TankBud

Table acropora

Acropora hyacinthus

Also known as Table Acro, Tabling Acropora, Plate Acropora, Hyacinthus Acro, Acro

SaltwaterCoral

Table acropora (Acropora hyacinthus)
Diego Delso · CC BY-SA 4.0

Care at a glance

Temperature
75–81°F
24–27°C
pH
8.1–8.4
Adult size
17.7 in
45 cm
Minimum tank
53 gal
200 L
Temperament
Peaceful
Social behavior
Solitary
Swim level
Bottom
Difficulty
Difficult
Breeding
Hard
Rarity
Common
Reef safe
Reef safe
Family
Acroporidae
Origin
Grows on exposed Indo-Pacific reef slopes and crests, from the Indian Ocean through the western Pacific.

Overview

Because it tables outward, give it a 200 liter or larger reef with plenty of horizontal room, strong light, and moderate to strong flow. It is an advanced coral that needs a mature, stable system with alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium held in tight reef range, temperature 24 to 27 C, and pH 8.1 to 8.4. Start with an aquacultured frag and mount it where the plate can spread without shading or touching neighbors. It is peaceful but grows over slower corals, so plan for the wide footprint it will eventually claim.

In the wild

A branching small polyp stony coral that grows outward into a flat horizontal table, with fine tightly packed branchlets fused into a broad plate. Wild colonies can spread into tables over a meter across, catching light like a canopy over the reef. Aquarium pieces are usually blue, purple, green, or cream with contrasting tips. The tabling growth form is distinct from the upright staghorn and low bushy corymbose acros.

Good to know

Acropora hyacinthus is a member of the family Acroporidae and one of the classic table-forming corals of Indo-Pacific reefs. Its wide flat plates make it a dominant space competitor in the wild but also leave it vulnerable to bleaching in warm water. It is a fast-growing small polyp stony coral packed with zooxanthellae.

Did you know

In the wild these tables can outgrow every neighbor and shade out the reef below them, and even a small aquarium frag will eventually try to plate out sideways into a disc.

Symbiotic relationships

Clown gobies and their Acropora

Clown gobies spend their lives wedged in the branches of Acropora corals, eating the coral's mucus and the small animals that live on it. Their skin carries a toxin that puts off predators, so the coral becomes a safe house. The coral is paid back in a way nobody expected: when a toxic seaweed touches an Acropora, the coral releases a chemical signal within minutes, and the gobies swim out and trim the seaweed back. Corals with gobies lose far less tissue to seaweed than corals without them.

A clown goby wants a branching coral to sit in, and Acropora is the natural choice, though it will settle for other branching stony corals. It is tiny, peaceful and needs small food several times a day. The one caution is the coral itself: a pair may nip a patch of Acropora or Montipora bare to lay eggs on the skeleton, and a small colony can lose a branch that way. Keep one, or a pair, per tank; two males fight.

Every symbiotic relationship in the catalog

Common questions

What size tank does a Table acropora need?

A Table acropora needs at least 53 gal (200 L). It spends most of its time in the bottom.

What temperature and pH does a Table acropora need?

A Table acropora is comfortable at 75–81°F (24–27°C) with a pH of 8.1–8.4.

How big does a Table acropora get?

An adult Table acropora reaches about 17.7 in (45 cm).

Related species