount of time it takes to see growth is so highly dependent on so many factors, it would be very hard to give good answers.

Certain corals as a general rule are faster growers than others.

Polyps and shrooms are a good starting coral.

There are others, but if you like these then it is a good place to start.
 
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