It was sold to me as purple bonsai, but I have no proof of lineage to the GARF purple bonsai. Your guess would be as good as mine. I do know its a very deep purple that has a bluish sheen.
I'm very happy with it. This coral is the reason I found out that my tank was too clean. It was very pale for the first year while I had 0 nitrates. I moved the tank and the nitrate went up to 2ppm. Within 3 weeks it had colored up to about what you see in the picture. I ended up with another one when I bought 3 acro frags from a lfs for $5 each. They were all brown at the time so I rolled the dice and within 3 weeks that one had colored up the same. I'll post a picture of it in a minute
The other piece. The growth form has been different than the other, but I'm assuming it was part of the base. This one also has better pe for some reason. I think the difference in flow is why because the other one gets much more flow.
I had one of those days where I just wanted to do something to the tank. About an hour later the light fixture is in the floor, the powerheads are in a bucket next to the fixture running in vinegar water. It always amazes me how much better the tank looks after I get on one of these kicks. I also put about 3 tsp of aluminum oxide in the hob.because my po4 monitor was telling me its time.
Awesome Pete. You know that aluminum stuff can cause all kinds of issues. I use it as well, and make sure not to tumble it, just rinse and plop in an HOB filter.