"Easiest" Acros

Jeremy K.A. · Apr 2, 2018

I've been working on maintaining stable parameters, particularly Salinity, PH, Calcium and Alkalinity, and have been doing quite well with ups finally such as multiple montiporas, pavona, pocillopora and one acro until it fell. That being said I'd like to get some more acros and am curious which ones the reefing community would recommend? More hardy, affordable and attractive! Also with deepwater acros, do they do better in lower light then the average acro?

Sierra_Bravo · Apr 3, 2018

I think from whom you buy is as important as what you buy. Local hobbyists with proven hardy corals are probably your best bet at success, followed by well known online aquacultured vendors (WWC, Cherry, Boom, Battlecorals, etc). Stay away from maricultured or sources like eBay chop shop sellers.

That being said, the easiest species for me have been A. yongei (Green Slimer), any of the staghorn acros, and A. millepora.

Smooth skin deep water acros have been much more sensitive and tougher to get established in my experience.

vanpire · Apr 3, 2018

Most ORA acros, especially tricolor valida and red planet.

They are also beautiful acros

Sierra_Bravo · Apr 3, 2018

Also - if you haven't got these already: There are several montipora that are pretty easy and don't fit your standard encrusting or plating montis forming a more upright growth pattern: Montipora digitata, stellata, and setosa all come to mind.

Smite · Apr 3, 2018

Sierra_Bravo nailed it. Green slimer is hardy, with beautiful growth and color. There are variations that have pink new growth tips as well. They look great under multiple color spectrums and grow quick for sps. If your monitpora are doing well, the green slimer will be a good choice. If you plan to add more tabling acro/millepora place it towards the back so it can grow tall and add some depth/color to compliment those pieces.

A major key to acros is to dip. One less thing to scratch your head about if something doesn't look happy, pests!

jda · Apr 3, 2018

Like mentioned above, ORA is a good place to start for acros.

Deep waters do sometimes require less light, but they are also more finicky with water parameters and type of light... most do best in established tanks with T5 or MH lighting. Red Dragon is a cheap, easier deepwater that you can try your hand with - it does well under any lights, but some people still cannot keep it.

BradB · Apr 3, 2018

I have a blue/purple Acro I called Akron Blue line, but I believe was sold as ALT Silver Bullet. One of my favorite corals, and also nearly unkillable. Hardier than most montipora or other hard corals. 5 years, it is one of the only hard corals in my tank that never took even a slight down turn.

I had, and currently have, success with a lot of other Acropora. Short term success is not that hard, especially with stable alkalinity. But I've had green tenius and other species do great for months or even years to the point the pruning becomes a pain or I can't give the stuff away, only to lose all of it in 1 downturn because of a water chemistry problem or other mistake. Also lots of small frags that look great but never grow and eventually get lost or stung.

I agree with the above, find something that's been in captivity a long time.

The real trick is to make friends or sell frags, when yours inevitably crashes, you can get a new one.

Jeremy K.A. · Apr 4, 2018

Very good, thank you everyone for the replies! I have a friend who's willing to sell/trade some tricolor Valida so I will definitely try that one and if my LFS gets some Green Slimer for a good price I'll definitely pick that up as well!

Jeremy K.A. · Apr 4, 2018

Sierra_Bravo said:
Also - if you haven't got these already: There are several montipora that are pretty easy and don't fit your standard encrusting or plating montis forming a more upright growth pattern: Montipora digitata, stellata, and setosa all come to mind.

So far I just have plating montis; purple, red/orange, green, and seasons greetings or chili pepper. LFS hasn't had any other species of montipora in forever, especially at a reasonable price, but if they ever do I'm definitely going to get some Setosa, stellate, confusa, digitata etc!

Oberst Oswald · Apr 4, 2018

Funny that lots of people say that the Bali Green Slimer is so common and grows so fast that they can't give them away. I find it rather hard to come by. Was at NY ReefApalooza for the last 2 years asking for the "Slimer". Nope. None to be found. Finally Unique Corals sold me a giant piece for an honest price. Loved it. Lost it to a massive dino outbreak a few months ago. Looking for a large piece, like a mini colony for a center piece, but all that's out there are small 1" to 1 1/2" frags in the $40 price range from the well known coral stores if they have it at all. Where is the "Home of the Bali Green Slimer" coral store where I could buy a nice 4" to 6" branching piece?

