Lighting for this coral please?

[Shooter7]

And an ID as well? Have it in the ID forum, but not getting any views there. Just want to know what it is and how high to place it. I have it just below the midline of a 24" tall tank for a couple months and it's not growing as well as my other SPS, so I'm wondering if I should move it and where? I can go about 6 inches higher or lower if need be. Pic is not real good, color is mainly a purple-ish color with bright green polyps. thanks

 

[pIankton]

Looks like Secale to me, but could be wrong. If it's a new frag, keep it where it is for a little while, then move it up into the light and flow.

 

[Shooter7]

Thanks for that ID, it does look like the secale, or the verweyi, as pictured in Borneman's book.

It's not a "new" frag, as it has been in the tank upwards close to a couple months now. I'm asking about it because it's not really growing any, and the color has faded a bit. It's not very purple anymore, so I'd like to do something for it before it gets any more faded. You suggest moving it up?

 

[pIankton]

I would. Most Secales that I've seen color up really well under intense lighting, but they are slow growers. Giv it some good flow too, and it will thicken up nicely.

You've got a nice piece there.

 

[Shooter7]

Thanks for the help and info.

 

[icereefer]

foster&smith calls that coral purple haze, nice to know the real name, I have the same coral.

 

[MCsaxmaster]

It's Acropora. We might be able to knock a few dozen species off the list of possibles (there are nearly 400 species in the genus), but there's no way to get more specific than a list of many, many dozens (even 100's) of species from the photo. What kind of lighting do you have? Also, looks like there is some persistent algal growth--what's the water chemisty like?

cj

 

[Shooter7]

The water chemistry is "fine". :lol:

Sorry, just thought I'd throw that out there.
Actually, what algae there is remaining, is slowly disappearing algae that I battled for over 8 months from the end of last year into the first part of this year. That area of algae that you see in the picture is no longer there. The pic I put up is the only one I've taken and it was from almost 2 months ago. My system has always maintained zero nitrate, and is stocked/fed fairly light. Undetectable phoshpates, but I'm aware that they don't always show up on tests even when they're there to some degree. I'm not exactly sure what caused this previous algae issue, but what I've been doing since has caused its slow demise. This past summer I decided to put much more effort into having a more SPS directed tank, so I added a phosphate reactor/media and a Ca reactor. My tank stays at a pretty stable 420 Ca, 9.3 dKh, 1300 Mg. My lighting and flow is described in my sig line. I didn't get into all these particulars because I have several other acro frags in the tank which seem to be pretty happy right now and are enjoying growth and color nowhere near what they were doing in the months prior. This one particular coral was not, though, so I was seeking more specific info on it. I did not want to move it into an area that would cause it more harm if I could possibly help it by asking here first. I suppose I wasn't so worried about a specific ID so much as I was looking for insight as to if this was a lower or higher light liking acro. I surmised that if someone could tell what it was and perhaps had experience with it previously, they could give me some general ideas on how I could maybe try making it happier than what it currently is.