What is the hype about Captain America's?

[Sikryd]

I have seen a couple of these in different tanks and I don't see what is so special about them.
To be honest, I had some paly's that grew like that and kalked them since they grew and looked like weeds.

The reason this came up is I have a few buddies that have asked me about them. And I told them I might trade an Orange cap for some, or a green digi if I was feeling spunky.
Admittedly I don't have any Purple Deaths either for the same reason. Now the Nuclear Greens are pretty sweet.

I know there is a lot of money tied up in these for some people. And some people are in it to make money and whatever.
If I have a coral and get burned on it (pay wayyy more than its worth) - I'm not going to sell it to the next guy for the same price just off a cool name or it being so-called rare.
This goes for all corals - not just these in particular.

What gives? Am I wrong in my thinking?
Or are they all that and a box of chocolates, and I just haven't seen some nice ones in person?

I have seen some KILLER ps'd pictures, but no regular, non-macro, what it will look in any tank type of pictures.
Does anybody have any pictures that they want to share?

 

[subielover]

Yeah, they look like a fancy button polyp to me, not impressed with them either. Just for reference, I do like Z's and P's, but the Captain America's just don't do it for me, which is why I don't own any.

 

[Sikryd]

For reference - here is some pictures from Zoaid

I don't know, but this picture just looks way off to me

Great picture Marvin! - This is more what I saw

 

[Viva'sReef]

Not a fan of them either.....or Purple deaths. To each his own though

 

[reefboy]

If I ever get mine I'll tell you lol but I have a feeling they wont live up to the hype

 

[Preston]

This is what mine looks like under T5 with daylight and actinic.

 

[Sikryd]

If I ever get mine I'll tell you lol but I have a feeling they wont live up to the hype

Yeah its a bumber when you hear from a buddy that spent $100 on a polyp only to find out later. Especially when he is a kid that makes $7 an hour day labor.

This is what mine looks like under T5 with daylight and actinic.

I think you have EVERY zoa out there Preston!!! I look forward to your tank shots.

Nice pics.

 

[Nanofins]

The zoaid picture is mine. That is what they looked like when they first came in, to the eye. I also posted a flash pic on zoaid, but of course this isn't color accurate to what you see with your eyes either; unless you just run natural sunlight on your tank. Most of the pics, like Marvin's--no offense, are really washed out and NOT an accurate representation of their colors; at least not under my lights. I suppose if you're just running 67K bulbs to try and max growth or something, they might look like that, but then that's not necessarily what it'll look like in everyone's tank either. They aren't for everybody, but then none are. They are unique in their colors amongst the Protopalys, and I do like 'em. Lighting makes a huge difference for these guys not only for color but for "morphology". They tend to open up best in more moderate lighting. The below picture I'll show is how they look under my TEK 6 T-5 lighting. The colors have changed, but are still very nice. They developed a pastel purple/pink mid halo between the red and blue, but both colors are still very vibrant. The silver on the lash tips has been lost a little, and the green is more dominant, but WYSIWYG. Either you like it or you don't.

 

[aerius007]

I like them, I think it also comes down to being a collector. There are many pieces of of art that might not be pretty to the eye or something you would want to hang on your wall but are still worth a ton of money. I would happy to add them to my collection.

 

[Nanofins]

And just to be clear, I was one of the first group to get the captain americas. I was just intrigued by them and felt it was a worthwhile gamble to see them in person. As you can see I have lots of polyps now. I have yet to sell one; I have traded off about 20 polyps in the last week. On the other hand, if/when I do sell some, I won't be giving them away. I won't sell them for as much as most e-tailers will, but I also can't completely ignore the market value and sell them like bam-bams. That would hurt those who are in business (and they're the ones who we need to motivate to keep bringing in treasures), and it also impedes the cycle of those, like myself, who will continue to support the industry of bringing in great new corals by paying the money to collect various designer corals. I pay for new acquisitions by selling from my current collection. I pass things down at a reduced rate, but one that is enough to continue to support my addiction. In time, these things trickle down, but in this world people don't spend their time searching for the cherry corals of the ocean out of the goodness of their heart or love of the hobby. These people need a financial motivation/reward.

Just my $.02

 

[Sikryd]

Thanks Nano - that helps.

I think Marvins picture is definetely the most accurate though. I can tell by how well his sand is detailed and not washed out white. That usually happens when a photo is oversatured. I'm NOT saying yours are, cause my camera does it too. It is a pain to get a true to life picture.
I was just saying how his picture is ~99% true to life what they have looked like in the tanks I have seen.

They are unique and cool in their own right, I was just bringing it up since a few guys asked what I thought. I figured I would post and see what everyone else thought.

 

[kholla12]

Nanofins
Pic is pretty close to what mine look like. I just can not get a good pic of mine.

