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SPS Encrustation thoughts

derek_SR

derek_SR

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I have been fairly successful with SPS. There have been ups and downs but I'm pretty happy with how my tank has progressed.

One thing I have noticed with my acros compared to many other successful keepers is that mine tend to grow very branchy - but encrust very little. Some never encrust at all. When browsing the internet it seems a lot of people complain of the opposite - their acros encrust forever but never branch.

A lot of common advice seems to point to the fact that higher flow leads to more encrustation (people say the same thing about branching growth - go figure). I have pretty high flow in my tank so I suspect that is not the issue in my case.

Does anyone have thoughts on this? How to stimulate encrusting behavior in corals? Or just tissue health in general? I've always had a lot of stony growth, but have always felt lacking in encrustation and sometimes in color. It seems my acropora TISSUE could be healthier, despite clearly having what they need for skeletal formation.
 
I think there's far more complexity here than simple tank conditions.

Frag health, how long it encrusted, and whether it has an active growth tip when clipped seems to make a difference in my tank. Fresh cut frags seem to branch faster in my tank.
My SCOP was a fresh cut with several active apical corallites, where all of its energy seemed to be invested. It never based out more than half a centimeter. Same with my Bill Murray, which had a very active growth margin when it arrived.

On the other hand, I have an RR kendari that arrived green and had no active growth margin. A year and a half later, it still sits in my tank without a branch to be found. I use a razor blade to remove the encrusted bits when it encroaches on other corals.

I think species and strain affects the coral as well. My Hawkins Echinata (A turaki) and all the A. carduus that I've ever kept barely encrust at all, whereas some others won't stop

I would love to hear more opinions from experts and people with more experience
 
tribbitt said:
I think species and strain affects the coral as well. My Hawkins Echinata (A turaki) and all the A. carduus that I've ever kept barely encrust at all, whereas some others won't stop
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Same experience with "dragon" type acros. All mine have grown from tiny frags to colonies and barely encrust. My poto golden dragon (a. derawanensis?) and needle in haystack (a. carduus) colonies move around if I touch them. I'm afraid of them toppling over when the colony gets bigger.
 
Species is definitely a factor - I have the same experience with dragons and smoothskin types, they just don't encrust much.

I also agree that the condition and nature of the frag is a factor - it seems that mini-colonies I get are sometimes reluctant to encrust. My SCOP has never encrusted one bit, but continues to branch up just fine. I received it as a mini colony originally. It's like it was "done" with its encrusting phase and can't be bothered to do it again.

Tank conditions are certainly not the only factor but they do seem to be PART of the equation. Just wondering what other theories are out there.
 
(haven't even smoked yet..) I have wondered if sps know they have a neighbor that wants to kill them before coming up with a plan of attack which could include encrust first build a large army then attack upward vs race to the sun to shade out nearby enemies? Could that also be a factor in growth pattern? I don't have a clue but like to wonder.
 
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