Acropora anthocercis (Reverse Sunset) Propagation Guide

Propagating Acropora anthocercis, the Reverse Sunset morph, a branching SPS coral, by fragmentation: cutting branch tips, mounting frags, and the stable chemistry, high light and flow fragments need.

Overview

Acropora anthocercis is a branching stony coral in the family Acroporidae; Reverse Sunset is a named colour morph propagated within the aquarium hobby. Like all Acropora it grows as a colony of small polyps that share tissue and build a calcium carbonate skeleton, with symbiotic Symbiodinium algae providing energy through photosynthesis. Named morphs like this are maintained almost entirely through fragmentation, which preserves the parent's exact colours.

Reproductive Mode

Acropora reproduce sexually by releasing gametes and asexually when broken branches reattach and form new colonies. Maintaining a named morph relies on the asexual route, because each fragment is a clone that keeps the same coloration as the parent colony.

Fragging / Asexual Propagation

Select a healthy, fully coloured branch tip from the parent morph colony.
Cut or snap the branch cleanly with bone cutters or a coral saw.
Glue the frag to a plug or rock with cyanoacrylate or epoxy.
Place the frag in moderate light and flow until tissue grows over the cut, then raise it for full colour.
Dip and quarantine new frags before adding them to a display.

In a well-maintained reef aquarium, finger-sized fragments can grow into much larger colonies within one to two years, so a single morph colony can be multiplied into many identically coloured frags.

Conditions for Propagation

Stable conditions and strong lighting are key for both healing and colour. Acropora are especially susceptible to bleaching when stressed through the loss of their zooxanthellae, so temperature, salinity, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium must stay steady. High light and high flow support dense growth and bring out the morph's coloration.

Sexual Reproduction

Wild Acropora take part in annual mass-spawning, releasing gametes into the water for external fertilisation. Spawning does not preserve a specific morph's colours, and it is rarely achieved in aquaria, so propagation of named morphs relies on fragmentation.