Hello, please direct me to the thread where I said that. If I said it, I want to make a very strong correction. I posted a thread about a year ago requesting reefers to post a full colony picture which began with a 2 or 3 polyp frags. To my knowledge, I don't recall a single person posting a picture of a mother colony. At best you will see maybe a 2 x 3" rock if that. I'm not talking about a new purchase from a store of the large 4 x 6 inch or 5 x 5 inch rocks we use to see before these names caused prices to skyrocket in 2005.
So if I said that, I want to add a major caveat to that statement. There was a time when you could buy frags from reefers who really cultured these corals in optimal conditions with the best of husbandry and quality of care, via fragging, proper fragging intervals and not the improper, premature and excessive fragging you see today. Just search any forum at any time anywhere, and you will see, why are my polyps dying. Why won't they expand, are they alive, what's wrong, they are everywhere. Many of these repeditive, excessive, improper, pre mature frags are going to die after you have spent $ 20 to hundreds of dollars for a single 1 to 3 polyp frag, no matter what you do.
Back in the day, before 2005, we discussed, ask questions, read books, did research etc etc etc before venturing into buying corals. I'm not speaking to anyone here and this is directed to no one person, but far too many people are rushing out and buying zoas and palys because they are the it coral to have and make money off of. So if I did say that, I really need to clarify it. If purchased from someone who knows about and how to frag an aquaculture and is not whacking off every new polyp which shows up and knows how to be a responsible reefer, yes, you can grow a colony from a frag. But that practice is seldom if ever seen anymore. Sure, you might see a dukey brown, dull green or dull pale orange large colony everywhere for sale on line or in LFS, but show me a large aquacultured mother colony of these named colorful polyps that everyone is spending their pay checks on? You're not going to see them. Why bother to let them grow, when you can whack off every new polyp which appears, and pay the car note with it.
To the OP, I'm sorry you have had such bad luck, but you have my utmost respect in stepping back and not continually buying corals only to have them perish. I have so much respect for you in doing this. I know many others who have crashed tank after tank, killed polyp after polyps, yet they go back time and time again and buy, just to kill more polyps. Not speaking of you, but there a lot of people who know every single name of every single polyp out there, but has killed just as many polyps as they can name. This is not reefing and we have gotten away from reefing. Reefing has been replaced with retailing and a lot of perfectly and otherwise healthy corals are suffering at the hands of profits.
If anyone knows where I made that statement, can you please post the link right here in this thread so I can make that correction. Thanks guys/gals.
Again, much respect to the OP for posting this.
Mucho
