Pink Lemonade Acropora.

Lineage history

Pink Lemonade is one of the named cultivars from Steve Tyree's Limited Edition (LE) Acropora program. Tyree, working out of California, developed an early classification and naming system for distinctive Acropora colonies in the early 2000s, formalizing what had previously been informal hobbyist naming. Pink Lemonade is one of the foundational LEs - alongside Purple Monster, Oregon Tort, and Lime in the Sky - that defined what a "named lineage" meant in the saltwater hobby.

The cultivar is a color morph of Acropora millepora distinguished by its pink body wash and saturated lemon-yellow polyp tips. When healthy and well-lit, the contrast between body and polyps creates a "candy stripe" effect under blue spectrum LEDs.

Distinguishing characteristics

• Body color: pale pink to salmon, more pink under heavy blue light
• Polyp color: bright lemon yellow, sometimes with white tips
• Growth form: tightly branched, semi-encrusting at base, table-like at top
• Polyp extension: moderate, dense across the colony
• Branch tips: rounded, blunt, distinctive of millepora

Care notes (cultivar-specific)

Pink Lemonade is on the easier side of LE Acropora. It tolerates a wider PAR range than tenuis-class lineages and grows reliably under standard reef LED lighting at 250 to 350 PAR. Color holds best at the higher end of that range with a blue-heavy spectrum.

For full Acropora millepora husbandry parameters, see the parent species page.

• Light: 250-350 PAR, blue-heavy spectrum brings out pink body
• Flow: medium-high, turbulent
• Placement: middle to upper third of the tank
• Sensitivity: moderate; less prone to RTN than tenuis lineages but still demands stable alkalinity
• Growth rate: moderate; faster than typical millepora when parameters are dialed

Pricing benchmarks

Tyree LE pedigree commands a premium over generic pink millepora. Current market ranges (rolling 90-day data from public listings):

• Mini-frag (1/2 inch): $50-90
• Standard frag (1 inch): $80-160
• Larger frag (2+ inch): $180-350
• Mini colony: $400-900

WCYWIG (what colony you see is what colony you get) listings command 20-40% premium over standard frag pricing.

Compatibility with similar cultivars

Pink Lemonade displays well alongside contrast-color millepora cultivars in a single Acro garden:

• ORA Pearlberry: deeper pink body, neutral polyps - good color contrast
• Sunset Milli: orange-red base - warm-tone garden palette
• Booms Gold Nugget: yellow body - tonal harmony with the polyps
• Vivid Sunshine Milli: bright yellow - works as a center-piece neighbor