Optimizing candy cane coral growth

[rivernox]

I think another factor we should consider is the color of our corals. I have a colony that's done exceptionally well, growing to over 100 heads in 18 months, and they're whitish green in color. On the other hand, I have another colony that's brownish red with green centers, and they've only grown from 4 to about 20 heads in two years. It's possible that the color variation is just a natural occurrence, but I wonder if it might be related to their growth rates.

I've noticed that my coral seems to be responding well to the Seachem Reef Complete I've been adding to my tank to keep my calcium levels up. They're looking healthier and more "poofed" up than before. I'm curious to know if anyone else has noticed a difference in their coral's color over time. Were they the same color when you first got them, or did they change color as they grew?

[Falcon9]

No, they were definitely different colors from the start. I've seen a lot of variation in candy cane corals, so it's hard to say if the color had anything to do with the growth rate. Maybe it was just a coincidence, or maybe the lighter-colored ones happened to be in a slightly better spot in the tank. Either way, I'm glad to hear that your coral is looking happier now that you've started supplementing with Seachem Reef Complete.

[otterix]

I recently got a two-head frag of the neon green trumpet/candy, and I'm excited to see it's making progress. Just a couple of months in, I've noticed both heads have formed additional mouths, which is a great sign. They've started to pinch into the figure-eight shape, so I'm thinking it'll be at least another month before the new heads separate.

Assuming everything continues smoothly, I'm looking at a doubling time of around 4-5 months, which is pretty promising. Of course, it took forever for the coral to get comfortable, but now that it's happy, who knows, maybe it'll double as fast as every 3 months. Only time will tell, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

[finsong]

I've also got the neon green variety, and I'm happy to report it's been doing great. Started with a 3-head frag, now it's grown to 25+ in just 8 months. I'm running 250-watt 12K MH lights, with decent water flow, and I only feed it sparingly.

[rivernox]

I'm curious about the role of lighting in coral growth. Is it the power or the color that makes a bigger difference? I've been running my tank with 325 watts of 6500K CFLs in a 90-gallon tank, and my candy cane coral seems to be growing at a slow but steady pace - it looks healthy, at least. On the other hand, finsong has reported much faster growth under 500 watts of 12,000K metal halides in a 75-gallon tank. I'd love to hear more about the lighting setups from some of the earlier posters in this thread.

[anglermatic]

I recently got a 3 head candy cane coral frag on February 23. It's now grown to 8 heads.

[oceanix_9]

Candy Canes are the "Rabbit" of my tank - One 5 head frag 2 years ago is now 2 massive colonies with over 50 heads each, plus several smaller broken-off frags scattered around.

[talonix]

I've had my candy cane coral for a bit now, and I've been observing its growth. It's gone from six heads three months ago to over fifteen today. I have to note, though, that I've fragged it and exchanged a few heads for other corals, so that's had an impact on its overall size. One thing that seems to have really helped mine take off is when I started feeding it mysis at night, after I see the tentacles open up. It's made a huge difference.

When I first got them, they were pretty small and not very impressive. But with regular feeding and good care, they've really started to thrive. Now, when the lights are off and the tentacles are open, they look like this. And when the lights are on, they look like this.