Lets see your Ora Red Planet

[naldopr]

Gary,

Like most of our corals, our original red planet fragments came from a hobbyist in Germany.

Here are a few pictures over the years showing the growth of one of our pets. Pardon the quality. . .

Dustin thank you for sharing this amazing photos of the red planet

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

thanks for sharing that, Dustin.
Great looking Acropora. Any idea what species it is... or can we at least narrow it down to a few possibilities?

 

[aquariumclown]

thanks for sharing that, Dustin.
Great looking Acropora. Any idea what species it is... or can we at least narrow it down to a few possibilities?

I think the best guess is that it's a Millepora

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

I think the best guess is that it's a Millepora

it's very obvious that it's not a millepora.
I want to hear Dustin's response.

 

[aquariumclown]

it's very obvious that it's not a millepora.
I want to hear Dustin's response.

Why do you say that? It has the classic horse shoe coralite structure and tables. It also has polyps like a Millepora.

And I'm just curious, what's the validity of Dustin's response?

 

[Dustin]

Gary,

I wish I had an answer for you but I have no idea. I stopped trying to identify Acropora species a long time ago. Corals in captivity are so different from their wild counterparts that it makes an already difficult job impossible. Someday there will be a complete DNA database for all these guys and you can have your corals identified with a DNA test kit in a box like pet stores sell for dogs. The taxonmists will have to agree on how many species there are first though!

Dustin

 

[aquariumclown]

Dustin, from your pictures, the colony obviously grew very large and at a pretty good pace. Do you guys take that and frag it up to farm out and sold to the dealers or do you have other seedlings? I'm just curious why you guys had that one grown out so large.

 

[Dustin]

That piece has never been cut up. I call it a pet, we have a couple of giant corals and gigas clams around to keep things interesting.

 

[aquariumclown]

That piece has never been cut up. I call it a pet, we have a couple of giant corals and gigas clams around to keep things interesting.

Haha, it's interesting alright. I have coral pets of my own as well.

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Gary,I wish I had an answer for you but I have no idea. I stopped trying to identify Acropora species a long time ago. Corals in captivity are so different from their wild counterparts that it makes an already difficult job impossible. Someday there will be a complete DNA database for all these guys and you can have your corals identified with a DNA test kit in a box like pet stores sell for dogs. The taxonmists will have to agree on how many species there are first though!

Dustin

isn't that the truth!

Gary, Like most of our corals, our original red planet fragments came from a hobbyist in Germany.

I would imagine ORA kept a good record of their frag donors. Is there any chance you could PM me the specific source of this Acropora? I would appreciate it greatly.

Why do you say that? It has the classic horse shoe coralite structure and tables. It also has polyps like a Millepora. And I'm just curious, what's the validity of Dustin's response?

the validity of Dustin's response is just that:
I was asking Dustin the question.

Now I'd like to open up a question for John (copps): we know the elasticity of aquarium coral growth but do you believe this Acropora to be a millepora?

 

[aquariumclown]

unnecessary post

 

[Tswifty]

Now I'd like to open up a question for John (copps): we know the elasticity of aquarium coral growth but do you believe this Acropora to be a millepora?

If you're going to ask a question for one person to answer, I would suggest sending a PM. Otherwise you shouldn't get upset when other people in the forum offer their opinions.

 

[Tswifty]

wow,thats nuts.i see what you mean now,that thing should have 3 inch branches with that big of a base

Yeah no kidding! It's prob 4" x 4" encrusted. :lol:

Yea, I had a red planet that did that too, but i mounted it on a little hill and when it couldn't encrust it started branching. Yours looks like it's on fairly flat surface.

I thought the same thing, so I mounted it towards the end of a piece of branch rock. As you can see it's encrusting around and along the branch. Hopefully it will get with the program soon though. :uzi:

 

[aquariumclown]

Yeah no kidding! It's prob 4" x 4" encrusted. :lol:

I thought the same thing, so I mounted it towards the end of a piece of branch rock. As you can see it's encrusting around and along the branch. Hopefully it will get with the program soon though. :uzi:

LOL it was painful for me to watch too...but when it starts branching up, even if it's just one inch, you will instantly have a nice table!

 

[copps]

Now I'd like to open up a question for John (copps): we know the elasticity of aquarium coral growth but do you believe this Acropora to be a millepora?

Phenotypic plasticity can only go so far... if my pink table could be A. millepora then I might be H. neanderthalensis (which my wife may sometimes agree on)...

 

[rigleautomotive]

Phenotypic plasticity can only go so far... if my pink table could be A. millepora then I might be H. neanderthalensis (which my wife may sometimes agree on)...

My wife agrees,she truly believes i am a missing link or does she say i am missing a link,i dunno,LOL:spin3:

 

[Gary Majchrzak]

Phenotypic plasticity can only go so far... if my pink table could be A. millepora then I might be H. neanderthalensis (which my wife may sometimes agree on)...

thank you!

 

[Moebuis]

I'm so excited to be getting one of these early next week from a fellow local reefer. Where would be the best place to mount it in a 75g w/ 20k 250 MH? Should I mount it on the top of my rockwork to grow up or along a side for it to grow outwards?

 

[d-maz]

Has anyone gotten the green base color to come back by moving it down? Mine had great color at first, but now it looks like alot of other peoples. I have one piece that is halfway down and one that`s 3/4 to the top and they look exactly the same.

 

[ryshark]

Has anyone gotten the green base color to come back by moving it down? Mine had great color at first, but now it looks like alot of other peoples. I have one piece that is halfway down and one that`s 3/4 to the top and they look exactly the same.

I was not able to get the green to come back by moving it down. I have it about 13" down under a 250-watt Radium w/lumenarc reflector.