What qualifies as a premium sps?

bamf25 · 02/06/2012, 05:32 PM

I am new to sps, but did purchase a fair amount of frags in the last few days. Some I am sure are run of the mill stuff vs others that were advertised as more premium frags. Now I bought what seemed fairly priced, and what I liked preimarily, but was wondering what corals are considered premium right now?

Felixc395 · 02/06/2012, 05:51 PM

Just remember what you find premium is the ultimate deal-breaker. If you like it, no matter how expensive or cheap, named or not named, just go with what you'll like.

But it you like some of the premium pieces, I'm sure we can help you out. Care to share what you have right now as a baseline or maybe some form of SPS you like? Acros (what type), millepora, montipora, seriatopa hystrix? What do you prefer?

Personally I know red dragon, tiera de fuego, ice fire echinata are all good choices for "premium" frags

OneReef · 02/06/2012, 05:53 PM

Throw a fancy name on it, and it's 'premium'......lol

bamf25 · 02/06/2012, 06:05 PM

This is what I have so far

Orange monti cap
pink birdsnest
Aussie war coral
ORA purple stylo
Atlantis rainbow monti
Tyree superman monti
Atlantis meteor shower
ORA red planet
Green cap
Idaho cap
ORA Blue Cali Tort
ORA Brett's Purple Rim cap
ORA Blue Milli
Tyree Pink Lemonade
Orange montipora Digitala
Green Slimer

I know I am new to all this, but I like going all in plus got good deals from some nice people local to me.

pimp2daizzo · 02/06/2012, 07:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Felixc395

Just remember what you find premium is the ultimate deal-breaker. If you like it, no matter how expensive or cheap, named or not named, just go with what you'll like.

But it you like some of the premium pieces, I'm sure we can help you out. Care to share what you have right now as a baseline or maybe some form of SPS you like? Acros (what type), millepora, montipora, seriatopa hystrix? What do you prefer?

Personally I know red dragon, tiera de fuego, ice fire echinata are all good choices for "premium" frags

+1, i have a bunch of family in nj mostly around Elizabeth

BuckeyeTodd · 02/06/2012, 07:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bamf25

This is what I have so far

Orange monti cap
pink birdsnest
Aussie war coral
ORA purple stylo
Atlantis rainbow monti
Tyree superman monti
Atlantis meteor shower
ORA red planet
Green cap
Idaho cap
ORA Blue Cali Tort
ORA Brett's Purple Rim cap
ORA Blue Milli
Tyree Pink Lemonade
Orange montipora Digitala
Green Slimer

I know I am new to all this, but I like going all in plus got good deals from some nice people local to me.

Those are all mid range fairly common frags, some of which are very good looking. These were the "premium" frags, but now they are readily available so there are now newer more desired "premium frags".

Tyree Pink Lemonade is one of the nicest acros you will find, a year and a half ago a frag would go for $75 or more. People have just moved on to the "newer" acros, doesn't change the fact that it is a great coral. Collect what you like, personally I like milli's and am working on collecting most of the nicer ones.

MammothReefer · 02/06/2012, 08:30 PM

just a marketing term.. doesn't mean anything.

bamf25 · 02/06/2012, 09:02 PM

I liked how these looked, and they were kinda stock my tank kinda items. Not going to spend $75 on a 1 inch piece with my level of experience. Especially when I got all of this for the price of like 3 high end frags.

glassterbate · 02/06/2012, 09:37 PM

go with what is pleasing to your eye, dont pay attention to the name.

BuckeyeTodd · 02/06/2012, 09:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bamf25

I liked how these looked, and they were kinda stock my tank kinda items. Not going to spend $75 on a 1 inch piece with my level of experience. Especially when I got all of this for the price of like 3 high end frags.

absolutely right...especially if you are new to sps, you are likely to have setbacks and lose many of these corals unfortunately. Learn the ropes, and then slowly build based on what you like. There are many frags that are stupidly priced. The "red dragon" is currently going for sick money, it appears to be a decent grower, give it a year or so and that will be a $40 frag(If not sooner) and there will be a new "it" coral

bamf25 · 02/06/2012, 10:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BuckeyeTodd

absolutely right...especially if you are new to sps, you are likely to have setbacks and lose many of these corals unfortunately. Learn the ropes, and then slowly build based on what you like. There are many frags that are stupidly priced. The "red dragon" is currently going for sick money, it appears to be a decent grower, give it a year or so and that will be a $40 frag(If not sooner) and there will be a new "it" coral

