The yellow tip Acropora echinata from ACI Aquaculture is a very interesting SPS coral with a whole lotta potential. This coral was shipped to me for safekeeping right before hurricane Irma and boy has this frag developed into a very noteworthy specimen.
Not only does this Acro have a very interesting color but so far it’s grown into quite the branchy bottlebrush. Besides the most obvious yellow-green tips it isn’t really one specific color but so far displays a range of shades throughout the coral colony.
The body is a light army green at the base but the fast growing branches are nearly white with the green being limited to the radial corallites. Meanwhile the polyps are light shade of blue becoming brighter towards the axial tips with the axial polyps being the most vivd blue, and it’s not shy about extending them too.
As you can see in these photos taken under balanced full spectrum lighting the colors are readily apparent so you can imagine how much brighter they appear when they spectrum is shifted slightly towards a higher Kelvin temperature. It no chromatic hussie like the Homewrekcer but this neat multicolor Acropora echinata is one of my favorite corals this year and I can’t wait to see how it looks as it continues its rapid growth rate in my tank.
