Tenuis Acropora Care Guide
Tenuis Acropora (Acropora tenuis) 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
Tenuis Acropora (Acropora tenuis) is a SPS coral in the family Acroporidae. Branching Acropora with thin, evenly tapering branches. Includes legendary Cali Tort morph; one of the most colorful Acros.
Taxonomy
- Family: Acroporidae
- Genus: Acropora
- Scientific name: Acropora tenuis
- Common synonyms: Tenuis, Cali Tort
Habitat
In the wild, Acropora tenuis 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 tenuis 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 0.4-1 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 tenuis Propagation Guide
Overview
Acropora tenuis is a small-polyp stony coral of the family Acroporidae. According to Wikipedia it occurs in corymbose colonies containing orderly-spaced branchlets, with tube-shaped axial corallites and radial corallites that have flaring lips. It is blue, cream, yellow or green in colour and is found across the Indian Ocean and central Indo-Pacific at depths of 8 to 20 metres on upper reef slopes; the popular Cali Tort is an aquarium morph of this species.
Reproductive Mode
Wikipedia records that Acropora tenuis is a simultaneous hermaphrodite, so colonies produce both eggs and sperm. In aquaria the practical route is asexual fragmentation, which preserves the parent's symbiotic zooxanthellae and coloration. Captive propagation of Acropora is widespread in the reef-keeping community.
Fragging / Asexual Propagation
Cut or snap a branch tip of roughly 2-5 cm with bone-cutters and mount it to a frag plug with cyanoacrylate gel or epoxy. The tube-shaped axial corallite at the tip drives upward growth, so leaving it intact speeds recovery. Wikipedia reports finger-sized Acropora fragments can grow into medicine-ball-sized colonies in one to two years under good reef conditions.
Conditions for Propagation
Wikipedia states Acropora requires bright light, stable temperatures, regular calcium and alkalinity supplementation, and clean turbulent water. Place tenuis frags under high light and strong flow with stable alkalinity, calcium and magnesium and low nutrients to encourage encrustation and branching.
Sexual Reproduction
Wikipedia states spawning in A. tenuis occurs annually and is synchronised among colonies in any one locality: packets of eggs and sperm are released into the water column and, being buoyant, rise to the surface for external fertilisation. This broadcast mass-spawning is generally not reproduced in home aquaria.