What's the deal? (Name brand corals)

[Piper27]

Is that a wild Miagi Tort? Just curious, but have you become a better, more aware, reefer over the time sequence, or was it just the coral needing time? That is a good looking coral.

Didn't all limited edition corals start as chopped up wild colonies that were given bogus names?

I haven't seen a Miagi tort so I couldn't comment. Someone said that once, but I have yet to see any pics that show the coral well enough.

You know I thought the same thing. Maybe it was me knowing how to run the tank better? Could very well be that. But at most times when it was growin out the tank was in better parameters than when the coral had nice blues in it. Back then it was pink white and green with some gold looking colors in the branches. I found an even older pic on my old iPhone but not sure how to get it to a computer because the SIM card is bad.

 

[NeilFox]

Here are the "time line" pictures of the coral I posted above, going in order from my first post being the most recent. These pictures are from a while back when it started to finally grow into a decent colony, and some were probly taken when I had redbugs and aefw. This just shows how long it took for this coral to get the nice colors it has in it.
On a side note if anyone has a guess at what type of acro this is, shoot.

Hi Piper

I have nearly the identical coral. I asked for an ID and it came back as an ORA deepwater acro LOL. I did a search and still can't find out exactly. Wild coral ID is not easy. I am noticing a similiar color morph though. Mine never has great PE but grows really fast. It is funny in that new growth on different areas of the colony are coloring in radically different ways. About 1/3d of the coral has an irridescant green hue and som new growth is practically yellow.

Great post BTW!

 

[Piper27]

Well show some pics then! Does yours have blue on the tips? On mine the mid branches have berry blue color and the tips get sky blue. Looking forward to seeing yours. Mine is 3 years old or so, started with 1.5" frag.

 

[sanchoy]

Didn't all limited edition corals start as chopped up wild colonies that were given bogus names?

This is true, the lineage is wild but reputable vendors like ora will only release brands after decades of captivity. That way the aquaculture coral has been 100% grown under captivity for several years resulting in better survival and adjustability to captive care.

That's why you should be cautious when new names pop out of the wood works from hobbyist that only cared for the coral for a brief period. The wild strain may be able to adjust under the initially stress, but once the care is transferred can melt away easily under different parameter conditions

 

[NeilFox]

Well show some pics then! Does yours have blue on the tips? On mine the mid branches have berry blue color and the tips get sky blue. Looking forward to seeing yours. Mine is 3 years old or so, started with 1.5" frag.

I'll get some pics up soon. My internet is slow and we have issues during storms this time of year. Not an excuse, I'll take the challenge LOL. Mine is growing green tips. Yours is more blue. Do you know what species it is? Mine has only been in the tank about six weeks. I never have seen any real PE just long thin tentacles. I am starting to see some of the lighter coloration that yours has aquired. Hopefully it will get that nice blue like yours. I just changed out bulbs yesterday so I am hoping to start seeing some better color. This particular coral has adapted the best of any of my colonies so far.

 

[Allmost]

My biggest annoyance is when stores chop up wilds and give them bogus names!!!!

agreed x10000

 

[jda]

You know I thought the same thing. Maybe it was me knowing how to run the tank better? Could very well be that. But at most times when it was growin out the tank was in better parameters than when the coral had nice blues in it. Back then it was pink white and green with some gold looking colors in the branches. I found an even older pic on my old iPhone but not sure how to get it to a computer because the SIM card is bad.

That is an excellent observation - well done - self awareness is hard to come by. The only reason that I asked is that I can typically tell in 4-6 weeks (not always) if a frag from a wild or mari colony is going to turn out. If you get any new ones, then see if they color up faster now that you just might be better at the hobby.

Some Mari stuff are actually the semi-wild equivalent of well known captives - pests are possible but the corals should do OK. They do this on purpose. It makes sense. Most of the seasoned people know this, but don't buy a colony or frag of a coral that you don't see in other people tanks - some of the Mari colonies are of coral that will just not do well, like those blue "bushy" ones. Has anybody seen these do well?

 

[jda]

This is true, the lineage is wild but reputable vendors like ora will only release brands after decades of captivity. That way the aquaculture coral has been 100% grown under captivity for several years resulting in better survival and adjustability to captive care.

That's why you should be cautious when new names pop out of the wood works from hobbyist that only cared for the coral for a brief period. The wild strain may be able to adjust under the initially stress, but once the care is transferred can melt away easily under different parameter conditions

I mostly pay attention to who named, and is offering, the coral. Some people are very cautious about their reputations and do their homework - these seem to turn out the best.

 

[Piper27]

That is an excellent observation - well done - self awareness is hard to come by. The only reason that I asked is that I can typically tell in 4-6 weeks (not always) if a frag from a wild or mari colony is going to turn out. If you get any new ones, then see if they color up faster now that you just might be better at the hobby.

Some Mari stuff are actually the semi-wild equivalent of well known captives - pests are possible but the corals should do OK. They do this on purpose. It makes sense. Most of the seasoned people know this, but don't buy a colony or frag of a coral that you don't see in other people tanks - some of the Mari colonies are of coral that will just not do well, like those blue "bushy" ones. Has anybody seen these do well?

4-6 weeks is around the time I see them die if thats what they are going to do. BUT i would not say that amount of time is anywhere near what you need to see what the final color of the coral is going to be. I had that coral while it was not colored up well into the time period where I knew what I was doing and what the coral needed. I think time to settle in with no disturbances (moving, alk or water param. off) is what finally got it to gain good color.

As for your second paragraph, that's exactly what I am doing. I am buying corals that I never see in anyone's tanks. As of know thats what its going to take for me to be happy coe ting corals. I want a challenge and so far its going well, i think most people dont have them in their tanks because they are un aware that they require a somewhat different water and or light, so when they die they give up and chalk it up to the coral being "Impossible to keep". I remember a thread a few weeks ago where people stated their hardest coral to keep. THAT was a random list, there were not to many that matched up. Everyone's tank is different but there are some that I NEVER see around here in people's tanks. My favorite being monticulosa, I will try one more time for that one and thats it. Not sure what blue bushy coral your talking about though.

On another note I also started this thread because I wanted to see pics. As well as talk about the generally random statements made by people about wild corals, which we have been doing pretty good about going over.