How often are these available? pics

[redFishblue]

I'm on the fence on getting this rock.
The price is a lot more than I would have expected for mushrooms but I would hate
to pass it up only to never have the chance to buy one again.
I've passed on pieces before but have regretted the decision since.
How often do these orange rimmed tongan rhodactis come around?
If people see them time to time, it'll help me decide I can wait.
thanks

 

[ntfish]

I would have to say those are pretty rare. I do see new color varieties of rhodactis all the time, but those are extremely nice. You shold buy it and send me one the polpys!=)

 

[jasper24]

They look nice but they do blend in with the live rock. I do not know that I would pay a lot for them for that reason. I have made purchases of nice "purple" corals but have been disappointed when they do not show very well.

 

[Letmegrow]

Pretty common really.
If the rock is more than $50 pass on it.

 

[redFishblue]

The blending in with the rock is more my lack of camera skills, it stands out pretty well in person.

Letmegrow, have you seen orange rimmed ones avaialble online or was it at the LFS.
Plus it seems the colored tongan ones I've seen online were like 30 + a piece.

 

[ntfish]

Letmegrow, tell me where I can find these for $50 online and I will get them.

 

[geoxman]

the skirt is very bright because it is a wild colony that is fed 10 times the amount you could feed in an aquarium. The orange will turn to rust then into a light brown-leaving you with a pretty common tonga shroom.
Letmegrow probably sees 2-3 rocks of these per month.
I only speak from experience. good luck and either way I would go no higher than $49.98

 

[redFishblue]

These came from a guy who broke down his tank and I think its been in his tank at least a year, if not much longer.

Just to be clear, letmegrow sees 2-3 of the ORANGE rimmed ones per month or 2-3 colorful rhodactis per month?
BTW thanks for the input

 

[geoxman]

good luck with your new shrooms

 

[redFishblue]

Oh, I have not gotten them yet, still not sure.

When you said LMG sees them several times a month, were you specifically talking about the orange rimmed ones or just colorful rhodactis in general?

 

[Letmegrow]

All and everything :thumbsup:

I see the same exact ROCKS full of Rhodactis.
Truthfully most of the gnarley kick butt looking ones come from the caribbean.

Geoxman is right, now while the actinics make that orange pop in several months the orange does dull up. We don't have a way to feed corals like in the wild yet.

 

[Letmegrow]

Bad pic but here you go.

Again horrible pic, best I could do at the moment.

 

[bitis316]

Also a bad pic but aren't these the same??

Also a bad pic but aren't these the same??

 

[Letmegrow]

Your skirts are multi colored and there are different colors that make up the whole shroom.

That are the same in the sense they are Rhodactis but not the same color morph.

Those are closer to the "Superman" phase.

 

[redFishblue]

LMG,
First of all, thanks for your input.
In this hobby, its quite easy to overpay when you don't do your research and buy on impulse.
I'm glad I did some asking first before I make a decision.

On the piece in your pic, the orange color extends from the frill to some of the bumps towards the center. Have you seen ones like in my pic where its only the very edge has that orange.
Having the orange just on the edge gives it a nice contrast.
Oh, and the lighting is 400w radiums.

 

[ntfish]

RFB, how big is this rock? It looks to be at least six inches long. Anyway, I too think just the edge being orange is nice. One thing I have noticed when ordering off of the internet is that the peices are a lot smaller than what one mine expect. I would much rather buy a piece that I have seen in person as many times I have been disappointed by the "photo tricks" of the trade. A piece like this from most places would be about three and a half inches long. Most of them don't tell you how big it is, nor give you any reference point in the photo. That rock also looks to be more purple than the photo that LMG posted. I realize photos and lighting vary, but I would still bet that it is more purple.

 

[redFishblue]

Its slightly larger in person than the last pic and the colors in the pics look pretty accurate as well.

 

[Letmegrow]

I have seen them like that yes, but it is usually difference in lighting over a few months time.

My rock is not purple because it has not been sitting in a tank collecting coraline like the other one. That system also has an urchin.

For trick photos and mushrooms:
Mushrooms pretty much come in one maximum size.
Same for Florida Ricordea.

When they take a pic the odds are that the mushroom is about the diameter of a gallon milk jug cap for Discosoma, Rhodactis, and various other shrooms.

For a Ric Florida they will be actually smaller than a milk cap. about the size of a quarter or so.

For Yumas it is tricky because I have seen some yumas that can eat a fish and some that are as big as a Fl.Ric. for those you have to ask your vendor about size.

Never go by "size" go by polyp count because mushrooms really only come in one size. Size means nothing, they will grow bigger eventually.

Frilly mushrooms do not fall under this, because they can get HUGE, and they likely will in your tank over time. If the frilly shroom looks kick butt then get it, do not worry about size because they grow and spread like weeds.

 

[ntfish]

Size does mean something to me. If I start with larger shrooms, I can frag them a lot sooner rather than having to wait a couple of months to get ones that are easy to handle. They are more valuable to me, just as if I were to buy tomato plants from the nursery. I don't want to pay the same price for smaller plants.

 

[DonavonsReef]

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=9104974#post9104974 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Letmegrow

For trick photos and mushrooms:
Mushrooms pretty much come in one maximum size.
Same for Florida Ricordea.



For a Ric Florida they will be actually smaller than a milk cap. about the size of a quarter or so.

LMG I think you are on the right track but as far as Florida ricordia go I have seen them the size of a tennis ball (this is an exception) & for the most part vary in size. I see thousands every month when they arrive at my wholesaler & very from dime to silver dollars in size .