Green poccillopora

Green poccillopora is a green form of Pocillopora, listed as Pocillopora sp. The colony grows the thick, compact branches typical of the genus, ending in rounded tips and covered in small polyps that stay extended on a settled piece, and this form carries green through the tissue and polyps rather than in the tips alone. Under blue-leaning light a settled colony reads as a dense green bush high on the rockwork, and the color holds best where light and flow both run strong.

The entry lists beginner care, high light, high flow, top placement, peaceful behavior, and fast growth. Beginner applies within the SPS group, where Pocillopora ranks among the more forgiving genera. Place the frag high on the rockwork on a secure mount with open water around the branches. High light keeps the green saturated. In shade or weak light the tissue often dulls toward olive and brown, and growth stretches thin. A move upward in small steps, with the green deepening behind the branch tips, is the reliable guide.

High flow shapes and protects this coral. The branches grow close together, and the center of a dense colony traps waste wherever movement runs weak. Strong flow that changes direction sweeps the gaps between branches, keeps the inner polyps extended, and feeds the fast growth the entry lists. A fixed jet from close range can bare one face of the colony, so broad flow across the whole piece is the pattern to aim for.

Feeding is indirect. The small polyps take fine particulate food from regular broadcast feeding, and light supplies most of the energy. Chemistry carries the growth rate. A fast-growing Pocillopora consumes alkalinity, calcium, and magnesium steadily, and demand climbs as the colony gains size, so values that held for a small frag can drift once the colony takes off. Steady values support clean tips and thick branches, while swings show up as tip recession or a colony closing through the day.

This coral is listed as peaceful and has no sweeper reach. Spacing is a growth question. The base encrusts the mount and nearby rock, branches multiply outward, and a settled colony can shade or crowd a slower SPS beside it within a season. Leave a clear border of rock around the mount, keep LPS sweepers well away, and secure the mount firmly, because this genus branches heavily and a fallen colony loses the buried face quickly.

Growth is fast once the frag settles. Encrustment comes first, then tips split, branches thicken, and the colony fills into a compact dome over months. Trimmings taken during maintenance usually encrust a plug quickly, which makes this a common first SPS for fragging practice. Warning signs are a center that thins and pales, tips receding across many branches at once, or green fading across the whole colony, and each points first to flow through the branches, light level, or alkalinity stability.

Common pitfalls include keeping the frag low where the green browns out, letting the dense center collect detritus until the inner branches thin, and underestimating how quickly a small frag becomes a colony that shades its neighbors. Set it high with room around it, keep water moving through the branches, and plan the border before the growth arrives.

Field notes — what keepers report

- Color reports split by placement. Keepers high on the rockwork describe a clean, saturated green held across the whole colony, while keepers who held the same type of piece lower describe olive or brown tissue that greened again after a slow move up. Both sides describe the change taking weeks rather than days.

- Fragging reports are consistently positive. Keepers describe branch trimmings encrusting plugs and growing out with little fuss, and mother colonies sealing cut faces and pushing new tips around the cut. Reports rank this genus among the easiest SPS to propagate.

- Density reports carry a warning. Keepers with large colonies describe inner branches thinning where flow and light no longer reach, while keepers who pruned or kept colonies smaller describe even growth throughout. Occasional gentle clearing of the center is the practice most often described for big colonies.