How are new colors of acro made?

pandaparties

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Are all these colors and variations really just tons of different wild colonies that people culture over time. Is it grafting like I've seen with trees? Or do some places have the ability to have the acros actually sexually reproduce and the combinations of sperm/eggs create new colors and patterns? Not really able to find a lot of info on the process that lots of coral places use to "create" (which might be just name a new wild and frag over and over until it's aquacultured) new acropora
 

Hermie

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they are not sexually propagated, what happens is wild colonies come in and get "named" which may or may not be the same species as an existing named colony.
 

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I believe it's just different specimens being collected from different areas. The suppliers see the trends and go looking for what fits the bill. It was what looked great under halides/vho/t5 with whiter spectrums. SO all the tenuis were probably swam right by all brown looking. Now they are probably down there diving at night with giant royal blue flashlights and orange googles on picking out the hot new ticket.

What I love about acros is they can vary depending on husbandry too. You'll get pastel looks going ULNS, kind of those euro tanks you see or darker more full colors you'll see in a "higher" nutrient systems. Flow, lighting and trace elements all come into play with growth structure and fluorescence.
 
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pandaparties

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they are not sexually propagated, what happens is wild colonies come in and get "named" which may or may not be the same species as an existing named colony.
I've heard of some people having success in sexual propagation in captivity just not sure if you can make new colors patterns etc or it's just going to be a clone of the mother.
 

lemonade

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There's nothing being done in captivity to alter or change the colors/appearance of Acropora, though a lot of vendors would like to think they have that ability naming their "one off" pieces. The reality is there's dozens of color variations for every species. Lighting, flow, nutrients all play a part in promoting certain morphs and growth patterns in Acropora.
 

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They sexually spawn in the wild. If the offspring live, then the might get a branch or hunk cut off and collected. The uptake of zoox matters too. It is all complicated and there are hundreds of pages dedicated to this is some of the coral books if you can find one and want to read. Veron did a bunch on this. In the end, the new pieces are wild collected.
 
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pandaparties

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They sexually spawn in the wild. If the offspring live, then the might get a branch or hunk cut off and collected. The uptake of zoox matters too. It is all complicated and there are hundreds of pages dedicated to this is some of the coral books if you can find one and want to read. Veron did a bunch on this. In the end, the new pieces are wild collected.
Thanks! Super helpful, know any of the names of the books?
 

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The text parts of Corals of the World are awesome - this is mostly used as a identification book, but there are three volumes and lots of knowledge. Those things are super expensive if you can even get them anymore. He has written a lot of books. There are other books too. I heard that some are online now, but I have no idea since I have the books.
 

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When MACNA happens in person again, they often have a real pHd in the field speak and talk about things like this... and they are happy to answer questions and stuff on the other days. The speakers at MACNA usually never disappoint. Of course, this might be a while still. I am going to mess this up, but Vincent Chailais (maybe, sorry for the spelling) was there a few years back with some good info.

If you can find anything from Dr. Ron, Borneman, Veron and even Sprung before he got commercial, then there is some good stuff there. Wet Web Media is a horrible format to traverse, but the info on there is awesome too.
 

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