Alveopora allingi Care Guide
Alveopora allingi is an LPS coral with 12-tentacle polyps, easier than Goniopora, preferring moderate light and low flow.
Compiled by Aquairi from published sources · Published · Updated
Overview
Alveopora allingi is a large-polyp stony (LPS) coral whose polyps each bear 12 tentacles, distinguishing the genus from the similar Goniopora, which has 24. Alveopora polyps are large and fleshy, usually extended both day and night, and often carry swollen knob-like tips. Colonies grow on a very light, porous skeleton.
Taxonomy
- Family: Acroporidae (reclassified from Poritidae)
- Genus: Alveopora (Blainville, 1830)
- Scientific name: Alveopora allingi
- Authority: Hoffmeister, 1925
Habitat
The genus is native to the Indo-Pacific and is generally uncommon, often found on reef slopes in turbid water. Colonies are usually white, pale grey, cream or light brown, sometimes with contrasting colored tentacles, and host symbiotic zooxanthellae.
Tank requirements
- Temperature: 24-26 °C (75-79 °F)
- Salinity: 1.024-1.026 SG
- pH: 8.1-8.4
- dKH (alkalinity): 8-11
- Calcium: 400-450 ppm
- Magnesium: 1280-1350 ppm
- Lighting: medium, around 75-175 PAR; benefits from less intense, less direct light
- Flow: low to moderate to protect the fleshy polyps
Diet
Alveopora hosts symbiotic zooxanthellae for photosynthesis but has a weak sting and low nematocyst concentration, making it hard to catch food from the water column. It benefits from regular feeding of fine foods such as mysis, reef-roids and phytoplankton in a mature tank of at least 6 months.
Compatibility
It is reef-safe, passive and non-aggressive, and compatible with reef fish and shrimp. Because it lacks strong stinging tentacles, it should be protected from more aggressive corals.
Alveopora allingi Propagation Guide
Overview
Alveopora allingi is a colonial stony coral in the family Acroporidae, native to the Indo-Pacific and often found on reef slopes in turbid water. Its polyps have twelve tentacles, often with swollen knob-like tips, which is half the twenty-four borne by the similar-looking Goniopora and the simplest way to tell the two flowerpots apart. The skeleton is very light and porous, built of interconnecting rods and spines.
Reproductive Mode
Like other reef-building stony corals, Alveopora reproduces sexually by spawning and asexually through budding and fragmentation. In aquaria the asexual route dominates.
Fragging / Asexual Propagation
Propagation is by cutting the colony into pieces that each carry living polyps, then mounting them to heal. The light, porous skeleton cuts readily, but because that same porosity can harbour organisms from the turbid habitats these corals come from, growers report the most consistent success when starting from fragged, aquacultured stock.
- Cut the colony into pieces, each retaining healthy twelve-tentacle polyps.
- Mount the frags and allow the cut tissue to heal.
- Favour fragged or aquacultured stock over wild-collected colonies.
Conditions for Propagation
Stable water with medium light and gentle flow, supported by periodic feeding, helps frags re-establish. Alveopora is generally regarded as somewhat easier to keep than Goniopora, but it still benefits from consistent conditions.
Common Challenges
Flowerpot corals as a group have a history of slow decline in captivity, and although aquaculture has improved outcomes and Alveopora is the more forgiving of the two genera, long-term care still requires stable parameters and attentive feeding.