The Yellow Jaw Dropper Acropora is the “white whale” of many high-end SPS collections. Originally a signature piece from TCK (The Coral Kings), this coral earned its name because it produces a color combination that was previously thought impossible for an Acropora: a solid, vibrant, “highlighter” yellow base paired with deep purple or blue polyps. In the world of SPS, yellow is notoriously the hardest color to maintain—it often fades to green or white—making a true Jaw Dropper a massive status symbol for expert reefers.
Coloration: A brilliant, solid lemon-yellow or neon-gold body. The growth tips and “corallites” (the small cups the polyps sit in) are usually a deep, contrasting violet or royal blue.
Size: Sold as 1 -2 inch frags
Lighting: High to Extreme (400–600 PAR). To keep the yellow from “greening out,” this coral requires massive amounts of light energy. It is almost always placed at the very top of the rockwork, directly under the strongest LEDs or T5 bulbs.
Water flow: High and Turbulent. It needs enough flow to “scrub” the tissue, ensuring that no nutrients settle on the branches, which would trigger a color shift.
Feeding: Primarily photosynthetic, but it benefits from ultra-fine particulate feeding. However, excessive feeding can raise nutrients too high, which is the #1 enemy of the yellow pigment.
Aggressiveness: Peaceful to other Acropora, but it is a slow grower and can easily be “shadowed” or overgrown by more aggressive staghorns.
Care Level: Expert/Master. This is arguably one of the most difficult corals to keep “true to color.”
Reviews
There are no reviews yet.