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| First, here is a shot of one of my frag tanks, looking down on the water surface. This tank is lit by a single 400W Iwasaki bulb. |
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| Click on the images to get a closer look! |
| Acropora ("Staghorn coral") |
| I.D. |
Description |
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| Acropora sp. |
The 'Aquamarine jewel' Acropora. Originally obtained from local shop Aqua Addicts in NH. Sadly the main colony has been lost, only a few fragments remain.
Original colony, photo take under 20K metal halide: |
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Close up of structure: |
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| Acropora sp. |
Acropora sp. - The 'Aquadelight' Acropora - table top form Acropora
Photo of moderate sized colony under 20K metal halide: |
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Closeup images: |
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Closeup images: |
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| Acropora sp. |
Pink with yellow tips (white, and even blue tips under some lighting conditions). Polyps extend a lot under some conditions decreasing the intensity of the pink color (too bad). Moderate to slow growth rate, originally from Mark C., IL. Might be A. millipora. Does best under at least 250W MH. |
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From above the water's surface... |
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| Acropora sp. |
The 'Palau' Acropora. Pink with blueish tips (under MH), encrusts green. It continues to grow well and tips turn blue with green farther down the branch for a phenomenal color under VHO. Originally a Palau fram-raised piece from FFExpress. Moderate growth rate under MH. |
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Close up... |
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| Acropora sp. |
Larry Jackson's purple-tipped Acro. Originally from Inland Aquatics, IN. Very fast growing and hardy. Brighter light brings out more purple. The first pic shows the main mother colony after movement to lower position in tank. Before it was moved lower in the tank (due to it growing to the water surface) the purple color extended much farther down the branches. |
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A close up view... |
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| Acropora sp. |
Purple-tipped Acro. Similar to L. Jackson's Acro above, but with a more open structure and somewhat finer branches. May be the same species as L. Jackson's. Originally from the New England Aquarium. Moderate growth rate. It seemed to loose the purple tips under 400W Iwasaki MH in early experiments. |
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Freshly cut frags... |
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And some ready-to-ship frags... |
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| Acropora sp. |
Purple-tipped, green-polyped Acro. A slow grower. Thinner branches than Acros above. I don't know what final morphology will be since it's still too small. It seems to need intense light for decent growth rate. May Acropora horrida (Veron, pg. 160). Originally from Mark C., IL. |
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| Acropora pulchra(?) |
White-tipped brown, very long-branched Acro. The white tips only under intense light. Very fast growth, with a nice wide open branch structure. A bit slow to encrust, and does not grow much at all under 2X VHO. Originally from Greg S. in NYC. |
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| Acropora abrolhosensis(?) |
Blue-tipped, 'hairy'-polyped, long-branched Acro. Very fast growth with a wide open branch structure. It grows well and maintains color, even under 2X VHO. Originally from Greg S. in NYC. This pic is from a colony under 2X VHO. |
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| Acropora formosa(?) |
Blue-tipped, long branched Acro. Moderate growth rate. Originally from Mark C., IL. Sorry, the baby blue tips did not show up in this photo. |
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| Acropora sp. |
Acro with bright green tissue and green polyps. Grows very fast. A slimer. Originally from Inland Aquatics, IN. Have had one episode of tissue recession with this coral, but generally hardy. |
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| Acropora sp. |
Blue-tipped Acro. The blue is intense and very nice. Under certain lighting conditions the color extends down a ways from the tips. Under other conditions, the blue color only highlights the outline of every polyp for a stunning effect. Moderately growth rate. More of a bushy growth form than above blue-tipped Acros. Under less intense light the color is still good and the growth structure is more open and (IMO) pleasing. May be more susceptible to RTN than other Acros, and is a bit difficult to frag. Frags smaller than 1-2 inches often do not take. Originally from Mark C, IL. |
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| Acropora loripes |
Greenish-yellow Acropora loripes(?). Fast growing, grows well from small frags, and has very unusual growth form for an Acropora. Originally from Warren G. The color gets a bit washed out under 400W MH. |
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| Acropora kirstae |
Chocolate brown, Acropora kirstae (as identified by Tropicorium). Long, thin, sometimes slightly curving branches, and can grow very quickly. Somewhat sensitive to changes in light intensity (I've had problems adapting it to 400W Iwasaki MH). Moderate to very fast growth rate, near zero polyp extention is normal. |
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| Acropora sp. |
Green-highlighted bottlebrush Acropora. The photo did not capture the color well. This coral is generally hardy, but is currently suffering in my main tank due to placement on the edge. |
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| Acropora sp. |
The 'Blueberry' Acro. Acropora with blue-higlighted coralites. Originally from Dr. Mac, I obtained it from a local hobbyist. |
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| Acropora sp. |
The 'Mike Accardi' teal staghorn Acropora. Originally from local hobbyist. Very fast growth, wide open staghorn growth form with thick branches. |
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| Acropora sp. |
Green highlighted coralites with yellow tips. Grows as wide open table: |
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| Acropora sp. |
Jake's pink and green Acropora - very slow growing, believed to be table top form Acropora. Under some conditions develops contrasting green color between the branches for a stunning look.
