Nice write up Scott.
To me there is a huge irony in all the super hype...(I'll get to it after a lengthy pre-amble)
What gets people into this hobby? What's the dream when they decide to setup their first reef aquarium? Is there anybody that saw a tank full of frags and said, "I want that in my living room!".
I think the dream is a beautiful mature reef with a variety of corals and a rainbow of beautiful colors.
Whether at your local fish store, cruising social media, browsing a forum or watching a show on TV you saw that garden of living beauty and said, "I want that."
Having been active in this hobby for decades and thinking of some of the beautiful masterpiece aquariums out there, I don't think I have seen one and said, "Wow look at all those super corals." All these corals with their names, their hype, their sometimes outrageous price tags. Have you seen an masterpiece aquarium filled with just big beautiful colonies of just these sought after gems?
If you saw two mature tanks with full colonies, and good color, would anyone see a more beautiful aquarium between one that was grown from 'unnamed' corals and one that was grown from the most highest priced?
The hyped corals have become a commodity, to be bought, grown a little, sold, cashed in on.... But how does any of that lead to the dream that first inspired you to setup an aquarium.
Sure in a packed aquarium you may spot that rare tort colony on the left, and that sought after Monti on the right. But in the big picture of achieving that beautiful reef garden, would a tank of just gems be that much better looking?
There are sought after corals that have been around for decades. There is still a waiting list for the Purple Monster. Can you find online one of your favorite or most inspirational tanks, that dream tank where the hobbyist didn't cut any corners, has invested the money and the time to create something special and it was only special because of that large Purple Monster Colony.... Oh wait where is that large Purple Monster Colony? Here is a coral that has had a waiting list for 15+ years, has been popular across the country, and where are all those giant masterpiece colonies? (sadly I think they have been reduced to filling the requests on the waiting list)
This hobby is really just a waiting game... You're waiting for something to go wrong. And sadly it almost always does. And when something does those white coral skeletons you toss in the trash can don't look any different if you paid $10 or $300 for them when they were small.
And so back to the top, the irony, in my opinion, is that the beauty of a successful reef is about the totality not about the individual pieces (whether they have a name or not).
Dave B
