The Classic Corals and Their Exit

[Peng]

Before the thread starts, pick you favorite on the poll!
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As years go by, old school classics are slowly leaving this hobby, without the prospect of making a comeback. Today the hobby belongs to tenuis - rainbow tenuis especially. This thread isn't about clamping down on tenuis but why those oldies are making their exit.

Purple monster, pink panther, 30k, 20k, and longhorn... You can find posts looking for them but rarely you'd see anyone selling them. I wondered why until I got my hands on some of them. They are slow growers. In a hobby where you can find fast growing rainbow colored tenuis, a preference is clear. But more than that, the exit is in my opinion mainly contributed by the scarce source of supply. Pretty much all of the 5 corals I listed above are still pretty popular, with the purple monster and lokani being the most sought of. But who can supply them? Farms and vendors have moved to the rainbow field. The growth rate of them is so painfully slow that it's hard for businesses to make good return on them thus most businesses don't farm them. A few years ago you could see Jason Fox and another 1 or 2 vendors growing and selling 30k lokani and BattleCorals selling Pink Panther. Not anymore.

Moreover, the survival of a coral is highly dependent on it's circulation in hobbyist trades/sales. Old school reefers who had them - 30k, 20k lokani for examples, probably don't have them anymore or are not selling frags to others. Some of them have lost their lokani colonies and as a result these corals ain't circling in this hobby. They are hard to keep also. But the killer is time. It takes so much time for a tiny frag to grow into a frag-able colony that it's just a vicious circle resulting fewer and fewer hobbyists having them despite a strong demand for them.

So if you have a sizable colony and truly love these corals, don't just keep them to yourself - start selling some frags or trade with others so they can be appreciated by more people.

My Tyree Longhorn in 2017. Probably the fastest grower among the 5. It has got quite a bit bigger now. Got my frag from a reefer in Portland in 2015.

Reefbum's massive lokani colony. Unfortunately he lost it, just like many others.

Ari's Avalanche when I just got it.

My 30K lokani when I got it as a small frag over a year ago. It's still a frag... Just more extended and encrusted. This one, just like my other purple-colored lokani collections, grows painfully slow.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

The dc area has some lokani and purple monster still being fragged. PM is pretty popular among the list. I never see any Longhorns or pink Panthers. Would love to trade for those one day. I would think PM is probably probably the most popular these days right? Its growth form is so unique.

 

[Peng]

The dc area has some lokani and purple monster still being fragged. PM is pretty popular among the list. I never see any Longhorns or pink Panthers. Would love to trade for those one day. I would think PM is probably probably the most popular these days right? Its growth form is so unique.

Purple monster is probably the most popular. 20k lokani and tyree longhorn being probably the least common. Pink panther is rare also.

 

[Larry L]

You need a poll option for "I don't even know what half of those are".

 

[Peng]

You need a poll option for "I don't even know what half of those are".

Done!

 

[Larry L]

Done!

LOL, thanks!

 

[jda]

These all grow pretty decently under Metal Halide... which along with the "I want it now" attitude of a lot of newer hobbyists does contribute to the demise of most of these.

Few Corrections, if I can... some of you know Longhorn as Westside Longhorn before Steve Tyree put it on the LE list. Also, Dr. Fosters and Smith is one source for the Pink Panther, but not the OG source AFAIK.

From what I can tell, PM and PP are the same coral with different colors.

In addition, I will add Atlantis Rosy Red Granulosa and Atlantis Banana Lokani as well as Reefer Madness Rainbow Nasuta onto the list of rare corals.

 

[Peng]

These all grow pretty decently under Metal Halide... which along with the "I want it now" attitude of a lot of newer hobbyists does contribute to the demise of most of these.

Few Corrections, if I can... some of you know Longhorn as Westside Longhorn before Steve Tyree put it on the LE list. Also, Dr. Fosters and Smith is one source for the Pink Panther, but not the OG source AFAIK.

