Acropora gemmifera, care, help please.

[rynon]

Hello again, I have many acroporas in my tank but this one has THICK branches, therefore requiring a LOT of flow. I have that, I have a ton of light, 500 watts MH 10K on a 92 gallon tank. I feel LUCKY as heck to have picked this up, it's YELLOW, do you have any idea how hard it is to find a true yellow acro? Anyway it is supposedly aquacultured but I have my doubts, it's big, so if anything it's maricultured IMO. I imagine the growth rate on these is pretty slow due to the really thick branches? Can you guys help me out with your sucess stories (hopefully sucess)? More of a description, yellow body, large green (long) polyps, pruple and green tips, I love it, I want to keep it. It is happy now IMO, polyps were out a half hour after it went in my tank. I'll post some pictures tomorrow. I'll be gone for a while but will take a look at any replies later. Thanks so much.

[stony_corals]

Gemmifera is a very fast grower in ideal conditions. It is most found on the reef crest - it needs a whole lot of flow. Yellow isn't that rare, the challenge is keeping it... I've got a few colonies and the related humilis as well. PE doesn't mean anything. What kind of flow do you have?

[Waxxiemann]

I have a yellow/green gem as well. Like the above poster said, tons of flow and light and it will grow quick.

[cutegecko3]

i got a purple gem. from liveaquaria.com from the divers den section and a green gem. from lfs.they arent incredibily fast growers but it is noticeable.mine is doing very good on the bottom and in med. flow even growing blue tips which it didnt have when i got it.the polyps are very small compared to most acro. but i really love the very compact bushy growth form.

[rynon]

OK, to answer your questions, my flow is as of now at 4000 gph on a 92 gallon tank.......I can add 1200 gph but am trying to find the right place for the powerhead, my clam does not appreciate all that flow :). Now just so I know what they told me is correct, the acro gem. ID, I've included a couple of pictures. It's kind of orange? They told me they had it for a couple months and it was QT'd before that, so hofefully it will keep this nice color. Corals tend to go lighter in my tank which would be OK too.
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s7/RyanSc_photos/IMG_1384.jpg
http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s7/RyanSc_photos/IMG_1383.jpg

[rynon]

And that's sand on it, not some odd bug :).....high flow.