RussiReef · Apr 4, 2018

Oberst Oswald said:
Funny that lots of people say that the Bali Green Slimer is so common and grows so fast that they can't give them away. I find it rather hard to come by. Was at NY ReefApalooza for the last 2 years asking for the "Slimer". Nope. None to be found. Finally Unique Corals sold me a giant piece for an honest price. Loved it. Lost it to a massive dino outbreak a few months ago. Looking for a large piece, like a mini colony for a center piece, but all that's out there are small 1" to 1 1/2" frags in the $40 price range from the well known coral stores if they have it at all. Where is the "Home of the Bali Green Slimer" coral store where I could buy a nice 4" to 6" branching piece?

If you are ever in Los Angeles area I will sell you a colony. Sorry will not ship.

Vaughn17 · Apr 4, 2018

Garf bonsai, tenuis (including Walt Disney), pink lemonade, Shades of Fall, and BC Efflo are some of my hardiest acros. IME, millies are hit and miss (some easy, some hard). The BC Efflo and a maricultured Humilus colony I've had for several years are both practically bullet proof, however the latter needs to be blasted with light, so if you have the light, it's easy, too.

Oberst Oswald · Apr 4, 2018

RussiReef said:
If you are ever in Los Angeles area I will sell you a colony. Sorry will not ship.

Thanks for the offer but California is a long drive from New Jersey. I would of liked a hunk of that for sure. I've been contacted by a member from this thread who has a nice piece for sale... it will look good in my tank.

Tallison · Apr 4, 2018

I would say anything with polyps like a tenuis or mille. I cant grow acro for anything but the Walt Disney in my tank is thriving

Reefltx · Apr 4, 2018

Tenuis are pretty hardy ex. WD, orange passion..

Jeremy K.A. · Apr 5, 2018

Oberst Oswald said:
Funny that lots of people say that the Bali Green Slimer is so common and grows so fast that they can't give them away. I find it rather hard to come by. Was at NY ReefApalooza for the last 2 years asking for the "Slimer". Nope. None to be found. Finally Unique Corals sold me a giant piece for an honest price. Loved it. Lost it to a massive dino outbreak a few months ago. Looking for a large piece, like a mini colony for a center piece, but all that's out there are small 1" to 1 1/2" frags in the $40 price range from the well known coral stores if they have it at all. Where is the "Home of the Bali Green Slimer" coral store where I could buy a nice 4" to 6" branching piece?

Dude, for real though. I can't find it anywhere for under $40 and theres no way I'm going to pay that for an inch or two

Caseyoidae · Apr 5, 2018

There's a guy on Craigslist selling green slimer mini colonies in nj every now and then. Very reasonable too. His name is Bobby, really nice guy

Oberst Oswald · Apr 5, 2018

Thanks for the effort guys. Have a nice piece on the way Friday. Money was not the issue. It was trying to find someone that was selling a slimer that was bigger than a small frag. The slimer I lost was sort of a unexpected surprise replacement for a large Unique Corals WYCIWYG slimer frag that I ordered but was no longer available. Must of sold it before they took the picture down I think. The coral they sent me was like 3 times the size at the same price. It was a beautiful coral, the size of a child's hand, and it became my "center piece". The coral just loved my tank and was growing nicely for about 9 months. It is on the "Show me your slimer thread" https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/show-me-your-green-slimer-acro.90892/page-2#post-3929314 Anyway issues with dinos killed it. Sorry Jeremy K.A. if I muscled into your thread.

Tallison · Apr 5, 2018

I would check your local Marine society as well. I was able to get a small colony of WD for $160 and he threw in a couple free frags

biomek · Apr 5, 2018

reach out to Matt @BoomCorals . I had basically asked him the same thing at the beginning of the year and he put together a great "starter" pack of easy SPS for me. all are doing great but the purple stylo he sent me has been growing like crazy. would highly recommend one of those and anything from Matt, assuming you've got sufficient lighting and flow.