Tricolor Acropora sp.

Tricolor acropora (Acropora sp.), just added to display tank. Picture taken September 2005, Nikon D70 Digital SLR, Sigma 105mm Macro lens This is a frag of a Marshal Island tri-color acropora. It can be difficult to make out the three colors. I expect it to be a brown base with purple tips and green polyps. This frag is pretty long at nearly 5 inches but is only about 1 inch across at the top.

Tricolor acropora (Acropora sp.), under Power Compact Blue Actinic Lighting. Picture taken September 2005, Nikon D70 Digital SLR, Sigma 105mm Macro lens This picture is taken under four 24w power compact blue “actinic” bulbs. These are not true actinic bulbs which are much more purple. I removed the top of the coral picture above and mounted it. The remaining body was split in two. One part was mounted elsewhere and the other part with the original frag plug is left unattached to color up for future trade in for store credit. This coral is still brown under daylight halides, however hints of purple are starting to develop in the tips. The polyps are a brilliant green color. UPDATE: 3 Months after being added to the tank, each of the pieces died off.