There are whole lot of parameters for each FX and most of them can be animated at the timeline.
Just play with them until you find right one for your effect.
Aura - Emisson Flux and/or Smoke size.
Dissolve - Reform after melt unchecked + whole lot of other controls below it.
Every time you change any parameter it creates a key at the timeline (enable Attributes to see what's available and keys)