ACI Gallo Loco acropora

[fish_collector]

Anyone grow an ACI Gallo Loco acropora? I've got one I've had for perhaps a year now, it hasn't done too much except encrust the tile that it's on. Recently it has began to shoot up new corallites so hopefully I'll have a colony pretty soon.

Anyone else?

 

[A. grandis]

Two or more polyps forms a colony, so you already have a colony! Look very much like Acropora paniculata. If so, it needs a lot of bright light into the full spectrum with proper intensity to grow uniform. That coral would look sick under 10000K-14000K metal halide/ ATI Blue Plus supplementation. It doesn't help much if all the parameters are in check and system clean, when lighting does not help much. Spectrum, distribution of light and good alternating water flow too. You see the projections all growing weird? The LED lighting does that to the corals. It's more evident in Acroporas. Good luck!

 

[xiaoxiy]

Anyone grow an ACI Gallo Loco acropora? I've got one I've had for perhaps a year now, it hasn't done too much except encrust the tile that it's on. Recently it has began to shoot up new corallites so hopefully I'll have a colony pretty soon.

Anyone else?

Those corallites are gonna end up being nice vertical growth. It looks overall healthy; it sometimes takes pieces six months to a year to fully settle before taking off!

I disagree with A. Grandis' interpretation that lighting source is an issue.

 

[Krux]

Yep, looking greatly. I would keep doing what you are doing and not worry too much about only discusses halides guy.

 

[fish_collector]

Two or more polyps forms a colony, so you already have a colony! Look very much like Acropora paniculata. If so, it needs a lot of bright light into the full spectrum with proper intensity to grow uniform. That coral would look sick under 10000K-14000K metal halide/ ATI Blue Plus supplementation. It doesn't help much if all the parameters are in check and system clean, when lighting does not help much. Spectrum, distribution of light and good alternating water flow too. You see the projections all growing weird? The LED lighting does that to the corals. It's more evident in Acroporas. Good luck!

Sure 2 or more polyps does make a colony, but I think you know what I meant. I’d love to use MH again, I’m a 250w DE Phoenix alumni, maybe one of these days I’ll swap back over to something similar.

 

[A. grandis]

Sure 2 or more polyps does make a colony, but I think you know what I meant. I’d love to use MH again, I’m a 250w DE Phoenix alumni, maybe one of these days I’ll swap back over to something similar.

I only mentioned about the 2 or more polyps because even though almost everyone knows about that, we have this bunch of slangs or weird terms that dictates sizes and qualities. I know what you meant, but wanted to make a point, so people start to look at those terms more closely.
Hope you can find some halide gear around where you live. ReefBrite sells their fixtures, lamps and ballasts, and AquaBrightSolutions have all the bulbs also. Phoenix was amazing! many reefers loved that lamp! That Acro is a great species to have. Cheers!

 

[Krux]

I’d love to use MH again, I’m a 250w DE Phoenix alumni, maybe one of these days I’ll swap back over to something similar.

I ran the Phoenix 14k HQI bulbs for years, it remains my preferred look. I have found the Quanta Atlas lights give a similar color rendition, you might try looking into those if you don’t mind the industrial look of the fixtures.

 

[acrocapital]

I have an ACI Gallo Loco, and it's probably one of my favorite pieces because of its incredible polyp extension.

It took quite a while to start growing for me as well. I'd say it was about a year before I noticed any meaningful growth, but once it settled in, it really started taking off.

I'm growing mine under a combination of Kessil A500s and 250W 6,500K metal halides.

I'll leave a few photos and a video below. The first photo was taken in February 2024, and the second was taken in June 2026, so you can see how much it has grown over that time.

 

[fish_collector]

Here’s a photo I have when I first acquired mine from July ‘25, and then a photo I took just now. It seems a bit slow but not bad really considering the encrusting it’s done.