Austera Acropora Care Guide
Austera Acropora (Acropora austera) is a SPS coral. Care covers 250-400 PAR, high flow, reef parameters and feeding; advanced level.
Compiled by Aquairi from published sources · Published · Updated
Overview
Austera Acropora (Acropora austera) is a SPS coral in the family Acroporidae. Bushy thin-branched Acropora often showing pastel blue and lavender hues.
Taxonomy
- Family: Acroporidae
- Genus: Acropora
- Scientific name: Acropora austera
- Common synonyms: Austera
Habitat
In the wild, Acropora austera is reported from Indo-Pacific, where it occupies shallow reef flats and upper slopes (typically 1-15 m). The species adopts a branching growth form on hard substrate within zooxanthellate reef communities.
Tank requirements
- Salinity (specific gravity): 1.025-1.026
- Temperature: 24-26 °C (75-79 °F)
- pH: 8.1-8.4
- Carbonate hardness (dKH): 7.5-9
- Calcium: 420-450 ppm
- Magnesium: 1300-1400 ppm
- Phosphate (max): 0.03 ppm
- Nitrate (max): 5 ppm
- Minimum system age: 1 year
Placement and lighting
- PAR (placement zone): 250-400 PAR
- Water flow: high
Place this SPS coral on the upper rockwork where light is bright and water movement is strong, ideally turbulent rather than laminar. Acclimate gradually to high PAR over 2-3 weeks to avoid bleaching. SPS demand a mature system: stable alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium with phosphate and nitrate kept ultra-low.
Feeding
Acropora austera hosts symbiotic zooxanthellae and derives most of its energy through photosynthesis. Additional feeding is generally not required when lighting is adequate.
Compatibility
This coral is passive toward neighbours. Reef-safe with most fish and invertebrates.
Care notes
Difficulty level: advanced. Reported skeletal growth in well-tuned reef tanks is approximately 0.4-0.9 cm/month. Propagation by fragmentation is straightforward for branching colonies — separate branches or polyps with a bone cutter, glue to plug, allow 1-2 weeks for healing. Maintain stable alkalinity (avoid swings above ±0.5 dKH per day) to preserve tissue health.
Acropora austera Propagation Guide
Overview
Acropora austera is a bushy, thin-branched stony coral of the family Acroporidae. It grows as a colony of small polyps that share tissue and build a calcium carbonate framework, while symbiotic Symbiodinium algae in the tissue generate energy through photosynthesis. Its many slender branch tips offer numerous fragging points for SPS propagation.
Reproductive Mode
Acropora reproduce sexually by releasing gametes and asexually when broken branches reattach to form new colonies. Aquarium propagation uses the asexual route, since each fragment is a genetic copy of the parent that continues growing once mounted.
Fragging / Asexual Propagation
- Pick a healthy, coloured branch tip from a settled colony.
- Cut or snap the thin branch; handle gently as slender branches break easily.
- Glue the frag to a plug or rock with cyanoacrylate or epoxy.
- Keep the frag at moderate light and flow while the cut heals, then raise it.
- Dip and quarantine new frags before adding them to a display.
In a healthy reef tank, small finger-sized fragments can grow into much larger colonies over one to two years, so a single bushy parent provides a steady supply of frags.
Conditions for Propagation
Stable water chemistry is essential. Acropora bleach readily when stressed because they lose their zooxanthellae, so temperature, salinity, alkalinity, calcium and magnesium must be held steady. High light and high flow feed the dense skeletal growth this thin-branched form depends on.
Sexual Reproduction
Wild Acropora take part in annual mass-spawning, broadcasting gametes into the water for external fertilisation. This is rarely reproduced in aquaria, so hobby propagation relies on fragmentation.