Anacropora

Anacropora

Anacropora forbesi

Care Level Moderate
Lighting Moderate to high
Water Flow Moderate to strong
Placement Mid to high rock
Aggression Peaceful
Coloration Green, purple or tan with fluorescent tips

Overview

Anacropora is a delicate, fast-growing SPS coral forming thin, smooth, tapering branches that lack the axial corallites of true Acropora. Its slender branches and bright fluorescent tips make it a graceful, less-common alternative to Acropora and Montipora.

Care & Placement

Like most small-polyp stony corals it wants stable water chemistry, moderate-to-high light and moderate-to-strong flow to keep detritus off its fine branches. Mount it firmly mid-to-high on the rockwork. The brittle branches snap easily, so handle gently.

Feeding

Photosynthetic; benefits from occasional broadcast feeding of fine plankton foods, and from stable calcium, alkalinity and magnesium for skeletal growth.

Propagation

Very easy — snap or cut a branch tip and glue it to a plug; it grows quickly under good conditions.

Cautions

Demands stable SPS-level water parameters and is sensitive to swings in alkalinity, nutrients and light. Branches are brittle.