Is Acropora coral hard or difficult???????

I see so many people with acropora coral in their tank and i figured i try a piece. I am going to try just a plain Purple acropora coral from liveaquaria and i was wondering if it was really "difficult" or "hard" to keep. What is your experience with these corals and do you think i should try it???? I have a 70 gal. tank with tons of LPS hard and soft. I have had the tank for 3 years so it is more than established. What do you think????

 

I don't think its very hard, but I use biopellets to keep my nitrates and phosphates down.

your nitrates should be below 20ppm, ideally less then 5ppm. Most people with great coloration have even lower nitrate.

 

It's all about flow and lighting. If you have enough of both then you will be okay.

One other factor is the level of zooxanthellae in your water column. Not a large impact on survival though.

 

Phospates.... as close to zilch as you can get.

Good light and lots of random flow.

 

Light, flow and water quality - totally agreed with the guys above

Stability, Patrick says (SPS - Tatted4ever) is key to keeping Acro and most other SPS corals

So maintaining parameters in addition to providing enough light and adequate flow , is important

there is only 1 way to find out of you got what it takes to keep them

Nike!

Steve

 

Not all Acropora species are the same as far as hardiness and husbandry requirements! Not take it for granted that they are all one and the same or you will find that your success with this particular beautiful coral will not be very good.
The Acropora species that tend to be a green or brownish color will perform better for those with less than adequate lighting, water parameters and water flow. One of the easiest is called Bali Green Slimer! When you start talking about the Acropora species that have more vibrant coloration, especially with the neon tips, intense lighting will be crucial since these corals hail from shallow lagoon and tidal zones where intense suns rays are the norm. The multi-colored tips are special pigments that protect the delicate corals tissue from the harmful ultra violet (A+B) rays from the sun. These pigments act and perform as a sunscreen would for our skin.
If you would like to experiment with some other forms of SPS, why not try Montipora. For the mlost part they are more hardy and easier to maintain and also come in a variety of colors from purple to red and colors in between, with some containing more than one color which is often attributed to contrasting polyps against the tissue.