From what I can tell, PM and PP are the same coral with different colors.

In addition, I will add Atlantis Rosy Red Granulosa and Atlantis Banana Lokani as well as Reefer Madness Rainbow Nasuta onto the list of rare corals.

MH isn’t coming back. The pink panther and purple monster IMO aren’t the same coral. Purple monster grows like a Christmas tree like a Rosaria while pink panther is more like the Aussie version of granulosa.

 

[29bonsaireef]

I think it's because more and more people are buying frags for their pretty colors. Mainly the colors you see under blues and actinics. Not for the unique growth patterns and daylight look. Most of these are not the most pretty in color. Many new hobbyist would probaly over look them and move on to the more colorful corals. So, not as many being sold and the vendors moving them out to make room for the new wave of corals. The ones that know, know.. many of these are the real gems in this hobby. I'd pick a pale, off-white Lokani any day over something with colors. The growth structure alone is enough to have me sold, so cool and unique IMO.

Wish these corals would make a comeback in the hobby. Seems like there is a slow rise in people trying to acquire these corals. Probably because they are becoming so rare nowadays many feel its their last chance to get their hands on one, me being one of them..

 

[spartanomega21]

Pretty sure I have the 30k. Been deciding on a definite i.d. . Does 30k usually have green tips on it?

 

[Peng]

Pretty sure I have the 30k. Been deciding on a definite i.d. . Does 30k usually have green tips on it?

What a nice colony! How long did it take to grow into that? 30k usually doesn’t have the green dots on tips but they do have green polyps especially around their base. Based on the shape though yours looks just like the 30k. But the color looks closer to a 20k.

 

[spartanomega21]

What a nice colony! How long did it take to grow into that? 30k usually doesn’t have the green dots on tips but they do have green polyps especially around their base. Based on the shape though yours looks just like the 30k. But the color looks closer to a 20k.

I've grown it from a 1/2" frag since the end of 2015. Hard to take a good photo of it with my phone since it always gets oversaturated... Made a frag last year and it's already like 1/4 the size of the colony lol
But it's mainly purple with a tan/green old base, green tips and white polyps. Pretty sure I bought as a 30k and seems extremely close if it's not

 

[jda]

FYI to those looking to buy - Copps is selling both PM and 20k Lokani in a thread on Reef Central. You could not get them from a better source, IMO.

 

[srad750c]

I've never seen those, I would by if I could. Most stuff isn't available to me locally. I'm not crazed by the fancy stuff. I could care less if its the newest, I just like corals that grow at a steady rate. Most of my corals are simple stuff. Unfortunately I bought Hollywood Stunner and it's a pain in the butt. But I just can't seem to destroy it, I don't like what it does in my tank. I plan on getting a larger tank next year so I can give it it's own world. I got this coral and have no idea what it is but looks similar the Lokani. Got it very cheap, I think.

 

[revhtree Verified Admin]

Nice thread!

 

[Peng]

I've never seen those, I would by if I could. Most stuff isn't available to me locally. I'm not crazed by the fancy stuff. I could care less if its the newest, I just like corals that grow at a steady rate. Most of my corals are simple stuff. Unfortunately I bought Hollywood Stunner and it's a pain in the ***. But I just can't seem to destroy it, I don't like what it does in my tank. I plan on getting a larger tank next year so I can give it it's own world. I got this coral and have no idea what it is but looks similar the Lokani. Got it very cheap, I think.

Looks like red dragon in the front and ORA Hawkins in the back. They are beautiful and easy to care among deepwater acros. It's true that most of the corals I listed above are hard to find and buy. Currently online there's only 1 person selling 20k, nobody selling 30k, 1 or 2 selling Pink Panther, a few selling purple monster, and I don't know who else is willing to frag their Tyree Longhorn.

