I need some Help - Little to no growth

[gobytron]

Originally Posted by George

There are some good suggestions in this thread. There are also some misinformation here. First of, 8 dKH is perfectly fine, if your test kit is accurate. Recommended alkalinity is between 7-11 dKH. A lighting period of 6 hours using 400W DE is perfectly fine. That's 6 hours of intensive light period. You don't get more than that hours of intensive light period in the tropic seas. I am using 250W for 6 hours and get good growth (For some SPS, they are growing like weed).
For OP, are your corals happy? How is their polyp extension? What kind of corals do you have? Maybe they are just slow growers. Try to find some fast growers, like pink birdsnest or green birdsnest or some digitata and see if they grow at all in your tank.

Keep in mind, these are just suggestions (which is what the OP is looking for) and nothing is written in stone.
Just opinions of other reefers who can draw on their independent experiences to try and provide the OP with some suggestions that may have slipped past them based on their own experiences.

every system is different and to just write off anothers suggestion purely based on your own experiences really isn't helping anyone out here...IMO.

[globaldesigns]

Originally Posted by gobytron

Keep in mind, these are just suggestions (which is what the OP is looking for) and nothing is written in stone.
Just opinions of other reefers who can draw on their independent experiences to try and provide the OP with some suggestions that may have slipped past them based on their own experiences.

every system is different and to just write off anothers suggestion purely based on your own experiences really isn't helping anyone out here...IMO.

+1, well said

[Slick Fork]

Try changing your salt maybe. I think sometimes that these mystery slow/no growth problems come down to a trace element that we might not even know to test for. Some salts may have it, others not but it's worth a shot.

[globaldesigns]

As 6 hours of light may be enough, this will all depend on the quality of the fixture, bulbs and age of things... Maybe try increasing it to 8 hours, and give it a month and see what happens, then maybe 10 hours.

I personally use Ushio 10K bulbs for growth with t5HO actinics and have my lights on for 11 hours with no negative impact and the corals seem happy.

Just another suggestion if you feel other areas are ok.

[Parker]

Originally Posted by globaldesigns

As 6 hours of light may be enough, this will all depend on the quality of the fixture, bulbs and age of things... Maybe try increasing it to 8 hours, and give it a month and see what happens, then maybe 10 hours.

I personally use Ushio 10K bulbs for growth with t5HO actinics and have my lights on for 11 hours with no negative impact and the corals seem happy.

Just another suggestion if you feel other areas are ok.

I'm running PFO Ballasts and reflectors for all three lights. 2 of the bulbs are creeping up on a year old and one is a couple of months old. I started putting corals in when the bulbs were about 2 months old and growth was non existant through the life of the bulbs. I moved all the corals under the bulb that's only a couple of months old when I installed it. No change to date. The two older bulbs are Hamilton's and the newest one is an IceCap

[Parker]

I should also mention I have a VERY low bioload.

3 - Green Chromis
2 - Bangii (sp) Cardinals

[Zoaelite]

Originally Posted by Parker

I should also mention I have a VERY low bioload.

3 - Green Chromis
2 - Bangii (sp) Cardinals

Wow that's all? I'm not one to boast about growth but I know fish poop makes for one good coral food. Any other things added to the water for nutrients?

[Aquattro]

Originally Posted by Parker

I should also mention I have a VERY low bioload.

3 - Green Chromis
2 - Bangii (sp) Cardinals

This is something we have in common. I have a yellow tang, 2 small clowns and a tilefish. I'm going to increase it to see if that makes any difference.