One of my favorite corals of all time is the Acropora Lokani. This deepwater beauty has sturdy main branches that run horizontal with thin, small branches that shoot up. It is a smooth skin SPS with polyps at the end of its branches. The more popular pieces have a nice purple or blue coloration but you will also see them with a cream or brown color. One of the more sought after Lokani’s is the “20,000 Leagues Lokani”, which picked up it\’s deepwater nickname from the famous novel and film, ‘20,000 Leagues Under the Sea’.
The colony I had in my 225g tank was a maricultured piece I bought sight unseen from an online retailer. It was sold to me as a Purple Monster but it turned out to be an Acropora Lokani. Yes, that was quite an ID error on the part of the retailer given the differences between a Lokani and Purple Monster but I did see a lot of potential in the piece so I held onto it. Here is a picture of the colony when I received it and another after it had been in my tank for a while. It certainly turned into quite a gem!
My Acropora Lokani as a Frag
My Acropora Lokani as a Mature Colony
Acropora Lokanis Require Less Light
Acropora Lokanis are typically slow growers and can be tough to frag due to their small vertical branches. Given their deepwater origin in the wild, they require less light and do well near the bottom or middle part of the tank. I originally had my piece near the top of the tank and it had a pale cream color with a hint of purple in the tips. But when I moved it down near the bottom the intense purple really started to develop in the tips.
Acropora Lokanis need moderate to strong flow and also require good water quality so I would recommend trying one only after success is achieved with less demanding SPS. Give one a shot when you are ready. You won’t be disappointed.
Additional Resources
If you would like some help with a new tank build, including help designing a custom aquarium, or help re-configuring your current setup then you can visit this page for more information. And if you are looking to add some equipment, I do sell GHL, Pax Bellum, Reef Octopus Calcium and Kalk Reactors and Royal Exclusiv products, including Dreamboxes, which is the equipment I use and recommend. I also sell Reef Brite metal halide and LED fixtures as well as Maxspect & IceCap Gyres.
As for additional insights and information, please explore my many other reef tank and SPS related articles as well as my YouTube channel. For an even deeper dive into reef tank care you can check out my Reef Keeping Master Class. This online course is an immersive and one of a kind educational tool designed to help reef aquarium hobbyists build and maintain a beautiful SPS reef tank. The course is a series of video presentations with some supplemental video from my YouTube channel. There are also quizzes to help students retain and understand the information presented in the course.
Need some frags…..I can help with that as well 🙂 Please visit my SPS Frag store to see what is available.
