I just have to ask: Whats so special about a Purple Monster?
- Thread starter SunnyX
- Start date
SunnyX
Member
Heres some infor I found at http://www.dynamicecomorphology.com/stevepurple.htm
The Purple Monstor Coral has been written about and talked about by quite a few reefkeepers now. I thought I would include this Purple Monster Page to give reefkeepers some facts behind the coral. This coral was exported from the Solomon Islands in 1995. Since then, I have seen thousands of corals exported from the Solomons and Fiji. I have not seen this coral in any of those shipments since 1995. There are corals that are similar to the monster and I have given these the name of Purple Monster - Like corals. What is unique about the monster is the shape of the branches which taper to a point with short rounded corallites and its unique intense coloration. In fact one of the corals that came in that 1995 shipment (which unfortunately did not make it) was shaped like a minature christmas tree. The polyps are extremelly small for an Acropora and white. This species is very difficult to keep and has a very slow growth rate. Slow growth rates are typical for corals that are difficult and have very small polyps. I believe there are only a handful of living fragments of this coral with probably less than 6 surviving. I know some people are out there selling purple monstor fragments but what they probably have are purple monster-like fragments. The purple monster coral grows too slow to be a good candidate for farming. If you have recieved a fragment compare it to the above pictures to verify if it is the real Purple Monster.
Veron (author of Corals of Australia and the Indo-Pacific) has seen the mother colony and could not identify it. He guessed that it might be an Acropora valida since he has seen that species grow into this unique morphology or shape. The uniqueness in the form is the tapering shape of the thick branches. They almost look like your typical christmas tree shape with a fat bottom area that tapers to the pointed tip. The purple monster-like corals are probably thick acropora loripes or austera. The like imposters do come from Fiji and Solomons, but I have yet to see the real purple monster morph of A. valida imported since 1995. I have never seen the true exotic morph come in from Fiji. The name of Purple Monster was coined by Steve Shvetstoff who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Originally I thought a good common name would have been the Christmas Tree Coral since that describes the rare form. This name was already used by another coral and the phrase Purple Monster became the popular name. The League of Coral Farmers and DE are not farming the real monster simply due to its slow growth rate and lack of fragments. We will try to bank this particular species for future farming potential
The Purple Monstor Coral has been written about and talked about by quite a few reefkeepers now. I thought I would include this Purple Monster Page to give reefkeepers some facts behind the coral. This coral was exported from the Solomon Islands in 1995. Since then, I have seen thousands of corals exported from the Solomons and Fiji. I have not seen this coral in any of those shipments since 1995. There are corals that are similar to the monster and I have given these the name of Purple Monster - Like corals. What is unique about the monster is the shape of the branches which taper to a point with short rounded corallites and its unique intense coloration. In fact one of the corals that came in that 1995 shipment (which unfortunately did not make it) was shaped like a minature christmas tree. The polyps are extremelly small for an Acropora and white. This species is very difficult to keep and has a very slow growth rate. Slow growth rates are typical for corals that are difficult and have very small polyps. I believe there are only a handful of living fragments of this coral with probably less than 6 surviving. I know some people are out there selling purple monstor fragments but what they probably have are purple monster-like fragments. The purple monster coral grows too slow to be a good candidate for farming. If you have recieved a fragment compare it to the above pictures to verify if it is the real Purple Monster.
Veron (author of Corals of Australia and the Indo-Pacific) has seen the mother colony and could not identify it. He guessed that it might be an Acropora valida since he has seen that species grow into this unique morphology or shape. The uniqueness in the form is the tapering shape of the thick branches. They almost look like your typical christmas tree shape with a fat bottom area that tapers to the pointed tip. The purple monster-like corals are probably thick acropora loripes or austera. The like imposters do come from Fiji and Solomons, but I have yet to see the real purple monster morph of A. valida imported since 1995. I have never seen the true exotic morph come in from Fiji. The name of Purple Monster was coined by Steve Shvetstoff who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Originally I thought a good common name would have been the Christmas Tree Coral since that describes the rare form. This name was already used by another coral and the phrase Purple Monster became the popular name. The League of Coral Farmers and DE are not farming the real monster simply due to its slow growth rate and lack of fragments. We will try to bank this particular species for future farming potential
SunnyX
Member
Frags for the monster reserved through 2007!!!!!!!!!!!
Acropora sp. Fiji Purple Monstor Year 2003 Monthly Limited Edition Schedule
July Shipped to R. R.
