Who said corals grow slowly? Obviously this Caribbean staghorn coral, Acropora cervicornis didn’t get the memo! Growing at breakneck speed in an aquarium by Atlantic Reef Aquaculture, this precious Atlantic staghorn coral is chronicled through an amazing time lapse video of 198 days of growth. The man who brought us the rebirth of the Live Bottles has also been faithfully imaging their tank every day and more spccifically the permitted Carribean Acropora species for over 6 months. It’s interesting that while the Acro is showing rapidly growing axial corallites, the Ricordea beneath it and the Seafan, Gorgonia ventalina, to the right seem to hardly grow very much at all. What’s up with that Dave? He’ll surely share some info in the comments about the conditions of this tank and what the time lapsing process was like. Before you start getting any big ideas, this colony of protected Acropora cervicornis is strictly not for sale and it is being kept in captivity under a research permit to compare the reef aquarium growth with natural growth rates in the nearby reefs of the Florida Keys.
