Help me keep this guy alive

[reeferab]

Hi reefers - I bought this nice acropora yesterday (id please?) for my Fluval evo 52L nano.

There is another acropora in the tank which was added a few months ago and I think saw RTN at the tip. Looking to have another ‘go’.

Tank set up 31 May 25.

Both photos were taken with coral glasses.

Mix of lps, sps, and softies in the tank. Growth seen for monti, stylo, lepto, favia, frammer/hammer, zoas etc.

Will post parameters but generally hang around
Alk 8.5 (measuring once-twice a week now)
Calcium 450 (don’t measure very often)
Mg 1300 (don’t measure verh often)
Nitrate 10-25 (somewhere in between - hard to tell)
Phosphate .01 -.05

All parameters testing with Salifert test kits.

Manually dosing 6-8ml of AFR split in 2 roughly equal parts in am and pm. Manually topping up approx 150-200ml water (split in equal parts) am and pm.

Cyano issues gone and no resurgence for some months. Some algae issues but slowly getting better.

Lighting is prime 16hd. Bubble magus skimmer (on 24/7). Got some chaeto floating around for good luck in chamber 3.

African clown
Royal gramma
Cleaner shrimp
Pom Pom crab (spotted him the other day!)
Court jester goby (assume alive!)

Various cuc snails

Thank you

 

[BristleWormHater]

First of you'll need a second ai prime or a stronger light. Acros need high light (250 par or more) as they grow at the very top of reefs in the wild.
In the mean time you'll definitely want to move it up higher.

 

[Boehmtown]

I disagree with the dude above, acropora grow in much less light. Tenuis and millipora do much better in the higher light. But I currently have an acro growing in about 40 par and a tenuis growing in about 150. If you're going to convert your tank to an sps dominate tank with wall to wall coral colonies then the extra lights needed

 

[BristleWormHater]

I disagree with the dude above, acropora grow in much less light. Tenuis and millipora do much better in the higher light. But I currently have an acro growing in about 40 par and a tenuis growing in about 150. If you're going to convert your tank to an sps dominate tank with wall to wall coral colonies then the extra lights needed

Acro at 40 par? How long has it been there? Im not experienced with acros myself, but ive never heard of them being kept and getting good growth at those ranges.
@tbrown

 

[tbrown]

I don't really do Acropora but 40 par is pretty low for a primarily photosynthetic coral. Most Acropora will grow in 150+ but will have a lot better colors and are typically healthier in higher light. Most Acro keepers tend for the 250+ or even significantly higher.

STN/RTN at the tips is often caused by higher all (9+) and low/no phosphates.

@Fish Styx and @billyocean are the two I trust for Acropora health questions.

 

[tbrown]

As far as type of Acropora, maybe a microclados, tort, or formosa? I was almost thinking granulosa but I'm fairly certain I'm wrong with that guess.

 

[Boehmtown]

Acro at 40 par? How long has it been there? Im not experienced with acros myself, but ive never heard of them being kept and getting good growth at those ranges.
@tbrown

Been there 6 months, it definitely grows better in higher light, but still grows just fine in 40. There's a whole host of sps that'll do fine in lower light. Even some acros, especially the smooth skins

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Seeing it beside a blasto makes me skeptical that its getting enough light. But if acro's really can grow in 40 par then you got nothing to worry about, wait for the growth. I hope that you can update us later and let us know, cheers.

 

[billyocean]

You could always move it closer to the center under the light. 40 par is the lowest ive seen anyone growing acros...could be that its actually higher than 40. As far as types that do ok in lower par..ive got some in 250ish...ive got some smoovies in 550+. I have zoas/mushrooms/gonis in 300+ so wouldnt be afraid to bump that intensity up if you want. Then again..if everything is doing fine maybe dint mess with anything. Hard to give advice when my hands arent on it. If you increase par...do it in small increments over weeks and observe with each adjustment