August Shipped to K. H.
September Shipped to B. B.
October Shipped to J. S.
November Delivered to M. B.
December Reserved for C. S.
Acropora sp. Fiji Purple Monstor Year 2004 Monthly Limited Edition Schedule
January Shipped to M. D.
February Shipped to B. T.
March Reserved for H. Z.
April Shipped to A. D.
May Reserved for P. W.
June Reserved for E. B.
July Reserved for R. C.
August Reserved for Michael N.
September Reserved for J. E.
October Reserved for Sean T.
November Reserved for Alex
December Reserved for Scott B.
Acropora sp. Fiji Purple Monstor Year 2005 Monthly Limited Edition Schedule
Janurary Reserved for K. Y.
February Reserved for Chris M.
March Reserved for B. W.
April Reserved for D. Str.
May Reserved for J. G. R.
June Reserved for W. M.
July Reserved for D. O.
August Reserved for Y. K. C.
September Reserved for Kelly H.
October Reserved for Ashley D.
November Reserved for R. A. L.
December Reserved for B. G.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Acropora sp. Fiji Purple Monster Year 2006 Monthly Limited Edition Schedule
January - Fragment Reserved for Kirk T.
February - Fragment Reserved for Glenn N.
March - Fragment Reserved for Brian O.
April - Fragment Reserved for John M.
May - Fragment Reserved for Kip T.
June - Fragment Reserved for Charles O.
July - Fragment Reserved for Jerry G.
August - Fragment Reserved for Roy R.
September - Fragment Reserved for Sean C.
October - Fragment Reserved for M. Hopper
November - Fragment Reserved for R. Reedy
December - Fragment Reserved for R. Reedy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Acropora sp. Fiji Purple Monster Year 2007 Monthly Limited Edition Schedule
January - Fragment Reserved for D. Ho
February - Fragment Reserved for A. Yang
March - Fragment Reserved for Scott M.
April - Fragment Reserved for Scott W.
May - Fragment Reserved for Joe C.
June - Fragment Reserved for Ara D.
July - Fragment Available
August - Fragment Available
September - Fragment Available
October - Fragment Available
November - Fragment Available
December - Fragment Available
Acropora sp. Fiji Purple Monstor Year 2003 Monthly Limited Edition Schedule
July Shipped to R. R.
August Shipped to K. H.
September Shipped to B. B.
October Shipped to J. S.
November Delivered to M. B.
December Reserved for C. S.
Acropora sp. Fiji Purple Monstor Year 2004 Monthly Limited Edition Schedule
January Shipped to M. D.
February Shipped to B. T.
March Reserved for H. Z.
April Shipped to A. D.
May Reserved for P. W.
June Reserved for E. B.
July Reserved for R. C.
August Reserved for Michael N.
September Reserved for J. E.
October Reserved for Sean T.
November Reserved for Alex
December Reserved for Scott B.
Acropora sp. Fiji Purple Monstor Year 2005 Monthly Limited Edition Schedule
Janurary Reserved for K. Y.
February Reserved for Chris M.
March Reserved for B. W.
April Reserved for D. Str.
May Reserved for J. G. R.
June Reserved for W. M.
July Reserved for D. O.
August Reserved for Y. K. C.
September Reserved for Kelly H.
October Reserved for Ashley D.
November Reserved for R. A. L.
December Reserved for B. G.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Acropora sp. Fiji Purple Monster Year 2006 Monthly Limited Edition Schedule
January - Fragment Reserved for Kirk T.
February - Fragment Reserved for Glenn N.
March - Fragment Reserved for Brian O.
April - Fragment Reserved for John M.
May - Fragment Reserved for Kip T.
June - Fragment Reserved for Charles O.
July - Fragment Reserved for Jerry G.
August - Fragment Reserved for Roy R.
September - Fragment Reserved for Sean C.
October - Fragment Reserved for M. Hopper
November - Fragment Reserved for R. Reedy
December - Fragment Reserved for R. Reedy
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Acropora sp. Fiji Purple Monster Year 2007 Monthly Limited Edition Schedule
January - Fragment Reserved for D. Ho
February - Fragment Reserved for A. Yang
March - Fragment Reserved for Scott M.
April - Fragment Reserved for Scott W.
May - Fragment Reserved for Joe C.
June - Fragment Reserved for Ara D.
