Wild or Aquaculture Red Dragon

[dvanacker]

Hey guys.

I have read on occasion someone mentioning they have a Red Dragon but its wild or mariculture and it's basically the same as the RR/CITR/Tyree Red Dragon. Now I have seen maybe one of the aquacultured versions in real life and I really didnt think it looked the same.

I havent seen any pictures of any of these wild or maricultured Red Dragons in anyones tank that has had them for a reasonable amount of time. So my request is ........you got it(wild or a mari)? Do you think its the same? Post some pics up too!

 

[djkms]

I got this from Oculus Aquatics through a local vendor:

It was sold to me as a maricultured Red Dragon (How Oculus had it listed). I'm not even positive its a Red Dragon, it has never colored up to the deep rich red that I have seen around the net. I have it on the sand bed basically in indirect light.

 

[jda]

It doesn't matter what you get as long as you represent it appropriately. Sometimes some wild or mari coral is the same as a LE, but most of the time it is not, but close. One of the worst things in this hobby is when somebody sells something without a pedigree as if it had one. Non-pedigree'd corals can be great - if you like them, then buy them.

As for this particular coral. I have the red dragon from reeffarmers (confirmed) and it is different than 2 frags that I have from wild and mari colonies. One is pinker and the other one is also pinker/lighter has new growth that is white/tan well beyond what I get from the real red dragon. All are cool, but they are all different. I would be mad if either was sold to me as real Red Dragon, but they weren't. Soon, I will get rid of one or two of them, but I will keep the real deal since it is the best, IMO.

 

[franklypre]

The CITR is not the same as all of the wild/mari versions. Much like a red planet isnt' the same as all wild/mari hycanthus. Some may be closer than others and some may be exactly like it but regardless they are not CITR or Tyree Red Dragons.

 

[Moser]

Hey guys.

I have read on occasion someone mentioning they have a Red Dragon but its wild or mariculture and it's basically the same as the RR/CITR/Tyree Red Dragon. Now I have seen maybe one of the aquacultured versions in real life and I really didnt think it looked the same.

I havent seen any pictures of any of these wild or maricultured Red Dragons in anyones tank that has had them for a reasonable amount of time. So my request is ........you got it(wild or a mari)? Do you think its the same? Post some pics up too!

They're all over the UK, mate.

I think they come from the same spot that the original imported US colony came from"¦..?.

You can't assume the oceans only ever produced one colony. Or can you?....

Mo

 

[dvanacker]

I got this from Oculus Aquatics through a local vendor:

It was sold to me as a maricultured Red Dragon (How Oculus had it listed). I'm not even positive its a Red Dragon, it has never colored up to the deep rich red that I have seen around the net. I have it on the sand bed basically in indirect light.

That looks pretty close IMO. Did you buy it as a frag? If so I would still say there is a chance it traces back to the original. Oculus does propagate frags..... it would be nice to find someone who bought one on a mari shipment with mari plug / or a larger wild colony.

FWIW...it really only gets the deep colouration in LPS tank like conditions so a bit dirter tank with fairly low lighting.

They're all over the UK, mate.

I think they come from the same spot that the original imported US colony came from…..?.

You can't assume the oceans only ever produced one colony. Or can you?....

Mo

I've heard the stories.......now where are the pictures mate?

and FWIW... I do believe that some corals are rarer than others and there are probably a small amount of corals that have only been collected once or a couple times. Now how rare is the original red dragon is the question.

 

[franklypre]

The pic is crap but gives the idea, the one on the right is CITR Red dragon from Copps, the othe is UC Pink Dragon. As far as rare the CITR RD grows very fast and should be as plentiful as green birdsnest soon.

 

[Finland]

I have an a.carduus frag that was sold to me as a red dragon. It was a frag off a wild colony the lfs chopped up. It is alot lighter in color than any pic of a red dragon i have seen and because it is not a RR/CITR/tyree red dragon, I consider it an a.carduus not a red dragon. JMO. The growth structure is the same as any red dragon pic I have seen, but more of a peach color than a red/pink. I have had it only a few months, so maybe given time it will darken. I will try to get a decent pic, but camera makes it look really washed out.

