question for coral keepers

[chatfouz]

ive been doin aquariums for a while but never corals all that seriously.

but in looking into it everyone seems to list their coral species name and

a tag, like ora or mast or manc somthin. is that who sold it?

does it really matter? idk are there such thing in this trade as brand name?

im probably misunderstanding how it woorks. all that matters in the value

of a specimen is the species and health right? well that and if it was aquacultured

or at the very least harvested well.

i dont know it just seems from when i've talked to some people where the coral

comes from seems to make a big deal to some people. ?

[xcreonx]

Most sellers will list their corals as either the common name or the scientific name. There are several corals out there that have 'special' fancy names that indicate either a specific lineage or just plain ol marketing. For example:

ORA German Blue Digi (fancy name) = Montipora Digitata (scientific name) = Digi (common name)

Or,

Tyree Purple Monster (fancy name, comes from Steve Tyree's lineage) = Purple Acropora Sp

Alot of zoanthids are named like this: Purple People Eaters, Red People Eaters, Safe-Cracker Red....etc. etc. etc...

It just boils down to silly branding of corals to make them 'worth' more. You can, however, generally expect a place like ORA to have very healthy and beautiful livestock. So in a way the name brand association does work in the buyers favor in certain cases.

[CaptainBob]

naming corals is silly.

it's all marketing, nothing more. That being said, slapping a fancy name on a frag you're selling is a great way to get more for it from someone who doesn't know what they're doing... it's generally profitable however ethically questionable.

Fancy bettas are an even better example of this, if you look on aquabid any betta with a higher than average display of metallic pigment gets called a "dragon" and green "dragons" with a heavy red wash are called "armadillos" for whatever reason. Fish with white heads are "monsters" Some breeders are selling red bicolors (one of the least desirable color traits by show standards) as "firehawks" "blood sapphires" or any other inane made up name they come up with just to make a fish that's worthless by breed standards seem appealing to a novice who doesn't know any better. This doesn't make them bad fish, but if you bring the offspring from your 50 dollar "firehawk" pair to a betta show, you'll have a hard time placing in the competition to put it gently.