It’s been a while since we’ve seen a new Acro strain from the prolific aquaculturists at Oceans, Reefs, & Aquariums, better known as ORA in the hobby. The Yellow Tip Stag is pictured in ORA’s original style and appears to be a green strain of the hardy and fast-growing Acropora austera.
The staghorn coral species Acropora austera is superficially similar to the A. tortuosa that are ever popular in the reefing hobby. However strains like the new ORA Yellow Tip Stag grow incredibly fast for being medium to thick branched, and it’s one of the hardiest species in home aquariums.
Acropora austera is not a particularly shaggy species in terms of polyp extension, but the ORA Yellow Tip Stag has the tell-tale small pink-purple polyps that are present in the younger corallites towards the growing margin. This is an excellent choice of Acropora for ORA to work with as I would consider it one of the best Acro for beginners to start with due to its hardiness and fast growth, and now they will be that much more available to reefers from coast to coast. [ORA]