 

[Sikryd]

And just to be clear, I was one of the first group to get the captain americas. I was just intrigued by them and felt it was a worthwhile gamble to see them in person. As you can see I have lots of polyps now. I have yet to sell one; I have traded off about 20 polyps in the last week. On the other hand, if/when I do sell some, I won't be giving them away. I won't sell them for as much as most e-tailers will, but I also can't completely ignore the market value and sell them like bam-bams. That would hurt those who are in business (and they're the ones who we need to motivate to keep bringing in treasures), and it also impedes the cycle of those, like myself, who will continue to support the industry of bringing in great new corals by paying the money to collect various designer corals. I pay for new acquisitions by selling from my current collection. I pass things down at a reduced rate, but one that is enough to continue to support my addiction. In time, these things trickle down, but in this world people don't spend their time searching for the cherry corals of the ocean out of the goodness of their heart or love of the hobby. These people need a financial motivation/reward.

Just my $.02

I agree 100%

I wasn't saying they aren't worth anything and all that. I was just wondering what they looked like and if people were still as excited about them as they were about the pics, once they got them into their tank.

I will admit I am about burned out on getting corals online only to find out that they are not what the pictures look like online, and are still sold at a premium, called LE, yet look like a regular coral. That gets old when you are spending big money.

I see a lot of threads talking up corals. But I don't see many threads about corals that were hyped up and really aren't all that.
So its nice to have a discussion about this stuff to see what other people think about it.

I know a lot of people would just soon not have threads discussing stuff like this. I think it is good to hear the good/bad/indifferent and see what everyone thinks.

Its nice to know whether I am in the minority or if others feel this way and just don't say anything...

 

[Nanofins]

Yes, it is hard to get the cameras to deal with the intense lighting of our reefs properly, but the oversaturation of the sand does not represent an oversaturation of the rest of the picture. Because my sand is clean, and white, it will naturally reflect a greater amount of light at the camera and blow those sections, but unlike our eyes, cameras don't deal with varying light input as efficiently. In order to put the main subject in proper focus and exposure, other areas are sacrificed. In the case of my pictures, the palys are in accurate exposure while the other areas are beyond the camera's ability to compensate for at the same time. Our eyes can do this.

Again, nothing against Marvin's pic, but just because his sand is not as saturated does not mean his pic of the polyps is more accurate. It is quite possible that in order to keep the sand from blowing out, the aperature was closed more and thus caused the polyps to appear darker/less colored. There are only so many ways to deal with the lighting situation of a reef tank. Also, the quality/spectrum of light being used for the picture will play a HUGE role in how the polyps look, overexposed or not.

 

[racerw]

Nanofins picture is what mine looks like as well. I saw these guys at Victors before they were available to fellow reefers and had to get them. I am not a zoa/paly collector but this one is different to me.

 

[Sikryd]

I know what you mean. I can take 100 pictures, and only have 1 turn out. Its a pain.

I have the same zoa's in Preston's picture above to the left - I think they are dreamweaves, and they look the same as his picture, so that is how I judge color alot of times too.

 

[Sikryd]

Nanofins picture is what mine looks like as well. I saw these guys at Victors before they were available to fellow reefers and had to get them. I am not a zoa/paly collector but this one is different to me.

I saw single and dual polyp frags, so that may have a lot do with it. I'm sure they are just like anything else, and color up better once they are stable and in a tank thriving, not just healing still.

 

[Nanofins]

Agree Sikryd. I myself have bought plenty of corals that after having received them I can only assume some fancy photoshopping occurred. I myself don't have photoshop or any fancy photo editing software. Still, I continue to try for these corals I see, because sometimes you really do get a beautiful gem that is totally worthwhile.

As kholla got his polyps from me just this week, he can attest to their color; of course still dependant on his relative lighting scheme.

If everyone's looked the way they do under my lights, then there might not be as much question, but that's just not going to be the case. Too many lighting schemes, combined with the othe factors in the tank. I have lots of people come over who also have T-5 lighting that are dissolutioned with their lights and thinking of getting rid of them because they think they aren't getting what they can out of them, but then they see my tank and start asking me how I get such good color out of my sps and lps and softies. I don't know all that I'm doing different (though I know a few things), but under my lights the corals POP, and it ain't the camera!

 

[Sikryd]

I know what you mean about T-5's - I LOVE the colors they put out, but I missed the shimmer wayyy too much and had to switch back.

I'll be over at Kevin's this weekend probaby, so I'll be able to check his out too.

I have some gems too, that I can't get a picture of to save my life, so I know the picture thing.
Everything I post has gone through photoshop - otherwise I can't put my name in the pictures. I don't adjust saturation ever, but I do adjust some stuff to get a more true to life color out of them.

 

[Nanofins]

I saw single and dual polyp frags, so that may have a lot do with it. I'm sure they are just like anything else, and color up better once they are stable and in a tank thriving, not just healing still.

That is true to some degree. If you saw young polyps they will not look as good as mature polyps. As you can see in my second pic, if you look at the babies to the sides, their colors are not fully developed and they don't look nearly as impressive. The red increases with maturity, as does the green.

Also, in that picture, you can see purple deaths nearby and eagle eyes. Whether you like these polyps or not, I think you can see from the pic that their colors are accurate (again, at least under my lights I think), and thus the captains should be as well. And, see, in preston's pic the purple deaths look way too dark purply--not the way mine look, so to me I question the perfect accuracy there. Not that he messed his pic up, but perhaps the Protopalys look a little different in top-downs compared to other zoas.