Main colony: |
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Typical look of a small fragment: |
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| Acropora sp. |
'Green with blue tips' staghorn Acropora. Obtained from local hobbyist. Very fast growth. Open branching structure. Under very strong light nearly solid blue: |
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| Acropora tortousa |
Acropora tortousa - blue/purple form: |
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| Anacropora |
Back to the Top |
| I.D. |
Description |
Image |
| Anacropora puertogalerae(?) |
Anacropora are closely related to Acropora and are usually found in low current areas. A. puertogalerae(?). Light brown with pale tips. Originally from Mike W. Fast growth and does well under moderate lighting. The branches are very fragile, and it does not encrust to any extent. |
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A typical frag... |
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| Montipora |
Back to the Top |
| I.D. |
Description |
Image |
| Montipora digitata |
Teal M. digitata. A fast grower. A fast grower with thicker than usual branches for an M. digitata. |
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| Montipora digitata |
Orange M. digitata. A fast grower that is nearly pink under intense lighting. Somewhat difficult to adapt to 400W MH. Originally from Flying Fish Express. |
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| Montipora digitata |
Green M. digitata. A fast grower. Very bright under intense lighting, and unlike some M. digitata, it grows well directly under 400W MH. Originally from Greg S., NYC. |
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| Montipora digitata |
Purple M. digitata. A fast grower. Very bright under intense lighting. The pic is from the main tank under 250 W Iwasaki's. This colony regrew from a patch that I attempted to remove competely by cutting away all the skeleton, and grinding the polyps down with a butter knife. Obviously I was unsuccessful. THIS IS ONE TOUGH CORAL! Originally from a local hobbyist. |
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| Montipora capricornis(?) |
The purple flower petal M. cap. Tentatively ID'd as M. capricornis, but could be M. foliosa, or M. deliculata. This colony is pale green with a purple edge, and bright blue/purple polyps which extend from the surface of the colony. Forms a beautiful whorled structure.
Photo of mother colony under 14 K Phoenix metal halide bulbs: |
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Photo of small frag under 10 K metal halide: |
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| Montipora capricornis(?) |
Tentatively ID'd as M. capricornis, but looking at Veron's new series of books it could be M. foliosa, or M. deliculata. This colony is orange and grows very fast. It can be adapted to 400W MH, as long as it is done slowly. It tends to encrust less in bright light. Forms a beautiful whorled structure. Originally from Mark C. in Chicago. This coral is easily burned by other corals: do not let them touch it!
A recent photo of the colony taken from above... |
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A typical frag... |
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| Montipora capricornis(?) |
Also may be M. foliosa, or M. deliculata. This colony is bright green and grows very fast. It can be adapted to 400W MH, as long as it is done slowly. It tends to encrust less in bright light. Forms a beautiful whorled structure. |
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Photo from above with a piece of the orange M. capricornis that snuck in. |
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A typical fragment... |
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| Montipora capricornis(?) |
May also be M. foliosa, or M. deliculata. This colony is army green with a purple highlighted rim and grows very fast. Color best viewed with additional actinic lighting. Forms a beautiful whorled structure.
Photo of mother colony from top down: |
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| Montipora capricornis(?) |
May also be M. foliosa, or M. deliculata. This colony is purple with purple polyps and grows very fast. Best color under 20K MH. Forms a beautiful whorled structure. |
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Photo of a fragment grown under a 10 K XM 175 W metal halide: |
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| Montipora palawanensis |
Green - very bright green under VHO, and 10 or 20K MH. Slow growth rate as a frag, but moderate growth rate when colony is developed. Much thicker laminar plates than the whorling Montiporas above. Grows to a near perfectly circular colony when not being hacked up! Originally from Warren G. |
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Typical frag showing the blue polyps that develop under some conditions... |
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Better photo that shows the unusual morphology of the surface of the coral: |
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| Montipora hispida |
Green with large bright green polyps that extend away from skeleton. Grows as large whorls with finger like projections that extend up from the surface of the coral.
Small colony: |
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Larger colony showing more of the digitate projections: |
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Mature colony: |
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| Montipora undata |
Green with purple edges with bright green polyps that extend away from surface. Unusual growth form and surface structure. Moderate to slow growth. Originally obtained from hobbyist in New Jersey. That hobbyist's colony was subsequently lost. Photo of small colony taken under 20K metal halide: |
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Photo of larger colony taken under 14k Phoenix metal halide: |
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| Montipora sp. |
The 'Superman' encrusting Montipora. Purple with red polyps. Maintains its color under a wide variety of conditions.
Photo taken from main colony in my 400 gallon SPS tank: |
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| Montipora stellata? |
Montipora stellata? - green branching Montipora with large polyps that extend from the surface of the corals.
Photo of mother colony: |
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Photo of small fragment showing skeletal structure: |
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| Montipora aequituberculata |
Montipora aequituberculata - a 'Tyree' limited addition coral - green whorling structure that forms projections along the surface - very fast growing and maintains bright green color under a variety of conditions: |
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| Miscellaneous |
Back to the Top |
| I.D. |
Description |
Image |
| Pocillipora damicornis. |
Branched morph, green under intense light. Fast grower that has spawned asexually in two tanks. Originally from Inland Aquatics, IN. |
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Another morph, this one is brown with green-highlighted polyps. This morph is similar in all ways to the green branched morph. |
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| Porites cylindrica? |
Branching yellow porites originally from Papua New Guinea.
Mother colony: |
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Typical frag: |
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| Porites lichen |
This yellow encrusting form is from the very shallow, high-energy wave zone in Hawaii. It does well under many conditions. I also have a green encrusting form (not pictured). |
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| Hydnophora grandis(?) |
Might alternatively be H. rigida. Bright green and very fast growing. Leave a minimum of two inches safe zone as this coral will digest its neighbors. Does not encrust well. |
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A typical frag... |
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| Stylophora sp. |
Stylophora sp. - pink under strong lighting conditions: |
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Small Polyp Stony Corals
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