Frogspawn and Hammer Coral - Best way to Grow them - Looking for Tips Please

[that Fish Guy]

I really like Hammer and Frogspawn Corals and was wondering what was the Best way to Grow them?

I have a 20 Gallon Frag Tank (30 X 12 X 12) that I will be putting some in.

What do you guys recommend for Maximum Growth on these Corals?

[that Fish Guy]

Any recommendations on:

What Lighting they Prefer (T5, LED, Metal Halide, etc.)
What Hydor Koralia Power Heads should I be using (Aquarium is a 20 Long 30 X 12 X 12)
Temperature that they Like
How Long to Leave the Lights on
Placement for Best Growth (Sandbed, Middle, High Up, etc.)
What to Feed them and How Often to Feed Them

Or any other Tips you Guys Recommend that has worked for you.

Thanks in advance

[Reefmedic79]

In a tank that shallow any reef lighting will be fine, proper acclimation will be important though.

They tend to prefer moderate alternating flow, enough to move the polyps, but not so much that they blow over.

Normal aquarium reef temps are fine, 76-84 degrees, as long as they are stable.

Lighting just as all other corals, 8-12 hours.

Location wont' really matter, IMO, in a 12in deep tank.

If your looking for rapid growth, daily feeding of anything you can think of, mostly meaty, chopped Mysis, cyclopeeze, ect...

[Drae]

Euphyllia corals are great. They like meaty foods as stated above and t5's work very well to obtain great colors (higher kelvin preferably). I have had luck with low tech systems and consistant water changes. Flow should be just enough to make the polyps sway gently and not constantly to one direction. Euphyllia gardens are absolutely stunning imo. Plenty of colors morphs and great specimens to choose from and a great way to break into stoney corals.

[jdaniels175]

I had a nice frogspawn get to almost soccer ball size and I think part of the "secret" was not getting to crazy with nutrient removal. They like it a little bit "dirty".

[cody6766]

Don't take dirty as lack of care though. I have great growth in a tank that grows acros, as do many others. I skim and do regular water changes, but I don't dose carbon or anything along those lines. A normal system with the above spread of parameters will grow euphylia just fine. Feeding and making sure your calcium, alk and mag don't go low will ensure rapid and healthy growth. Direct feeding will be better than broadcast feeding and I'd kill the flow when doing so.

[that Fish Guy]

Should I Feed them Krill or is that too Big? Would Mysis or Brine be Better?

What Hydor Koralia's should I put in a 20 Gallon (30 X 12 X 12) for Hammer and Frogspawn?

I know one Guy that Chops of Each Head and Grows them on a Frag Square (1" X 1") and another that does not Break them Up. Which way will make them Grow Faster? Or Does that not Matter?

How Fast do new Heads Grow with these Corals?

[mixedreefjunky]

I bought two heads of frogspawn 3.5 years ago and have moved them all over my tank and fragged them 4 times. I currently have a main colony in the sand that is on the original frag disk they came on and is around forty five heads and about a dozen baby heads inside the colony with lower flow and it is shaped in a half sphere and grows very quickly with splitting heads. A frag disk I just made that is two heads in the middle of the tank with medium flow that does well. And a small colony of 7 heads that are growing quickly in the upper portion of my tank with pretty quick polyp movement. I think I have had the best growth where my main colony is now, 20" below the surface.
As far as helping them to grow quicker and the best way to get frags without slowing the growth process? I prefer to cut my frags from the babies inside the structure of the colony leaving the base so another starts in the same place. I then put them on a plug and grow them out a bit higher in the tank with low flow. I fragged some of the larger heads before and I don't like the holes it leaves in your colony plus I feel like it just slows the growth of my main colony structure.
During the last 3.5 years I have had some strong lighting on my tank. 2x150w DE 14k phoenix's 2x96w actinics and moonlights for 2 years. Then upgraded to 2x250w DE 14 phoenix's 2x96w actinics and moonlights for 1.5 years. Just upgraded to a ReefBreeders Photon series with standard layout and within two weeks I have noticed new babies starting in my main colonies structure and better coloration. My newest frag plug had a baby pop up on the skeleton within a week with the new LED fixture.
Bottom line, I have achieved my quickest growth with frogspawn in high lighting, better and better the higher I have gone with my lighting. Best with lower to moderate flow as well.
I have only kept hammer once and the growth patterns were very similar. I have never dosed calcium ,alk, magnesium etc. during this time so I bet you could get much better growth rates with dosing. I have never direct fed food either. I just monitor temp, salinity, and ph.
Oh and I almost forgot, the only flow that my frogspawn would never open up to at all in 4 weeks was when I had my wavemaker on. All my other corals did very well with waves, my fish loved it as did I, but alas the fragspawn hated it.
Hope this helps.

[mixedreefjunky]

Oh yea and temp is 78 for me, salinity 1.025. MH were on for 8 hrs with 2 hr build up and down for effect. LED is 14hr day with only a 5.5hr peak. I would recommend a jebao 25 for water movement or a smaller pump from them if it ever comes out.

[that Fish Guy]

Somebody sent me this Message:

"Expect less than a 5% difference for feeding. I think that is the right percentage of how much caught food contributes to the overall metabolism of euphyllia... the 95% comes from their Zoax. If you want to drop some small amoutn blender mush into the tank every 2-4 weeks, go for it. Heavily feeding euphyllia does not amount to much."

Do you guys agree with that statement?

I was told before that feeding them will make them grow a lot quicker.

If it only increases growth by 5% then it is not even worth the time to feed them in my opinion.

What do you guys think?

I always thought that feeding your Coral would al least double the growth rate?

[noobofthereef]

When I fed my acans, their growth was very rapid. But now that I've stopped, they have not grown for months. I know this is a thread for euphyllia but I think they should be similar in their reactions to feeding.

[Drae]

There's nothing you can do to "DOUBLE" a corals growth rate imo. Feeding euphyllia's is beneficial in low nutrient setups though. If the tank is a lps tank specifically then it's not necessary to feed them often but it doesn't hurt. They really do well in low tech ( no bio pellets, gfo, ats, large weekly water changes) systems. High kelvin t5 setups and even a hob filter and skimmer is all they really need. They do not tolerate ammonia though at all and keep nitrates under 20 ppm and phosphates can be detectable but it needs to be kept low for calcification. That's it. Easy peasy.

[sneeyatch]

Somebody sent me this Message:

"Expect less than a 5% difference for feeding. I think that is the right percentage of how much caught food contributes to the overall metabolism of euphyllia... the 95% comes from their Zoax. If you want to drop some small amoutn blender mush into the tank every 2-4 weeks, go for it. Heavily feeding euphyllia does not amount to much."

Do you guys agree with that statement?

I was told before that feeding them will make them grow a lot quicker.

If it only increases growth by 5% then it is not even worth the time to feed them in my opinion.

What do you guys think?

I always thought that feeding your Coral would al least double the growth rate?

I agree with that statement 100%.