July - Fragment Available
August - Fragment Available
September - Fragment Available
October - Fragment Available
November - Fragment Available
December - Fragment Available
Craig Manoukian
Well-Known Member
Glad I'm not in a hurry for one of those beauties!
:smirk:
:smirk:
Cosmic
Member
Yup, that's a fact JACK
This coral is so much money because of it's coloration (only of it's known kind), AND because it's a SUPER slow grower. What they are trying to tell you is that only one frag per month is available because of it's growth rates. Because of the color, everyone wants one, hence the price and the waiting list.
FWIW, this coral is (was) originally owned by Steve Tyree, founder of the cryptic zone filtration method. It is the only specimen with the coloration and growth rate known to exist. There have been many other "purple monster" wanna-be's, but this one is the real deal.
-HTH-
Cos
This coral is so much money because of it's coloration (only of it's known kind), AND because it's a SUPER slow grower. What they are trying to tell you is that only one frag per month is available because of it's growth rates. Because of the color, everyone wants one, hence the price and the waiting list.
FWIW, this coral is (was) originally owned by Steve Tyree, founder of the cryptic zone filtration method. It is the only specimen with the coloration and growth rate known to exist. There have been many other "purple monster" wanna-be's, but this one is the real deal.
-HTH-
Cos
Crakeur
Member
there are a few places that have the purple monster now (from that original colony).
reefer madness
o2manyfish might have it
xtreme aquatics
it's one of those so called holy grail corals.
oddly, like the $700 blue zoos, if you look hard enough, you'll come across something close to it for $20.
reefer madness
o2manyfish might have it
xtreme aquatics
it's one of those so called holy grail corals.
oddly, like the $700 blue zoos, if you look hard enough, you'll come across something close to it for $20.
Montanareefer
Has been struck by the ban stick
I will spend that much money on other sps corals that are very colorful and be happy!
VINA DEL MAR
Member
Can anyone describe the cryptic zone filtraition method and please dont tell me is a BB system!
VINA
VINA
64Ivy
Member
the 'Fiji Purple Monster' that is reserved to 2007 is NOT the original Purple Monster but as close an approximation as has been found in the wild since the original. This orginal PM parent colony crashed several years ago and the species was thought to have been lost to us. A single frag had survived in another reefers tank however and over time (a lot of time) it has grown enough to be propagated by Steve once more. If you scroll down on THAT list you'll note that it's been reserved until 2009. I know all this because the M.M. that's scheduled for a frag in June of THIS year is me!
:bigbounce :bigbounce :bigbounce
:bigbounce :bigbounce :bigbounce
Craig Manoukian
Well-Known Member
Congrats 64ivy!
dgasmd
Member
Please, don't even get me started with this fraking thing again. There has been tons of threads in RC abou this it is not even funny.
A few people around here have an original PM and they are growing. I ahve seen them and have seen the colors and I can tell you given the choice of that or any other coral in those same tanks, I would pick tons of the others over it any day of the week. I do have a frag of it that a friend gave me just to see what the hype was. It was so pale it looked almost dead. It has turned around and it is growing/coloring now. It is a tiny knob and probably the last thing to be noticed in the tank.
By the way, the reefermadness one was a single frag bought from o2manyfish, who bought a little colony from someone in CA. Sometimes tracking these corals is like trying to track who was the original donor of siphilis in a high school.
A few people around here have an original PM and they are growing. I ahve seen them and have seen the colors and I can tell you given the choice of that or any other coral in those same tanks, I would pick tons of the others over it any day of the week. I do have a frag of it that a friend gave me just to see what the hype was. It was so pale it looked almost dead. It has turned around and it is growing/coloring now. It is a tiny knob and probably the last thing to be noticed in the tank.
By the way, the reefermadness one was a single frag bought from o2manyfish, who bought a little colony from someone in CA. Sometimes tracking these corals is like trying to track who was the original donor of siphilis in a high school.
Maxx
Well-Known Member
ROFL...what high school did you go to? Nevermind.....I'd rather not know.
64Ivy...when you get the frag will you please post up a thread about it...w/ pics? Just a curiousity issue on my part. I suspect that I'm okay w/ the exclusivity of this particular coral since I cant really afford to buy it just yet. Maybe thats just a mellowed version of sour grapes...I dunno. I feel that if the market is willing to pay.......
Good luck to those of you who have or will be recieving the coral in the future. I'd honestly like to see photo's of it if anyone would be willing to share.
Alberto, would you post up pics of yours?
Thanks all,
Nick