ID this Acro Colony please

[Reef Master]

I picked this large colony up for an insanely low price two days ago but I do not know what kind it is. Any help would be great

[crvz]

An acropora.

species ID on acropora genus corals is near impossible without studying the skeleton structure at a microscopic level. what kind of ID are you hoping for?

[hng]

It seems like I'm just following Chris and agreeing to everything he says, but yeah, what Chris said. It doesn't look like any of the "named" acroporas that I've seen. From a general ID standpoint, it looks like it's a wild caught coral and a bottlebrush variety.

[Loverotties]

Acropora.

[ckusnierek]

Maybe a "Bottle Brush Acropora"

Thats a little closer to an exact species

Looks like it's been a little light deprived.

I have got some of my mosr colorful SPS from the LFS when they were browned out. a few weeks inder the "right" light they become beautiful...

[Reef Master]

I know its pretty much impossible to for sure id an acro but I was thinking bottle brush just wanted to see if i got a second on that. Yes i agree its been light deprived. Or maybe bad parameters. The tank it was in had good HQI lights. But I tested the store water before acclimation and well I wanted to puke. I am sure in 2-4 weeks the color will be coming back. I have a tri color acro, green birds nest, another acro colony, and a miami staghorn in the tank now and all have beautiful color. I have the current pro 6x54w t-5 fixture

[Fat Tony]

Looks like ORA's Australian Delicate Acro. They are very sensitive corals..

[Reef Master]

I looked at a couple of SPS dealers and it does look very close to what you are saying. The nice thing is I can see the steal that I got. I paid 40.00 for this and 1-2" frags are selling for 50.00. Mine is an entire colony

[Fat Tony]

That's a good price. Just a warning.. they are seriously delicate. I have killed 2 small colonies so far...not trying again

[Reef Master]

what happen to yours. How did it die. Bleached???? Mine look good so far. great Polpy extention, color is getting better, and mine is a ORA so its not wild caught so I hope I will hae better luck

[dacro]

jmo, but it doesn't look like an Aussie Delicate... Good luck on your quest!

[Fat Tony]

No, I didn't bleach them, it's just one of those corals that I apparently cannot keep, like Torts Both of mine RTN'd on me for some reason. Acclimation and stability is very important with this type of Coral. It may not be an Austrailian Delicate, but it is very close. That is why I said Looks like ... Either way both of mine were from ORA and were in the LFS for a long time before I purchased them (think months)... so I dunno what the problem was/is....BTW... that is the coloration of them from what I have seen... Tan flesh and you will see a blue tip develop as they grow if it is the same family as the ORA piece. The polyps are kinda white or green depending on the tank/lighting. It is a good grower from what I have seen if it is happy, good luck !

[dacro]

Yo Tony! I went back thru Teach's thread and looked at a pic of an Aussie Delicate colony that we lost to an Alk spike (yes, it was my fault -- haha). The structure and branching of the coral above is very similar, although thicker and more compressed. Good call!

ps: I have a small piece in my 40 that we saved (grown from a micro frag)... It's current growth pattern is elongated (kinda like an echinata -- which is really cool). I'll post a pic in a few months...

[Fat Tony]

They are one of my favorite corals indeed. I just cannot keep them for some reason, the same goes for Torts. I am a very gig fan of the deeper water species (smooth flesh with sparse polyps) and the Aussie Delicate fits in that general category. I may try another colony in my new system, we'll see.

[holyscoly]

i think it is an a.valida