acan price

[brandon0350]

i see in the for sale section someone is selling acan frags for $100 for 5 polyps. is this average for acans? i was thinking about selling my whole colony to help pay for a new camera and was wondering what do you think the average would be per polyp? (im not selling this here. im just getting a idea on the value but if this isnt alowd please delete this thanks brandon)

its green (not the teal) with purple rings
there are about 25 polyps and maybe 10 babies coming in

 

[RandyO]

I'd say you should be able to get 100.00 for your colony. The price usually depends on the color morph, and if it's a captive raised or wild piece. Looking at your piece, I'd say it's wild, which knocks down the price a little. But it's a nice color morph, so that helps. If I was walking through a LFS and saw that for 100.00, I would snatch it up, while a lot of other people would pass it by.

Being that your in So. Cal doesn't help you sell it either.

 

[delta410]

What do you mean by color "morph"?
Also, how do you tell if it's a wild or captive colony?
Why do captive sell for more?

 

[RandyO]

Color morph refers to the coral's color. The coral above is a green with purple color morph. Some color morphs are more desirable in just about all corals. A brown frogspawn is not as desirable as an Electric Green color morph. And if you saw a bright purple with hot pink polyp Frogspawn, it would sell for a lot more than the Electric Green. Some color morphs of corals are more common than others. That's why I said the price can depend on the color morph.

As for wild Vs Captive. Most Captive corals a little more expensive than wild corals. You are paying more for some to care and raise that coral. You are paying more for a coral that's adjusted to captive life, and growing in a way that will survive in captivity. Some wild Acropora colonies have a hard time growing in captivity since they were used to waves crashing down on them, and used to being lit from a moving object in the sky. It's hard to simulate that in captivity, which is why Acropora's growth pattern is different in captivity. Many people pay 10.00-30.00 for a frag of a captive Acropora because they know it's track record, and know it will do well. You can find wild Acropora colonies for double that price, and they are ten times larger.
Considering that, I'd call that captive raised Acropora frag more expensive.
Same goes for almost all corals. zoos, LPS, SPS. You will pay more for a coral that someone raised up, rather than chancing it on a wild specimen. And you also take the pressure off wild collections by purchasing Captive raised.

Hopefully that helps answer some of your questions.

As for how I can tell a wild Acanthastrea from a Captive raised, it's from experience. I've grown many Acans from frags, and they do not look like that when they grow into colonies. Also, the dead spot on the base of that coral is normal for many Wild colonies of Acanthastrea.
Two years ago, people were questioning how someone could look at a coral and tell if it's Acanthastrea or not. Now, almost everyone can tell the difference because we has seen a lot of them. Same goes for wild Vs Captive. When you have seen a ton of both, you have a better idea of what your looking at.

But nobody's prefect. I could be wrong.

 

[baja_01]

Pricing is hard to set. Your colony is very nice, but not what I would put under the "non-indo" status. 100 for 5 is fairly steap, but you may beable to find enough people to sell it all if you give it enough time. Lower and if would sell faster. I would start high and go from there.

 

[delta410]

Awesome reading RandyO,
Another question if you don't mind answering. Which kind are the more wanted Acan's. I notice people use non-indo as a selling point. How can you tell if a acan is non-indo?

 

[RandyO]

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

While there are non-Indo types of Acans, most of them do not grow nearly as well as Indo types. As for telling them apart, that's even harder than telling Wild from Captive. Again, you'd have to have seen a bunch of Non-Indo type Acans to get an eye for them. And while many believe that "Non-Indo" is a marketing ploy, (and for some sellers, it is) there really are Non-Indo lords out there. I can't speculate on how they got into the country, since I really don't know.

 

[xdusty6920]

although its not an exact thing non indo lords are usually alot more flourecent and have wild patterns. and indo lords have very typical red, gree, grey, purple shades that are commonly kinda drab in comparison to non indos.
like randyo said, it comes down to having an eye for them after seeing thousands of pictures.

 

[RandyO]

Hey xdusty,
I wouldn't downplay Indo lords too much. They can be very nice too.

In this pic are 4 colonies of Indo lords, all grown from 3-5 polyp frags. There are 7 non-Indo frags in this pic and 3 Indo frags.

A year and a half later, half of the non-Indo frags have died, while all the Indo lords have grown huge, with the exception of the solid green in the right corner.

Color is cool, but growth is even cooler.

 

[Vili_Shark]

Awsome Acans!

 

[delta410]

Which ones are the non-indo in the picture?
What kind is that big gray/orange one on the left?

 

[RandyO]

The big coral on the left is the famous Red and Gray Acan lord. I'm sure by now it's in the hands of 1000's of people across the country.

As for the frags, one is pretty obvious that it's two adult polyps of the red and gray morph. The frag directly to the left of it is also a red and gray morph, but the polyps are juvenile, so they haven't grown into their colors yet. And the third Indo frag is the solid green in the top left corner. The rest of the frags are Non-Indo morphs I received in September 2004.

 

[xdusty6920]

i know there are some amazing indo lords out there, but they are few and far between. i still have a few colonys of red and greens in my tank. my non indos stay alive but grow super super slowly. we're talking blasto W growth rates.
and ah, the famous greys. super growing lords indeed lol. mine goes from one polyps to 20 in the blink of an eye.