 

[jda]

I have thought at this a lot in the last few days...here is my dilemma. What would somebody be willing to pay for a pack of all five of these? I have them all (got my Westside Longhorn from Peng, actually), but it is not worth me hacking up my corals and risking some RTN unless it was around $1000. Would anybody be willing to pay that for these? Maybe the price needs to come up to entice more people to sell instead of keeping it or trading.

Other than the PP, which I think is the most rare of the bunch from what I have seen, I can think of a more than a dozen people who have these coral that I could trade with (well, maybe only 4-6 for the westside). They do not really sell online and are mostly old-school recluses that do not like to get caught up in the day-to-day doldrums of message board life by arguing with the frontrunners and noobies, but they will trade you nice old school stuff for other nice old school stuff. If I cannot get a pretty penny for these corals, then I am better off trading them to like-minded folks for other rare corals rather than selling just for cash. I do realize that this makes is hard to get into the game if you are not already in. I also realize that this makes me a total doocher... but guys like me are who keep and want these corals... they are not for frontrunners and bandwagoners. ...so how do you dislodge the frags from the crusty guys?

 

[Peng]

I have thought at this a lot in the last few days...here is my dilemma. What would somebody be willing to pay for a pack of all five of these? I have them all (got my Westside Longhorn from Peng, actually), but it is not worth me hacking up my corals and risking some RTN unless it was around $1000. Would anybody be willing to pay that for these? Maybe the price needs to come up to entice more people to sell instead of keeping it or trading.

Other than the PP, which I think is the most rare of the bunch from what I have seen, I can think of a more than a dozen people who have these coral that I could trade with (well, maybe only 4-6 for the westside). They do not really sell online and are mostly old-school recluses that do not like to get caught up in the day-to-day doldrums of message board life by arguing with the frontrunners and noobies, but they will trade you nice old school stuff for other nice old school stuff. If I cannot get a pretty penny for these corals, then I am better off trading them to like-minded folks for other rare corals rather than selling just for cash. I do realize that this makes is hard to get into the game if you are not already in. I also realize that this makes me a total doocher... but guys like me are who keep and want these corals... they are not for frontrunners and bandwagoners. ...so how do you dislodge the frags from the crusty guys?

That is a big problem for sure. If you increase the price to entice price tag goers, would they be enticed? I think you can try that out. Old school people have those corals, but they are also the ones less likely to sell online. That's part of this problem those corals are facing. There are many people online willing to buy them. I bet even at 1000 I think someone's gonna buy that pack. As for how to dislodge frags from old schoolers I think we don't need to and I don't think we can. You have explained the reasons in your post. What's really needed are vendors and farmers. They are the ones that can spread those corals and allow others to appreciate them while also make a profit doing so.

 

[Peng]

The problem isn't really caused by old schoolers. It's caused by businesses dropping out of keeping these corals, slow growth, trend shift from MH to LED, and probably some other factors like their colors and the rainbow trend etc. Old schoolers are the ones keeping them around. I would never have gotten my Tyree Longhorn without the old school guy that I met in Portland. I never realized how rare/old this coral was until this year. And because of local sales and trades quite a few people in Oregon have this coral.
I honestly wish I had more time to spread Heart of the Ocean before it died. Had I not sold it it would be lost and Fiji is now closed.

 

[BoomCorals]

The problem isn't really caused by old schoolers. It's caused by businesses dropping out of keeping these corals, slow growth, trend shift from MH to LED, and probably some other factors like their colors and the rainbow trend etc. Old schoolers are the ones keeping them around. I would never have gotten my Tyree Longhorn without the old school guy that I met in Portland. I never realized how rare/old this coral was until this year. And because of local sales and trades quite a few people in Oregon have this coral.
I honestly wish I had more time to spread Heart of the Ocean before it died. Had I not sold it it would be lost and Fiji is now closed.

I ordered from copps, picked up as much as I could for anything I didn’t have. I plan to always keep them long as I can and of course sell frags eventually. But these classics need to stay!