February 2011 COTM- A. nana

Acropora nana

Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Subkingdom: Radiata
Infrakingdom: Coelenterata
Phylum: Cnidaria
Subphylum: Anthozoa
Class: Anthozoa
Subclass: Zoantharia
Order: Scleractinia
Suborder: Astrocoeniina
Family: Acroporidae
Genus: Acropora
Species name: nana
Scientific name: - Acropora nana


Photo credit: Dan Rigle (rigleautomotive)
Origin: This coral originates from the Indo-Pacific. Most common occurrences are on the Great Barrier Reef near Australia, Phillipines, and Indonesia.
Common Name: Nana, Purple nana, ORA markets as Plum Crazy
Temperament: Acropora nana is a nice acro. It is not invasive and will not overtake other SPS. This acro is not a problem coral for reefs. It will be hurt by LPS sweeper tentacles so make sure to keep a distance between the two.
Reef parameters and recommended/desired levels.
Salinity/specific gravity-1.025ppm or 35ppt
Temp.-78-82
PH-8.1-8.3
Ammonia/NH3-0
Nitrite/NO2-0
Nitrate/NO3-0
Phosphate/PO4-0
Hardiness: I would rate this acro as moderate. Given that you have all of your parameters stable and are able to care for acropora, this one proves to be fairly hardy. The colors that it displays will be directly corresponded with how happy it is in a tank.
Flow: Nana is fairly flexible as far as flow goes. In almost all types of flow this coral will grow a thick center vertical branch with thin horizontal branches coming from it. These horizontal branches then eventually find there way vertical to give a curved shape. This can be seen in the picture.
Feeding: Feeding is similar to most other SPS corals. The small polyps will only be able to consume very small organisms such as: small copepods, bacteria, zooxanthellae, and phytoplankton. In our reef tanks, a majority of the energy this coral requires is supplied by intense lighting.
Lighting: This acro is somewhat adaptable to many types of lighting. It can be kept under t5, MH, LED. However, MH lighting above 250w is preferred. Under bluer lighting this coral will adopt a blue hue on its corallites and its growth tips.
Frag difficulty: Fragging is very simple with nana. The coral forms nice long and slender branches which can easily be clipped.
Personal Observations: In my experience, Acropora nana is a good coral for intermediate and advanced acro keepers. Some people report that it is hard to keep the purple color throughout the body tissue of this coral. Color loss on this particular acro is usually due to the coral browning out in the presence of phosphates. One interesting observation to note is that this coral is exceptionally susceptible to acropora eating flatworms. The flatworms will usually target acroporas of the species nana, valida, and lokani first… so these three species can act as an early warning sign to a potential pest invasion. Nana's are typically fast growers also... they can adjust to a tank very fast and just take off right away.
I can say hands down that this coral has the most beautiful purple out of ANY acro I have ever seen. My piece has also developed light blue coralites and growth tips which makes a great contrast to the purple!

-Trent

 

Excellent write up Trent and thank you

the words to image ratio could do with improving LOL?
mention of the one in your tank with blue coralites and growth tips peaked my curiousity
and I naturally want to see that

Steve

 

Hehehe thank you, and I knew someone would ask lol! If you guys can wait until Friday I can put up a bunch of pics with a nice camera of my mini colony.
In the mean time, here is a pic from when we got the piece in July of 2010.


And then another of the baby plum crazy in late October. (blue just starting to develop)


The larger it gets, the better the colors get

 

Gorgeous coral and awesome, very detailed write up. Thank you!

 

I'm making a list of what I want. This one is beautiful!

 

Excellent write-up, Trent. I've added this to the list of acros I want. The fist photo is also the background on my phone now.

 

Well done Trent