Acropora ID

Acropora coral care

Acropora corals are part of a group of corals called SPS, which stands for "small polyp stony."
These corals are a little harder to care for than other corals because they only thrive and show their candy-like colours when they are kept in pristine water and blasted with powerful lighting.
However, rookie reefers can still find some Acropora corals that are easy to care for.
They can be found on reefs throughout the Indo-Pacific region and in areas like Fiji, Tonga, and the Great Barrier Reef.

Water chemistry
In order to thrive, Acropora prefer stable water conditions that replicate those of the ocean.
Both nitrate and phosphate levels must be closely monitored.
Basicly this means you need a filtration system with a strong protein skimmer.
The coral's color and health will improve at lower levels.
Acropora will grow rapidly and show its true colours under ideal conditions (such as intense lighting and stable water parameters).
The consumption of both major and trace elements increases rapidly as Acropora frags grow.
Keeping your Calcium, Kh, and magnesium levels steady may be challenging.
To keep up with optimal levels you need to add a source of KH, calcium and trace elements.
This can be achived by a using calcium reactor or Balling method.

Feeding
Most of the nutritional needs of Acropora coral are met by the zooxanthellae, the symbiotic algae that live within their tissues.
If you feel the need to feed your corals, Acropora can be spot-feeding small dried food, like Reef-Roids , or broadcast feeding your aquarium with live plankton.
This will trigger their feeding response by extending their feeding tentacles.
We have incredible success feeding the products of https://planctontech.com/

Water flow
Acropora thrive in aquariums with significant water movement since they live on reefs with strong currents.
Alternating current helps prevent detritus settling in between their brances and helps in the bacterial feeding process .
To adapt to water flow, acropora grows in different shapes.
In aquariums with heavy flow, Acropora become thicker and denser.

Lighting
Acropora are corals that, like many others, host the symbiotic dinoflagellates called zooxanthellae within their tissues.
Dinoflagellates do photosynthesis, and the coral animal gets its nutrition from the waste products of this process.
Acropora lighting should be very powerful, so reef hobbyists must spend some budget on lighting fixtures to keep them colourful.
An over-dimensioned T5 fixture, good old HQI or LED will do the job.
PAR values from 300-500 par are often sufficient.
Going overkill on PAR without properly acclimating your coral will cause a bleaching effect, causing it to release its zooxanthellae and become a white coral. Often resulting in the death of the animal.
Giving too much light is more harmful to coral than not providing enough light, so give the coral a few weeks to acclimatize to the lighting in your tank.

We grow our Acropora frags under the new Reef flare pro L from Reef-Factory, and since we switched from T5 to the Reef Flare pro, the growth and colouring have changed tremendously!