I am learning alot however!!! I have had lps for about 4 months, while not growing super fast, I have not lost anything yet. I do have peices that are growing though. My favia is bigger, an acro has at least 3 new heads, a few chalices are spreading, and my candy cane has just about every head splitting. I was losing a plate coral, but with some water chem ajustments it is actually coming back quickly now. My orange monti is at least double the size I got it at like 4 months ago, and all the new sps is at least partially open in under 1 week.

In addition, I just recieved my dosing pumps today, and will be getting 2 additional powerheads, and a new EB4 to control everything in the next day or 2. Really trying to do things correctly. Thanks for the encuragement.

victornator333 · 02/07/2012, 01:19 AM

The name is a way for people to help identify what a particularly nice piece is. Sure it is marketing, but how else would you know what to ID a piece you saw that was AWESOME haha. The names usually come with pieces that many people really like, and if the piece is "new" then it is more expensive or "premium" obviously because it hasnt had a chance to grow out hobbyists' tanks yet. Simple supply and demand. Like the pink lemonade, the tierra de fuego and red dragon are incredibly popular now but they too will fall in price as more hobbyists get a hold of them and distribute frags. But at the end of the day....buy what you like, use the names only as identifications rather than a determination of value

Todd100 · 02/07/2012, 01:37 AM

red dragon is $200 a frag and usually not even available because it sold out at that price. The price or premiumness of a coral or fish or.....is all relative to your price tolerance. The longer I stay in this hobby the higher my price tolerance gets. Anyone got a frag of red dragon for $150 shipped?

Reeferwill561 · 02/07/2012, 02:00 AM

Quote:

red dragon is $200 a frag and usually not even available because it sold out at that price. The price or premiumness of a coral or fish or.....is all relative to your price tolerance. The longer I stay in this hobby the higher my price tolerance gets. Anyone got a frag of red dragon for $150 shipped?

How big of a frag do you want? Another reefer from my reef club is selling red dragon frags I can ask if you were really serious lol

-Will P.

A. Grandis · 02/07/2012, 03:14 AM

I think what would qualify a SPS as a premium coral would be how healthy it is and it's particular qualities like color and polyp extension. But again those qualities could change with the physical influences of any system. So when you want to buy you would look for such qualities. Another factor would be price/size.

Grandis.

bamf25 · 02/07/2012, 07:23 AM

Hate to say this, but alot of times looking at pictures online, I have problems even telling alot of the corals apart. How many blue acros, or purple millies, etc can there be. Often (again at least in pictures), the differences are so subtle I do not understand how it sometimes warrents a massive price difference.

The one thing I do like about ORA, ATL, Tyree, etc is that these are cultured corals and in my mind if they have been raised in tanks for many generations, then they are likely more adapted to and hardier in tank environments. That holds some value in my mind.

As for the high end frags dropping in price, it is simple economics. As they get distributed and people frag, even if the demand stays constant, the supply goes way up. For the coral growers this does present a problem, because the after market (frag swaps) is so large and uncontrollable. Thus we get new fangled special editions every few months.

But again, just starting out all these corals are new to me.

OneReef · 02/07/2012, 09:13 AM

I think someone earlier stated it well. Supply vs demand. A new coral on the market fetches more $ cause frags are hard to come by. The longer it's out, the more it has been passed around, frags grown out and fragged again, and price goes down. It's a cycle.

montepora · 02/07/2012, 09:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bamf25

Hate to say this, but alot of times looking at pictures online, I have problems even telling alot of the corals apart. How many blue acros, or purple millies, etc can there be. Often (again at least in pictures), the differences are so subtle I do not understand how it sometimes warrents a massive price difference....

Are you familiar with NJRC- New Jersey Reef Club? You will meet a lot of folks who can hook you up with frags too.

bamf25 · 02/07/2012, 01:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by montepora

Are you familiar with NJRC- New Jersey Reef Club? You will meet a lot of folks who can hook you up with frags too.

