Rare leather corals

Oceanavekid · Feb 24, 2024

What are some of the rarer leather corals available in the hobby?

Looking to add some new leathers to my tank

Tcook · Feb 24, 2024

Sarcophyton elegans. Was really rare but fiji has opened up again

Oceanavekid · Feb 24, 2024

Tcook said:
Sarcophyton elegans. Was really rare but fiji has opened up again

Definitely looking for a Fuji yellow

Would like a weeping willow too

lostmojo · Feb 24, 2024

Tcook said:
Sarcophyton elegans. Was really rare but fiji has opened up again

Thats amazing. I have not seen one of those in so long, and even back in the 90's i rarely saw one. I would love to get an aquaculture frag of one of those.

officialreefbros · Feb 24, 2024

Tcook said:
Sarcophyton elegans. Was really rare but fiji has opened up again

Woah I've never seen that. It looks amazing! Hopefully I can get one when fuji comes in!

I'd say weeping willows are the top right now

clownfish.mike · Feb 24, 2024

Koji Wada Pink Nepthea are one of the rarer leathers

DanConnor · Feb 24, 2024

Yeah, the Koji Wada is my favorite softy.
Another I like is the snowball toadstool from aquacorals in maine; nothing unusual I guess but just happens to be very pretty- extra big snowflake looking white polyps and fairly slow growing. Also "Lazy's Turquoise Nepthea" which is maybe a Capnella but a nice solid green and better looking than other similar corals I've seen. From Lazy's Coral House.

Griev · Feb 24, 2024

I've got some blue green nephthea and yellow leathers in my softie section. I've got some yellow and purple nephthea coming soon. There's some really nice softies out there that should be more popular, imo.

Oceanavekid · Feb 25, 2024

officialreefbros said:
Woah I've never seen that. It looks amazing! Hopefully I can get one when fuji comes in!

I'd say weeping willows are the top right now

True weeping willows are hard to find

officialreefbros · Feb 25, 2024

Oceanavekid said:
True weeping willows are hard to find

Definitely a rare one lol. I'm still trying to get my hands on one

Oceanavekid · Feb 25, 2024

officialreefbros said:
Definitely a rare one lol. I'm still trying to get my hands on one

Have a picture of an actual weeping willow?

I’ve seen some that look like they might just be big leathers with polyps hanging down

Lbrdsoxfan · Feb 25, 2024

lostmojo said:
Thats amazing. I have not seen one of those in so long, and even back in the 90's i rarely saw one. I would love to get an aquaculture frag of one of those.

Sad part is they costed nada 20 years ago. Been hunting for one but I'm not willing to pay the triple digit cost for it.

Lbrdsoxfan · Feb 25, 2024

clownfish.mike said:
Koji Wada Pink Nepthea are one of the rarer leathers

I've tried the koji's twice now. Fickle as hell imo. Both eventually melted

.

Tcook · Feb 25, 2024

Lbrdsoxfan said:
Sad part is they costed nada 20 years ago. Been hunting for one but I'm not willing to pay the triple digit cost for it.

I feel they will be around $100. When Walt Smith starts exporting he does it in a big way.

Lbrdsoxfan · Feb 25, 2024

Tcook said:
I feel they will be around $100. When Walt Smith starts exporting he does it in a big way.

I've come across them for sale a few times, just wasn't willing to pay 150$ plus for a smallish frag. It it was at least a few inches squared, sure, lol.

Griev · Feb 25, 2024

Lbrdsoxfan said:
I've tried the koji's twice now. Fickle as hell imo. Both eventually melted .

Same here. Koji's Pink and Ruby Red Xenia both melted away in my tank. They both seem to be very sensitive to phosphates.

DanConnor · Feb 28, 2024

I had a true weeping willow back in 2003. Regardless of what you pay, that coral is no longer in the hobby. You can get a nice long tentacle sarcophyton, but they all get big. The true weeping willow had a long stem and very small capitulum

Katrina71 · Feb 28, 2024

The pink true weeping willow is now my Holy Grail.

nickman · May 2, 2024

Of the 25 or so varieties I have currently I have a handful I would consider "rare" either because I have never seen them (before or after acquiring them) or because they are now "trendy" and hard to come by. i.e. Neon green Japanese leather (Jason Fox lineage 2010), an unverified "Jake Adams Weeping Willow" (WWC 2018ish), Fiji and Tonga Yellow elegans, and some other weird ones.

Of course several of them are not feeling photogenic at the moment, typical.

This Sarcophyton one was purchased in 2010 and I haven't seen one since then. I haven't (regrettably) spread it around but luckily I did frag it before losing the mother colony several years ago. Its more lavender/purple than the usual tan and those big polyps are definitely unique!

This Sinularia (I think) was in a large batch or maricultured leather frags out of Indonesia and was definitely a standout. Cant say Ive ever seen polyps with neon green centers before. Hoping it grows quick so I can share it!