Is this considered a "Colony"?

[HNR]

Hello all, I hope all of your weeks are off to a great start! My apologies if this is not allowed here/I posted on the wrong forum. I recently placed an order with @CoralsAnonymous, one of which contained a "medium colony" sized xenia. Now I know that there tends to be some discrepancy between shopping online vs shopping in person, however is the coral I received really considered a "medium colony"? I haven't purchased corals beyond local hobbyists in quite some time, so I am somewhat "out of the game" so to speak but to me, it does seem rather small. I have attached images here:

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

Yes, it is a colony, but I would not say it's a "medium" sized colony.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

It looks like a tiny frag to me. And a frag of pulsing xenia is $10 all day long. Check your local online classifieds for corals, probably someone on your neighborhood selling it cheap.

 

[HNR]

Yes, it is a colony, but I would not say it's a "medium" sized colony.

It's a little over an inch long. I know sizes have been getting smaller and smaller but to me it does feel ridiculous to call it a "colony". I feel like a "medium sized frag" would maybe be a better description, but who knows now days, I haven't bought retail in so long before this order.

 

[tautog83]

They should be ashamed ..most people on here would give you double that size for free. Xenia should never be more than $20 in my eyes but sadly this is the new norm.

 

[HNR]

It looks like a tiny frag to me. And a frag of pulsing xenia is $10 all day long. Check your local online classifieds for corals, probably someone on your neighborhood selling it cheap.

I agree. I typically only shop through my club or people I know, but this red variant did catch my eye and unfortunately no one seems to grow out softies much where I live

 

[Malum Argenteum]

Unless there is some stated definition of size categories on a vendor's site/ad, I think 'medium colony' doesn't mean anything objective. I'm sure you'll get a wide range of opinions on what that term implies, but that won't establish much. But if you're taking a survey, I'd call that a small frag.

I've seen some pretty basic sized frags of WYSIWYG LPS called 'colonies' lately, so I've sort of come to believe the term is meaningless. I've been doing some trial orders of things with various vendors, and it is up to me whether I order from them again based on my experiences. That's about all a person can do, ultimately.

Enjoy your xenia. Should be taking over your tank in no time.

 

[acro.jordan]

Hello all, I hope all of your weeks are off to a great start! My apologies if this is not allowed here/I posted on the wrong forum. I recently placed an order with @CoralsAnonymous, one of which contained a "medium colony" sized xenia. Now I know that there tends to be some discrepancy between shopping online vs shopping in person, however is the coral I received really considered a "medium colony"? I haven't purchased corals beyond local hobbyists in quite some time, so I am somewhat "out of the game" so to speak but to me, it does seem rather small. I have attached images here:

Terrible. Not a colony

 

[saltytanked]

It's a little over an inch long. I know sizes have been getting smaller and smaller but to me it does feel ridiculous to call it a "colony". I feel like a "medium sized frag" would maybe be a better description, but who knows now days, I haven't bought retail in so long before this order.

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

A coral colony is a group of genetically identical polyps. In the picture, there is more than just one polyp, so this is scientifically called a colony. Us reefers tend to think of colonies as large specimens with hundreds if not thousands of polyps. So, they are not lying, but, I agree that it is a ripoff.

 

[fishguy242]

 

[vetteguy53081]

Hello all, I hope all of your weeks are off to a great start! My apologies if this is not allowed here/I posted on the wrong forum. I recently placed an order with @CoralsAnonymous, one of which contained a "medium colony" sized xenia. Now I know that there tends to be some discrepancy between shopping online vs shopping in person, however is the coral I received really considered a "medium colony"? I haven't purchased corals beyond local hobbyists in quite some time, so I am somewhat "out of the game" so to speak but to me, it does seem rather small. I have attached images here:

Its a frag, often single to double head. once you get to trio or more, becomes a mini colony in most cases

 

[smitten with ocean life]

thats just sad. hopefully you didnt pay too much...

 

[WalkerLovesTheOcean]

thats just sad. hopefully you didnt pay too much...

$90

 

[HNR]

$90

Yup, hence why I was rather surprised at the size.

 

[smitten with ocean life]

oh help. i see that now but in all fairness the frag does kinda look like the one in the tiny pic....

 

[Fungusamongus]

Boo. Well, at least you got the color you wanted?

 

[HNR]

Boo. Well, at least you got the color you wanted?

To their credit, the color at least is accurate

 

[VintageReefer]

1-3 polyps is a frag. A mini colony is a plug mostly filled. A colony is 2” and larger

 

[Reeferbadness]

colony or not, xenia will likely become invasive and will be hard to get rid of. Beware of corals like xenia, star polyps etc - they can populate your entire tank and give you a mega colony headache in under a year.