Who Gives A Fish Forums

I got some info from a friend who's pretty into corals - he's been doing this for a while. He mentioned that no-name SPS corals tend to lose their color, but I'm not sure if that's always true. He's kinda a coral snob, but I guess that comes with experience. What are your thoughts on this - is he right or is he just being picky?

He's off base. Corals aren't about brand names or price tags, their performance isn't tied to those things.

Dance wrote: ↑Thu Mar 20, 2025 7:22 am He's off base. Corals aren't about brand names or price tags, their performance isn't tied to those things.

I've got a couple of no-name acros that are among my favorites, and they're super colorful. When I first got 'em, they were mostly white, but they've really popped since then.

I think my friend's got it wrong. No name SPS corals losing color? Not necessarily. My friend's got experience, I'll give him that, but it's not like they're cars or something – brand and price don't always mean better performance.

Name of the coral is "no name" ? Never seen it, who sells it?

"Same with corals, right - a pretty coral by any other name would still thrive."

It's all about the scientific name for me, the rest is just marketing. Shops give them fancy names to charge more. At the end of the day, they're all natural, and it's the genus and species that truly matter.

I've noticed a difference with aquacultured vs maricultured corals in my tank. The aquacultured acros consistently do well, whereas the maricultured ones are hit or miss and often less colorful. It's worth noting that the aquacultured corals I've had success with also happen to be the ones with names.

So aquacultured is tank-raised and maricultured is wild-harvested, right?

felinxo wrote: ↑Thu Mar 20, 2025 4:35 pm I've noticed a difference with aquacultured vs maricultured corals in my tank. The aquacultured acros consistently do well, whereas the maricultured ones are hit or miss and often less colorful. It's worth noting that the aquacultured corals I've had success with also happen to be the ones with names.

I agree with this perspective. Your friend has a point, in that aquacultured corals have a history of retaining their color, but that's not to say maricultured ones won't. It's more of a gamble with the wild stuff, but it doesn't necessarily mean it'll lose its color. At the end of the day, even the aquacultured corals were once wild, they've just been pre-screened for you.