not a PM?

[ctreefer]

Hi,

was wondering if anyone might be able to ID this coral. I realize the image isn't great. It was traded to me about 1 year ago as a Purple Monster and was about 3/4 inch in length. It grows pretty fast and from the other images I've seen its not a PM.

I noticed recently on Greg Hiller's site something that looked similar and thought maybe it was that since he is in the region. He labels it as a Larry Jackson's purple tip acro from Inland aquatics. Does anyone know of this coral?

thanks

http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u200/idbiker/pm.jpg

[RichConley]

Dont know much about the PM.


THats definitely not a Larry Jackson though.

[Unarce]

That could very well be the Purple Monster. Most pics I see of them, are under very blue lighting. So, that could be what's throwing you off;) Did you spotlight it with something?

Beautiful piece, either way:)

[danskim]

http://www.**********.com/Purple-Monster-p-125.html
Looks similar...

[ctreefer]

Rich, yes, upon closer inspection his coral is very smooth (few coralites) along the main "trunk" and it tends to grow straight up even though I guess this could be attributed to flow and lighting.

Unarce, Its in a 29 gallon nano being lit by 24" lighting (30" footprint of tank) and its right on the edge of the lighting so one side doesn't get as much light. I guess it makes it look like its spotlit. Thanks

Danskim, thanks its interesting his comment about the growth rate as well being good compared to the normal slow growth from what I understand the PM's have.

Maybe it is a PM.

[RichConley]

http://www.**************/totm/march/images/0703totm19.jpg

Above is Uberfrags Larry Jackson


Your coral is much nicer

[RichConley]

Apparanty we're not allowed to use the names of non sponsors anymore. Anyways, you can find the pic

[delv]

Not allowed to post non sponsor images...or just mention them...I mean, I sure like General Electric products...
Am I in trouble?

Looks like A PM...that would be world class growth...what color are the polyps? Some look white...is that true for all, or is it an artifact of the photo?

d.

[Canarygirl]

delete...confused

[redFishblue]

Never heard of a PM growing that fast.
From what I've seen, it would take a couple years of great growth to get close to that size starting from
3/4th inch frag.

[ctreefer]

Thanks Rich, I found that image. Definitely not that.

Delv, Just the upper portion have white polyps (the really purple area) the rest of the coral is somewhat brown with some purple highlights and the polyps vary from brown to green (green along the encrusting edge.)

[ctreefer]

Redfishblue, here's a shot of it as a frag back in march of last year.
http://i168.photobucket.com/albums/u200/idbiker/Corals010.jpg

[wentreefgirl]

If you can get me a close up i might be able to help.

[PUGroyale]

I don't think it is... just look at the radial coralites on the frag.

[SueT]

I agree I do not believe this is a "true" PM. The growth alone would throw you off. Also it looks like the coral surface is not as smooth as the PM. Least in the PM's I have seen and had.

[smariner]

A. validia is my guess...

cb

[JAANDGC]

I am about 99 % sure that is not the Tyree PM. If it is you need to bottle your water and you should be rich by next week. I have the Tyree PM and have had for years (3) It is immpossible to get that kind of growth out of a PM and the 3/4 frag has way to many coralites on it.

[trueblackpercula]

I would say that its a very nice Sps. But on the other side of the coin Its not a PM unless you can prove were it came from. Remember Purple Monster is a name that was given to it by a vender Mr.Tyree. Now if you can prove that were you got yours from leads back to him then its a PM. I have a true PM in my tank very small still a frag :( but some day it will grow up to be a nice colony got it from Eric at Fragfammer and that is a the history of mine. Good luck in finding a true PM as they are a lot of look a likes that sell for cheap. You could expect to pay for a true tyree frag around $100 to $150 bucks. good luck in your quest to obtain the holly grail..........................
Michael

[trueblackpercula]

Here is the story behind the madness,
"The 'Purple Monster' Coral was originally imported back in 1995 from the Solomons. It was a very unique and distinctive coral having a christmas tree form composed of smooth thick branches. This coral was placed within Steve Tyree's 180 gallon reef. It was featured in an MFM article way back in 1996. The name was coined by Steve Shvetstoff while he was living in the Oakland area of California. Those of you unfamilar with this coral can see its web page at
http://www.dynamicecomorphology.com/stevepurple.htm
Steve Tyree is currently farming this coral from the last fragment that was harvested from a spectacular colony that Tracy Gray had grown within his reef. That reef unfortunately completely crashed while Tracy was in Japan on business. Tracy's colony was grown from a fragment purchased from Bill Schroer of the old Piece of the Reef shop. Bill had acquired a colony of the coral from Cameron Azad of Pasadena California. Cameron had originally acquired a a tiny fragment of this coral in 1996 from Steve Tyree. Over 4 years Cameron had grown the tiny fragment into a very nice sized parent colony. The color lightened due to his brighter lights and grew slightly thinner due to Camerons slightly weaker current. While being maintained within the 650 gallon show reef at Piece of the Reef, the coral has regained its deep rich purple color. This color was maintained by Tracy Gray. The fragment Steve is growing has also maintained the characteristic deep purple coloration and is growing thinner branches. Since this coral was originally imported back in 1995, there have been a few Monstor-like austera colonies imported, but none had the unique growth form that this colony had or the deep rich purple color it developed. This coral is being farmed by Steve Tyree and it is located within one of his 125 gallon naturally filtered Tri-Zonal EG reefs. ReefFarmers.com is allowed to distribute 1 farmed fragment of this coral per month beginning with October 2003. Price is currently $135 per medium sized fragment. The monthly limited edition reservation schedule can be found below. Please note effective November 2011 we have changed the harvesting and reservation schedule to bimonthly. This better matches the corals long term growth rate in captivity. "
http://www.reeffarmers.com/

[ctreefer]

Thanks everyone, I didn't figure it was a PM. I'll try and see if I can find where it originated from, however, I'm not too sure I'll have much luck as the guy I got it from has 'moved on' and even if I did, I'm not sure how much I can count on his recollection. I can say that I'm pretty sure he did 'believe' it was one. At the time he was asking something like $80 per 1/2 inch frag.

Once I treat these red bugs I found this past week in my tank I'll have to frag it and trade with some local reefers and see the growth rate and colors that occur in their tanks. Maybe this will help to identify the species.

[ctreefer]

BTW, what does it mean when my thread is 'moved'?

[wentreefgirl]

They have the new thread sps id forum. At the top of the sps board. They moved yours there so it can continue on the right board.

[SDguy]

BTW, anyone know the species (I know, I know...best guess anyways ;) ) of the PM? Is it a maryae like the "false" PM's seen of late?

[ctreefer]

gotcha wentreefgirl. Didn't realize that.