Sorta did that through here. One I bought frags from was in Southern Jersey, and the other in Eastern PA. If you have anything good, I work in East Brunswick.

danil · 02/07/2012, 02:49 PM

I think it's 100% marketing. Sellers put 'premium' tag on any corals with better color, bigger size, hotter name. Often this 'premium' section has very short "shelf life" once received from wholesale corals start losing colors, PE, rtn etc so they get moved to 'normal' section and then to 'sale' section. Hence so many 'happy' stories when cheap brown frag for few bucks turned into beautiful colony. It's all about your reef. You could get 'happy' story or you can pay for "premium" just to get it brown in few days in your tank.

Todd100 · 02/14/2012, 01:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Reeferwill561

How big of a frag do you want? Another reefer from my reef club is selling red dragon frags I can ask if you were really serious lol

-Will P.

I was serious even though it was phrased jokingly

After observing the behavior of some new fish I got, (which are a semi-deepwater species) I'm rethinking the direction I was planning to go for my tank. I used to have a 2 x 250 watt halide mixed reef tank but I left it behind per the request of the buyers of my last house. The aurulentas anthias I got last Thursday will swim under a 27 watt par38 led light I use but don't like to stay there. They spend noticeably more time under some standard 6500k flourescent bulbs I've been using temporarily until I could feel comfortable about my choice of leds for a reef tank. I'm happy I have these fish as I've looked for them for 1-2 years even though I'm not going to go sps anymore.

Thank you for the offer.

P.S. Your sig is funny. I read everything google can come up with on the leading led companies and people get into some serious mud slinging.

dnsfpl · 02/14/2012, 02:45 AM

imo anything that is rare and slow grower can be classified as premium

beautiful will be a plus

montepora · 02/14/2012, 12:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bamf25

Sorta did that through here. One I bought frags from was in Southern Jersey, and the other in Eastern PA. If you have anything good, I work in East Brunswick.

If you have a mature and stable system, sure. PM me.

Reef264 · 02/14/2012, 12:44 PM

Unless its a Really Unbelievable Looking coral that blows you away, the only thing premium about it would be the price.Pick what floats your boat!

02/06/2012, 05:32 PM	#1
bamf25 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Central NJ Posts: 1,419	What qualifies as a premium sps? I am new to sps, but did purchase a fair amount of frags in the last few days. Some I am sure are run of the mill stuff vs others that were advertised as more premium frags. Now I bought what seemed fairly priced, and what I liked preimarily, but was wondering what corals are considered premium right now?

02/06/2012, 08:30 PM	#7
MammothReefer Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: Mammoth Lakes, CA Posts: 3,442	just a marketing term.. doesn't mean anything. __________________ Reefin @ 8298' Current Tank Info: 105 Peninsula

02/07/2012, 07:23 AM	#16
bamf25 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Central NJ Posts: 1,419	Hate to say this, but alot of times looking at pictures online, I have problems even telling alot of the corals apart. How many blue acros, or purple millies, etc can there be. Often (again at least in pictures), the differences are so subtle I do not understand how it sometimes warrents a massive price difference. The one thing I do like about ORA, ATL, Tyree, etc is that these are cultured corals and in my mind if they have been raised in tanks for many generations, then they are likely more adapted to and hardier in tank environments. That holds some value in my mind. As for the high end frags dropping in price, it is simple economics. As they get distributed and people frag, even if the demand stays constant, the supply goes way up. For the coral growers this does present a problem, because the after market (frag swaps) is so large and uncontrollable. Thus we get new fangled special editions every few months. But again, just starting out all these corals are new to me. Last edited by bamf25; 02/07/2012 at 07:30 AM.

02/14/2012, 02:45 AM	#22
dnsfpl Registered Member Join Date: Sep 2008 Posts: 1,121	imo anything that is rare and slow grower can be classified as premium beautiful will be a plus __________________ Achilles Tang \| Bandit, 2 x False Shepardi Angelfish \| Cleaner, Flame & Mystery Wrasse

02/14/2012, 12:44 PM	#24
Reef264 Where's The Reef? Join Date: Oct 2011 Location: Southaven, Ms Posts: 2,098	Unless its a Really Unbelievable Looking coral that blows you away, the only thing premium about it would be the price.Pick what floats your boat! __________________ I'd rather Die on my feet, than Live on my Knees. Current Tank Info: 150g SPS Reef, 2x250w 14k Pheonix Metal Halides w/T-5 Actinics, 2 Tunze 6095's, Tunze 7096 controller, Ozone, Precision Marine Skimmer, Reef Octopus Bio-Churn Bio Pellet Reactor, GFO & Carbon Reactor, Ozone Reactor, ATO, Reef Keeper.