 

[reef bloke]

My Red dragon in the U.K as per Moser

As far as I'm aware all the red dragons are basically Acropora Carduus, different tank conditions bring slightly different colour and growth

I'm running very low nutrient and high light over the colony at the moment bringing out pinks rather than deeper reds.

 

[dvanacker]

Nice one Bloke. That does look like the original. Funny how I havent seen any of those imported around here. HOw are are you finding the growth? THe original does tend to grow pretty well.

 

[jda]

It grows like crazy for me, but mine does not really want to encrust. I do agree that it will be all over the place before long. I told somebody the other day that this will be like Tyree Setosa soon.

 

[MammothReefer]

They don't like to encrust much. I have a "real" one whatever that means, and it's surprising how little it encrusts for the size it's getting. I have to be VERY careful around it. I've already broken it from the base a few times.

 

[reef bloke]

Hi

Growth is pretty good at the top, as per mammoth reefer though with regards to basing out as it tends to grow top heavy.

Regards

Nice one Bloke. That does look like the original. Funny how I havent seen any of those imported around here. HOw are are you finding the growth? THe original does tend to grow pretty well.

 

[sanchoy]

Djkms your dragon looks more like a lokoni deep water

 

[kien]

Darryl, I've seen lots of Mari Red Dragons come through Calgary and even snagged one not too long ago. Here's what it looks like:

Here's the Tyree Red Dragon I got off of you not too long ago:

Aside from both of them being A. Carduus, to me they are both quite different. Mostly all true Red Dragon's that I've seen have some blue in them. Some more blue than others. Whereas ALL the maricultured "Red Dragons" that I've been brought in at the LFS have absolutely no blue in them whatsoever.

 

[copps]

Yeah... these guys are like Seriatopora in many ways... including not encrusting much. I've had my CITR for many years now, and it absolutely loves my frag tank lit by 250 20K radiums... does not like my display under 400 watt 14K Ushios... same system...

Copps

 

[Moser]

and FWIW... I do believe that some corals are rarer than others and there are probably a small amount of corals that have only been collected once or a couple times. Now how rare is the original red dragon is the question.

Unfortunately, not very rare, mate!…..and there are also blue and green dragons from the same site.

Why would they only be collected a couple of times??… because the ocean colony is only a frag and is protected?! :lolspin:.

This is from a reefer in the UK who had one of the first. I think this is when it was a few weeks in. I'm sure he won't mind me posting it. It looks mighty similar to yours and has not had time to grow out yet… sure looks nice to me!.

There are some colonies that came from the deep southwest of UK, that look exactly like yours. They have been getting them in for more than a year and showed decent growth before fragging them for sale. I don't have pics, just first hand view.

It's not a rare coral no matter how rare it's made out to be.
For that matter, the ice fire echinata, strawberry shortcake, Monti Setosa amongst many others are now becoming widely available in the UK too. Doubt they came from Reefraft or Tyree either.

Mine is only a few weeks old, so not worth a pic yet. It stn'd on me the day after I got it and I fragged it down. The other half is mounted quite low, but is now settling well…..

Just saying...


Mo

PS, Reefbloke beat me to it… It was his coral I spent all that time uploading and linking!.

 

[reef bloke]

Sorry Mo, its grown a bit though looking at it.
I was at the importers house and he had many more of these corals in his trays.
I think its just a matter of good communication with the coral farmer on site, once they know what the community is after they will farm most of the 'rare' corals we hanker for. This particular importer visits the farm directly so can ask for most stuff and show pictures of other corals that he would like farmed as far as I'm aware.

 

[Moser]

Yup and he has a nice list coming in a few weeks too!….
It blows the myth out of the water a bit!

So much for LE corals. :blown:

I have the Green dragon, Tony. Have you seen the Blue Dragon??...

Mo

 

[reef bloke]

Hi

I have these two which one i think is blue dragon but I don't have a green dragon. I have a nice yellow cousin though lol