Chalice growth rates

[Animal-Chin]

I bought a Chalice coral from oceanic like a year ago. Its green with orange eyes. It is literally the exact same size as when I bought it, zero growth at all. Whats the best conditions for these? Do somejust not grow much at all?

[warriorcookie]

I would say Chalice is on the slower side growth wise.

In my very limited experience, I had a piece that did literally nothing for over a year. I moved it to a spot so it was on a 45 deg angle and it started growing.

So is this to say it's because of the angle? Lighting and flow are certainly different in this new spot too....

I've been told medium flow, medium light, and put on an angle. Worked for me , YMMV :wink:

[soapy]

The thing about Chalices is that the wide selection of things called chalices belongs to about ten genera so there is a lot of variation in what we are talking about. Some are slow as hell and some grow pretty well. I like the ones that grow slow, not everyone and their dog has four of them. And because they grow slow you don't have to worry about them climbing all over each other all the time. That said, I think that if you find the sweet spot they can speed up a bit. Feeding helps too methinks.

Got a picture?

[iamfrontosa]

feed it..

[NIVLEM09]

feed it..

+1

[Wheelman76]

+1



Long time no see

[NIVLEM09]

Long time no see

Hi Jess,how are you?you and Hung are welcome to come see my new place but don't have a fish tank yet,although I am in the process of getting one.

[Wheelman76]

Hi Jess,how are you?you and Hung are welcome to come see my new place but don't have a fish tank yet,although I am in the process of getting one.



Sounds good Melvin , the three of us should get together sometime. I'll pm you my number.

[Scythanith]

Also, growth rates can be dependant on how you mounted it to the frag plug or the rockwork. If the coral has to grow over a void area it will usually be painfully slow. That's why I often make a little ring of epoxy that I put down between the frag plug and the rock work to make a bit of a slope for the coral to grow on to. Like a boat ramp for the coral :)

That usually really aids in the chalices growth. I also feed weekly with either LPS pellets or PE Mysis. Shut the pumps off, get a little food juice in the water and leave the tank for 15 minutes or so (all tanks will vary and the inhabitants will learn to respond quickly with feeding tentacles if you do it regularly). Come back and spot feed the corals :)

I have definitely had some chalices grow painfully slow, usually the expensive ones. But that can also be linked to the size of the original frag. A frag with one mouth will take much longer to grow than one with 5+ mouths.

Just my 2 cents.

[GoFish]

Hey that 45 degree angle trick holds merit! Just did that last week mounted one to the back wall and it appears to make the chalice edge search for light growing upward and in turn outward instead of just basking in the light.

[soapy]

Glueing in at odd angles also has the added bonus of giving you a little leeway in terms of getting the light intensity right. Good tip Warrior.

Interesting what you say Scythanith, Ive seen a coral bubble out trying to cross a void.

Here is a picture of a Lithophyllon chowing down on pellets.

http://i882.photobucket.com/albums/ac29/soapy_photos/Lithopyllon_IMG_3077_zps6iktzyha.jpg

[Animal-Chin]

thanks for the tips, I'm mounted it on an angle and I'll try and feeding. I've never seen it come close to opening a mouth since I've had it. Does it eat like acans would? It has 6 or 7 mouths but I've never seen feeding tenticles or anything like that...

[soapy]

Does it look like this one? For me this one only puts out feeders in the middle of the night. Its a good grower but target feeding it is tricky.

http://i882.photobucket.com/albums/ac29/soapy_photos/red_eye_chalice_IMG_3071_zpsjzt9gfah.jpg

[Scythanith]

They try to cross the void and eventually will, but they will grow faster if there is a smooth transition.

[Animal-Chin]

looks more like the first pic you posted Soapy.

I'll have to see if I can coax it out and get it going...

[soapy]

Check this video, towards the end there is a bit about feeding a coral that doesn't put out tentacles:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25mc8jgrSIM#t=165

[Animal-Chin]

last night when my pumps were off I juiced him and sure enough the mouths started opening. First time I've seen it do that. I mean my lobos and favia and every other LPS opens up all the time but this chalice never has until he got the direct squirt. The acans next door enjoyed it too...lol

[Scythanith]

:clap2:

[iamfrontosa]

:wink: