Old School SPS

[ryanmell]

After seeing some of the new ridiculous priced, hard to obtain sticks that are floating around online I got to thinking about the veteran sps keepers, some of the first people to successfully keep sps , I want some suggestions on old school sps to acquire, I know some of those are also expensive, but was just looking for a few suggestions and names please.
Thanks

 

[hart24601]

Pretty much anything ORA. Many of those have been aquacultured a long time and honestly many times will look better than the "ultra" sticks that have only been around a little while and cost a fortune.

 

[KJ]

Purple Monster.

 

[ryanmell]

Purple Monster is definitely on the list

 

[Rob.D]

After seeing some of the new ridiculous priced, hard to obtain sticks that are floating around online I got to thinking about the veteran sps keepers, some of the first people to successfully keep sps , I want some suggestions on old school sps to acquire, I know some of those are also expensive, but was just looking for a few suggestions and names please.
Thanks

Like others have posted, just about any O.R.A. acropora is worth having; try finding a local frag swap/Coral expo to find some reasonably priced acros, also check with your local club, you'll find a lot of good deals though like minded hobbysts. Last but not least, there are several vendors/sponsors here on R2R that sell captive grown Acro frags at great prices, Unique Corals, Vivid Aquariums, Battle Corals, Jason Fox....

 

[KJ]

Purple Monster is definitely on the list

My 2

 

[hatfielj]

I have a small purple monster colony and its a beauty. Definitely my favorite. Its also sitting close to my Oregon Blue tort which is another must have if you're into the old school stuff. The blue color in an Oregon Blue tort is the most impressive of any other blue coral in my opinion. Its just so deep and vibrant that it really stands out under daylights (obviously not as impressive under actinics).
My Purple Monster is nearing the point at which I should be able to get a small frag or two from it finally. Keep your eyes peeled in the selling section in the near future if you're interested.

 

[-Logzor]

Tyree Icefire Echinata
California Tort
Oregon Tort
Tyree Pink Lemonade
Garf Bonsai
Reef Ready Grape Juice

Battlecorals has a lot of these old school frags.

 

[FishLipz]

My top would be...

ORA Pearlberry
Oregon tort
Purple monster
Pink lemonade
Lime in the sky
Paletta pink tip

 

[ryanmell]

Thanks Rob I have about 7 ora coral and I like them, I know most vendors sell captive grown corals but was looking for specific corals that have been around since the beginning of people like Therman keeping SPS

 

[ryanmell]

Ya I just thought about hitting up Adam from Battlecorals to see about getting a pack put together

 

[AdamNC]

Cali Tort
Oregon Tort
Green/Pink Birdsnest
Orange Montipora Digitata
Porcillapora
Bonsai
Purple/Green Stylophora
Green Slimer
Blue Stag
Green/Red/Purple Monti Cap
and the list goes on. Basically if it doesn't have some super fabulous name it's been around for a while. People get the slightest variance in anything and they think it's a $1000.00 frag. Zoas are just as bad. Whats a $100 booger sized frag today, next year will be $20.00-$30.00 for a normal sized frag.

 

[ritter6788]

Some of the now old school corals were the new ridiculously priced corals back in the day. They are only less expensive now since they have had years to be farmed and distributed. The $500 efflo is a perfect example. You can get frags of it now for $50 or less.

Pink Lemonade
Red Planet
ORA blue milli
Pearlberry
Tyree bali tricolor
Garf bonsai
ORA hawkins

just to name a few of my favorites.

 

[soggytees Verified Sponsor]

Oregon Tort
Pink Lemonade
Red Planet
Cali Tort
Pearlberry
Green Slimer
CITR Red Dragon
Tyree Orange Setosa
Purple Monster

These are some of the old school pieces I like.

 

[ryanmell]

Thanks everyone I talked with Adam from battlecorals and he has some classics

 

[Vpham]

Here r few more I just wanna add to the list.
German blue polyp acro
Silver bullet protrada
Tub pink jade....

 

[therman]

ORA Hawkins too.

And Icefire x100

 

[reefsponge]

^ Nice ice fire colony. One of my all time favorites.

 

[therman]

^ Nice ice fire colony. One of my all time favorites.

Thanks! It's actually quite a bit larger now, but is getting harder and harder to get a decent photograph. Tank is too shallow to get an underwater shot and fit the whole thing in the frame, and all the different branch layers make the depth of field a mess. LEDs add to the challenge too.

 

[therman]

Another gorgeous Acropora that has been around a while and not mentioned is the PC Superman. Still a pricey one, but cheap compared to all the wild brand name colonies getting chopped into boogers these days, and no filters or ultra macro lenses are required to make it look good!

Don't have a big beautiful colony of my own to show, but I'm working on it.