Palmers Blue Mille origin

FarmerTy · Sep 6, 2017

I know, random question, but does anybody know who the Palmers Blue mille was named after and also maybe where the original colony was imported from?

Tim2@Triton · Sep 6, 2017

I thought it was in honor of Dave Palmer who ran Pacific Aqua Farms in Los Angeles and exported corals from his station in the Solomon Islands.

FarmerTy · Sep 6, 2017

Aquariumengineer said:
I thought it was in honor of Dave Palmer who ran Pacific Aqua Farms in Los Angeles and exported corals from his station in the Solomon Islands.

You're the man! That sounds about right because the LFS owner near me ran into him in LA a couple months back and he told me something similar! Thank you for the info!

Does anybody know if he's active on the forums? I'd love to reach out to him. I may have an opportunity to have his Palmers Blue mille's DNA sequenced as part of a research program. The researcher was curious of the origin of collection. Looks like a high chance it's from the Solomon Islands but I want to reach out to Dave if possible to confirm.

Tim2@Triton · Sep 6, 2017

FarmerTy said:
You're the man! That sounds about right because the LFS owner near me ran into him in LA a couple months back and he told me something similar! Thank you for the info!

Does anybody know if he's active on the forums? I'd love to reach out to him. I may have an opportunity to have his Palmers Blue mille's DNA sequenced as part of a research program. The researcher was curious of the origin of collection. Looks like a high chance it's from the Solomon Islands but I want to reach out to Dave if possible to confirm.

You contacted the right guy. I worked for him years back. I'll reach out and have him get in touch with you

FarmerTy · Sep 6, 2017

Oh man! My lucky day! Yeah, the University of Texas is going to map the DNA sequence of a millepora and I volunteered a frag of my Palmers Blue mille. They were interested in collection point and asked if I knew so I took a shot in the dark and asked here. Thank you for seeing the post and thank you that much more for asking Dave!

Big E · Sep 7, 2017

The original Palmers blue milli came from Mike Palmer's tank. He posted pictures and caused a stir of excitement in the Sps community. It was shared around over the years and became a classic.

Here is the original thread--------
http://archive.reefcentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=704621&highlight=palmers+blue+milli

At the time he was running Reeflux 10k bulbs which were famous for accenting insane blue in acros. Under most lighting conditions it was still a great colored blue milli. His pics may be slightly oversaturated but you can get the idea.

I wouldn't bet on anyone having a pure Palmers Blue milli with direct origins from his tank unless you have had it for 10+ years. I'm sure plenty of look a likes have shown up over the years.

Anyways, I've always considered a Palmers blue milli by the coloration...... Intense blue growth tips, blue coralites and aqua blue colored polyps.

My colony shot..it's hard to catch the intense blue tips with a picture. This is under approx 14k lighting.
Coral+ & Blue+ T5.

Palmers by Big E 52, on Flickr

jackson6745 · Sep 7, 2017

Thanks for posing that thread Big E. It's so funny to go back and read it. Most people have no idea what 10k reeflux halides did to blue colors lol. Everyone wants him to adjust the white balance lol. That's the bulb, pink hue, sick blue colors

. I still have a brand new 400w reeflux .... but I'm running radion G4's now. Maybe this winter I'll run the halide a little for some heat

FarmerTy · Sep 7, 2017

Thank you for sharing the story. So Mike Palmer got the original piece? Not Dave Palmer importing it? Interesting. I'm not really sure which story is the correct one now. I wonder if others will chime in.

I remember the Reeflux days clearly.

Its been around Austin for 10+ years, even though I didn't directly keep it myself 10+ years but I can trace it back to only 2 people easily, and one of those people was the first to bring the Oregon tort and purple monster to this area as well so I'd bet his was pretty legit.

Big E · Sep 7, 2017

jackson6745 said:
Thanks for posing that thread Big E. It's so funny to go back and read it. Most people have no idea what 10k reeflux halides did to blue colors lol. Everyone wants him to adjust the white balance lol. That's the bulb, pink hue, sick blue colors . I still have a brand new 400w reeflux .... but I'm running radion G4's now. Maybe this winter I'll run the halide a little for some heat

Yes, those Reeflux 10k bulbs were wild. I tried them and the blue corals were off the hook but the overall ambience was too yellow for me. I opted for Reeflux 12k because they offered some of that blue pop but also a nicer bluish type look. I ran them for many years.........too bad they don't exist anymore.
I have a few newer 10k and 12k Reeflux still in my possession.

