Acropora growth?

[ReefSafari]

So I basically was given this frag of unkown acropora, it was completely brown, and after a few weeks in my tank it lost its brown coloration and turned this color.

Well, its been about 3-4 months now, and its continued to change color, and has stayed this color for a while now.

Here is some before and after pics....

So my question is a two part question.....

1- Is it normal for acroporas to not extend thier tip/top polyps but have polyps lower be out? This frag seems to have great polyp extention on the lower parts but the very top and tips never have thier polyps out...is that normal? Do the tips and top not having thier polyps out mean its growing and finally maybe starting to branch out?

2- I do notice growth, but I was expecting more branching growth, but instead this seems to have "filled" out and gotten chunkier rather than growing outward and branching. I know different acroporas grow differently, but I was curious if this seems normal? Do they grow thicker and chunkier before growing out? and branching out?

Here is a good pic showing the lower polyps out but the tips and top poyps they don't come out....

And looking from the top down, you can't see any polyp extension, but lower on the branches they are out...

 

[dots]

Tank conditions, as well as species dictate polyp extension. You could have a lot of flow, a fish nipping at it, maybe your parameters are not right. PE however tends to be chased like a holy grail and may not be a problem otherwise.

Coral morphology and the way a coral grows in your tank versus the wild or another tank can vary dramatically. Flow, lighting, location within the tank...if you move it several times within the tank all effect it and are difficult to predict.

Maturity....is often overlooked, we often get frags from the tips of much larger colonies which may be very young or were quick growing, they tend to be thinner and under developed compared to the main branches and their corralites on an older section of the colony.

In the grand scheme of things, you still have a very small coral colony, let it do its thing, if its growing that is a good sign things are doing fine. The coloration is due to the nutrients in your system, and quite possibly the lack there of and that the frag when you got it was light starved and starting to bleach. Often we get corals fresh off the boat and get SPS with amazing pastel colors....only to have them return to their "healthy" state and grow darker.

ULNS and bacteria driven systems like Probido or Zeo, ride that line between too much and not enough, exposing the pigments that would be masked by too much of the symbiotic algae....but thats another conversation..

And lets not forget about bulb differences and camera differences when comparing the two pictures....but in any case it looks fine.