Looking Like a Millie Bucks

Many of us marine aquarium keepers find the vibrant color and motion of soft corals preferable to the stiff appearance and slow growth of most SPS (small polyp stony corals). Soft Corals generally offer quick growth and are very hardy, requiring little in the way of supplements, intense lighting, pristine water quality, etc. Whereas “Hard” corals, have developed themselves a (sometimes deserved) reputation as being extraordinarily picky / finicky things to keep. There are however, a few exceptions to these generalizations and one of them is the often overlooked Green Millepora.

Green Millepora is very colorfast (likely to keep its color in captive conditions) and much hardier than many of the other SPS corals commonly available to hobbyists. Two of our favorite attributes about Millies: One is that they grow fairly quickly in good conditions and Two is that they have very long polyps which adds more movement to the aquarium in good flow, something that is sorely lacking from many Acropora tanks.

Acropora millepora is a widespread coral throughout the tropical Indian and western Pacific Oceans. It is a Lunar spawning coral, meaning the wild colonies will expel eggs and sperm mass for three days (or so) during a full moon event once a year. The eggs that become fertilized will turn into a larvae and drift on current until they are ready to settle and attach, metamorphing again into the coral we recognize. This process is very difficult to study and hasn't been replicated in captivity. Luckily, Millepora (and many other stony corals) also reproduce through cloning or fission, which is how all of the aquacultured corals we see in the hobby are generated. A small piece of coral is broken off and glued to a rock which then grows out into a whole new coral.

Millies are generally found in pretty shallow water, sometimes even being partially exposed at high tide; this type of natural habitat lends itself to a coral that is particularly well suited for aquarium life. They thrive under bright lights and can withstand fairly intense temperature swings. They can make it in the superheated water of low tides, but also thrive under very cool conditions on reef edges and upwelling current, down into the low 70's Fahrenheit.

The most common growth form for Millepora is described as “bushy” though in the wild these busy forms are often nearly “tabletop” in their spread. In the home aquarium, the corals are more likely to have a slightly less dense growth form, some even looking more like branching corals. This is attributed to our inability to create the kinds of wild flows that such dense growth requires in an aquarium. In the end, this may be a blessing, because the patterns that emerge in the home aquarium are very interesting indeed.

Green Millepora are great for every level of reef keeping experience. It's gorgeous color and flowy polyps remain intruiging for advanced reef keepers and the corals hardiness and growth rates make it a rewarding coral to keep aquarists new to keeping SPS corals. It's ideal as a first SPS coral. For those interested, it will do well in common aquarium parameters. You want a specific gravity around 1.025 (give or take a point) and almost no nitrate as elevated levels of any nitrogen compound will quickly brown your corals and kill them if the levels get to high. The range for pH, calcium and alkalinity is the same as pretty much everything else you keep. If you are doing regular water changes with a quality salt like Tropic Marin, you should have no problem keeping all of the things the Millepora needs in balance until it gets very large indeed. We also suggest feeding all acropora at least weekly. Nutramar's line of live algae blends are great for this. Temperature is one place where Millepora (and actually many other SPS corals are a little different than what you are expecting. Frequently, these corals are healthier and more colorful in cooler water than usual. Temps in the low to mid 70's will help the water hold more oxygen, and this is very much appreciated by the corals.

So there you have it, if you're looking for a SPS coral to start your adventure down the stony coral pathway, or you just need another coral to add to your full blown mini reef display, look no further than Green Millepora from Quality Marine.