Who thinks SPS are kinda ugly?

sarahdae

sarahdae

Member
Ok, I may be setting myself up for a flame here. But here it goes.
Obviously SPS are challenging to keep, and many just seem to be nuts for them.
However, I just looked at ALL the past TOTM photos, most of which hold SPS, and I honestly feel like they are kinda ugly, like weeds.
And the SPS reefs seemed to lack movement and color...yes, some species are very colorful, but on average, muted dull tones.

I wonder, why the heck people like them so much. Nothing impressed me more than the two tanks that had solid zoos and rics from wall to wall...the colors were amazing, like a gorgeous garden of flowers compared to the sticks of SPS that look like weeds. (well, monti caps are OK...)

Honestly, I've never seen an SPS dominated tank that knocked my socks off. THats my personal opinion...of course, beauty is relative & matter of opinion! Still I wonder if there are any out there who just think SPS are overrated...

My favorite TOTM: august 2004
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2004-08/totm/index.php
 
I'm not a big fan of SPS either, but like you said...beauty is a matter of opinion. I have seen some tanks that were SPS dominated that were awsome and there are some that just look like a tank full of colorfull sticks.

SBC
 
They look like candy to me I want to eat them... I dont know I really enjoy the SPS not really sure why... I dont care for the additional work/maintance but I have an SPS tank and a Softie tank and I enjoy the SPS more... maybe we are just born with it?
 
Xenia farmer I know calls them "colored rocks"...LOL!

For me I like em all, especially pulsing corals!
 
Very much a matter of beauty lying in the beholder's eye, which is why there are pugs and collies.
SPS do have their scruffy stage. It takes a while for a single stick to take off and start assuming colony form. You may know that the SPS forum continually has somebody asking for a 'best guess' on id, which people will give, but it's always iffy---depending partly on what kind of growth pattern it has as a colony---which is when, imho, [and I am an sps grower]---it begins to take on its special beauty.
At which point, natch, we break it to bits and start over, selling the bits and buying more sticks.
But in this way, one coral is a centuries old organism. The oldest I know is a creature I have ambitions to get a piece of---a green slimer from the 1980's, going on 30 years old in captivity, and probably extant in many, many tanks by now. I know who has the mother colony, and I lust after that one, which I am promised to get.

The special beauty of the sps, too, is that, even given the gene-driven shape of the colony, as it grows, it also shapes itself by the currents and light available in your tank, so it is rather like growing, say, dogwood, which layers itself in the same way in one sense, but in unique ways according to its environment. You can't quite predict it. And, as with dogwood, your eye takes in the shadows as well as the flowers [bracts] that all make the pattern.

I've also grown zoas and mushrooms, and find their textures en masse quite visually pleasing.
 
Sarahdae, I'll agree with you. In fact, that Tank of the Month is my favorite of them all. Now, for the sake of sounding like a hipocrite, I do like Montiporas. They grow in a wide variety of shapes and have some amazing color combinations. They can encrust, branch, plate, or any combination of the above. Regardless, things like Ricordea have always been my passion.
 
Some sps are beautiful, some are drab. I think with most sps lovers, it is the challenge, the concur that is the most atrracting to them. Hell, I am not big on sps, I just wanted to grow some to say I could. But one point to be made is that sps keepers get the opportunity to recoop money by selling frags. They also continualy get the chance to keep swaping, and bringing in new staock to offset cost. LPS corals (for the most part) do not afford you that opportunity. Except when you get into maybe blasto or micromussa.
 
bgiles11, I beg to differ actually. If you have a good setup with some nice soft corals and LPS, I can bet that you can make more money off of those then you can SPS. Just think of the money that can be made off of Zoas, Rics, Duncans, Micros, Blastos, Euphyllia, etc.
 
SPS offer the most color, in my mind there is no doubt about that. Especially the the different color combinations of polyp/background. I guess I value color more than movement. The stonies are the actual builders of the reef. I also value the extra care they require. I know a stunning SPS tank takes more equipment, time and effort than a softy tank. If I wanted to do it the easy way I could just have a tank full of algae. Its green and brown, hair algae moves in the current... IMO softies have the worst colors. Xenia, leathers... they are all the same light brown "tan" color. Rics and zoas are an exception. Euphyllia is nice but only comes in about 2 colors. Name a color or combination of 2 or three colors, there is an SPS out there with them.
 
I think i wouldn't keep just one species (sps, soft, lps) i want mine to look as natural as i can get it, don't get me wrong, i currently have lps, and soft, but i do not have any sps yet, i am going to start getting some payday to see if i can maintain them. :D

I do think its more of a challenge, i do like the colors, (i like the montipora plate for example the green apple one, the red one, purple, awesome looking colors, eventually i want to get one...)
 
There's always someone looking for Euphyllia corals, Xenia, Zoas, etc. Even if you don't get as much money from them as SPS, you could still get about as much total, since many LPS, and softies especially, tend to reproduce more quickly than SPS. However, the softies like Xenia, Anthelia, GSP, etc. tend to be somewhat of a pain to keep under control in many circumstances. SPS and LPS are easier to frag. If I wanted to make trades or sales, I'd probably do LPS. They common types are easier to keep, in most cases, making them appealing to a larger crowd than SPS.
 
Well I've certainly seen some beautiful SPS tanks. my preference is always to have a well-rounded mix of LPS/SPS, softies, & 'shrooms. Diversity is true beauty in my eyes..

Matthew
 
I concur with the challenge and color combo's with branches, coralites and polyps able to be different on same piece.

Softies and xenia are what I would call weeds.

LPS can be very beautiful(the ones that sway) and if I didn't want/need super high flow in my reef I would keep a few of those.

As far as rics and zoos, yes they are colorful, but to me they are like driving a WRX instead of a Lambo. Sure they are nice, but not as nice.

JMHO
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10192048#post10192048 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Sheol
Well I've certainly seen some beautiful SPS tanks. my preference is always to have a well-rounded mix of LPS/SPS, softies, & 'shrooms. Diversity is true beauty in my eyes..

Matthew
Click to expand...

That is a difficult task to do successfully. SPS need 'high' light and super flow. Softies would melt in my reef and the flow would keep any lps shriveled.
 
<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=10191819#post10191819 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by Travis L. Stevens
bgiles11, I beg to differ actually. If you have a good setup with some nice soft corals and LPS, I can bet that you can make more money off of those then you can SPS. Just think of the money that can be made off of Zoas, Rics, Duncans, Micros, Blastos, Euphyllia, etc.
Click to expand...
I don't disagree with that, but look at some options: Ricordia grows very slow. euphilia yes it will grow fairly fast. But only worth bout 25 dollars a head, and they are very common. Zoos are definitely profitable, very rare colored are appeasing. blasto, and micro is where your money is at. Some micro go for 100+ dollars a pollup. Brains are beautiful, I have them, and love them. but not going to make me a penny. Xenia, they grow fast, but once again very, very common, can buy here for bout 5$ a stalk. Now with SPS, a U.S. Quarter size frag of superman monti $50. 1 inch frag of monti digita 25 and up. Orange monticap etc, etc.
 
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