FarmerTy said:
Thank you for sharing the story. So Mike Palmer got the original piece? Not Dave Palmer importing it? Interesting. I'm not really sure which story is the correct one now. I wonder if others will chime in.

I remember the Reeflux days clearly.

Its been around Austin for 10+ years, even though I didn't directly keep it myself 10+ years but I can trace it back to only 2 people easily, and one of those people was the first to bring the Oregon tort and purple monster to this area as well so I'd bet his was pretty legit.

I remember how gaga everyone was at the time about his coral and people posting about getting it from him. This was definitely the original Palmers milli. The coral is widely available now and there is a history of pictures all over the web that have similarities in colors.

This isn't to say that the other Palmer guy mentioned might have introduced his own blue milli and called it a Palmers blue milli.

My comments about 10 years and being original applies to many classics......the names have been abused so often over the years,...........all you can go by is the colors & growth pattern/coralites that made it famous. Most times this is distinct in the classic acros.

Your Palmers is just as original as mine or anyone else that keeps this acro.

MIKE NY · Sep 7, 2017

OT....I ran those Reeflux 10&12 K bulbs for years until the Radiums came out....and on M80 HQI ballasts I was sold ever since.

Tech1 · Sep 7, 2017

It's beautiful

revhtree · Sep 7, 2017

Beautiful mili and I need some!

CoralWealth · Sep 7, 2017

How is growth rate on the Palmers Blue Mille?

It has been around 10 years+ as you guys are saying on here, but yet frags are still going 70+ easily. makes me think that it is a pretty slow grower, or it just that pretty that people dont mind paying that even though it has been around so long.

FarmerTy · Sep 7, 2017

codydemmel4 said:
How is growth rate on the Palmers Blue Mille?

It has been around 10 years+ as you guys are saying on here, but yet frags are still going 70+ easily. makes me think that it is a pretty slow grower, or it just that pretty that people dont mind paying that even though it has been around so long.

It grows amazingly fast. I frag mine constantly hence my smaller colony size. I have 6 frags going out this month coincidentally.

Like most classics, they've been around for a long time but sometimes their availability is still scarce because that many people over the years have either killed it or left the hobby. I think I've done my part to distribute it in Austin, San Antonio, and Houston.[emoji6]

Tech1 · Sep 7, 2017

I agree grows extremely fast. Frag mine quite often.

Tim2@Triton · Sep 7, 2017

If you're DNA sequencing... I did go back to the original collection site for Purple monster two years ago and collect a few morphs. I have OG purple monster and some of the newer one we collected, it might be interesting to compare the two to a genetic level.

https://reefbuilders.com/2015/08/05/tracked-purple-monster-acro-original-source/#

FarmerTy · Sep 7, 2017

Aquariumengineer said:
If you're DNA sequencing... I did go back to the original collection site for Purple monster two years ago and collect a few morphs. I have OG purple monster and some of the newer one we collected, it might be interesting to compare the two to a genetic level.

https://reefbuilders.com/2015/08/05/tracked-purple-monster-acro-original-source/#

Unfortunately, the project concerns acropora millepora or else that would be a pretty fun use of the equipment. Their funding seems to be based on those parameters only so I'm sure their financial backing wouldn't appreciate a bunch of reef geeks spending their money on out of scope items! [emoji23]

Were you able to get in touch with Dave? Did you catch that people are saying Mike Palmer originated the Palmers Blue mille? I'm curious which one may be more accurate.

Tim2@Triton · Sep 7, 2017

FarmerTy said:
Unfortunately, the project concerns acropora millepora or else that would be a pretty fun use of the equipment. Their funding seems to be based on those parameters only so I'm sure their financial backing wouldn't appreciate a bunch of reef geeks spending their money on out of scope items! [emoji23]

Were you able to get in touch with Dave? Did you catch that people are saying Mike Palmer originated the Palmers Blue mille? I'm curious which one may be more accurate.

He did, he said he was not sure who it is named after. He said he shipped quite a few blue millepora starting in 1998-2000, with output increasing in 2002-2004. If the imported piece was farmed it likely came from Marau sound in east Guadalcanal or possibly (less likely) Gizo in the Central Province. If the mille was originally a wild piece it likely originated from a passage known as Sandfly in Gela.

So its possible the coral was named after him without his knowledge, or its named after Palmer59. Both are possible

FarmerTy · Sep 8, 2017

I love it! Its great to hear these old stories of origination! Its like a history lesson in reefing.

Thank you for asking Dave and for taking the time to share the info! I'll pass it along to the University!