02/06/2012, 05:51 PM	#2
Felixc395 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2009 Posts: 1,612	Just remember what you find premium is the ultimate deal-breaker. If you like it, no matter how expensive or cheap, named or not named, just go with what you'll like. But it you like some of the premium pieces, I'm sure we can help you out. Care to share what you have right now as a baseline or maybe some form of SPS you like? Acros (what type), millepora, montipora, seriatopa hystrix? What do you prefer? Personally I know red dragon, tiera de fuego, ice fire echinata are all good choices for "premium" frags

02/06/2012, 05:53 PM	#3
OneReef Reef Guru Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: the great South Posts: 3,218	Throw a fancy name on it, and it's 'premium'......lol

02/06/2012, 06:05 PM	#4
bamf25 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Central NJ Posts: 1,419	This is what I have so far Orange monti cap pink birdsnest Aussie war coral ORA purple stylo Atlantis rainbow monti Tyree superman monti Atlantis meteor shower ORA red planet Green cap Idaho cap ORA Blue Cali Tort ORA Brett's Purple Rim cap ORA Blue Milli Tyree Pink Lemonade Orange montipora Digitala Green Slimer I know I am new to all this, but I like going all in plus got good deals from some nice people local to me.

02/06/2012, 09:02 PM	#8
bamf25 Registered Member Join Date: Dec 2010 Location: Central NJ Posts: 1,419	I liked how these looked, and they were kinda stock my tank kinda items. Not going to spend $75 on a 1 inch piece with my level of experience. Especially when I got all of this for the price of like 3 high end frags.

02/06/2012, 09:37 PM	#9
glassterbate Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 35	go with what is pleasing to your eye, dont pay attention to the name.

02/07/2012, 01:19 AM	#12
victornator333 Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Posts: 339	The name is a way for people to help identify what a particularly nice piece is. Sure it is marketing, but how else would you know what to ID a piece you saw that was AWESOME haha. The names usually come with pieces that many people really like, and if the piece is "new" then it is more expensive or "premium" obviously because it hasnt had a chance to grow out hobbyists' tanks yet. Simple supply and demand. Like the pink lemonade, the tierra de fuego and red dragon are incredibly popular now but they too will fall in price as more hobbyists get a hold of them and distribute frags. But at the end of the day....buy what you like, use the names only as identifications rather than a determination of value

02/07/2012, 01:37 AM	#13
Todd100 Registered Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Oregon Posts: 107	red dragon is $200 a frag and usually not even available because it sold out at that price. The price or premiumness of a coral or fish or.....is all relative to your price tolerance. The longer I stay in this hobby the higher my price tolerance gets. Anyone got a frag of red dragon for $150 shipped?

02/07/2012, 03:14 AM	#15
A. Grandis Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Honolulu Posts: 3,418	I think what would qualify a SPS as a premium coral would be how healthy it is and it's particular qualities like color and polyp extension. But again those qualities could change with the physical influences of any system. So when you want to buy you would look for such qualities. Another factor would be price/size. Grandis.

02/07/2012, 09:13 AM	#17
OneReef Reef Guru Join Date: Jan 2008 Location: the great South Posts: 3,218	I think someone earlier stated it well. Supply vs demand. A new coral on the market fetches more $ cause frags are hard to come by. The longer it's out, the more it has been passed around, frags grown out and fragged again, and price goes down. It's a cycle.

02/07/2012, 02:49 PM	#20
danil Registered Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Concord, CA Posts: 935	I think it's 100% marketing. Sellers put 'premium' tag on any corals with better color, bigger size, hotter name. Often this 'premium' section has very short "shelf life" once received from wholesale corals start losing colors, PE, rtn etc so they get moved to 'normal' section and then to 'sale' section. Hence so many 'happy' stories when cheap brown frag for few bucks turned into beautiful colony. It's all about your reef. You could get 'happy' story or you can pay for "premium" just to get it brown in few days in your tank.