Terminology Question

[Rjohn]

In reading the various threads, I have come across terms that I do not quite understand: My understanding of FRAG is an itty bitty piece of coral with minimal chance of survival. However, two others I don't get are COLONY and MINI-COLONY. Are these different from the aforementioned FRAG? Are they bigger with better survival chances? How can I tell the difference between a FRAG and a COLONY?

[JamesL]

This is my understanding:

Frag = Fragment of a colony. I do not think there is any assumption that a frag will not survive. To the contrary, I think most expect frags to be able to grow back to a full size colony.

Colony = Something bigger than a frag Ok, this doesn't help. But generally colonies are a mature coral, and thusly demand a much higher price. I guess colonies could be wild collected, but nothing stops one from calling an aquacultured coral a colony.

Example:

Zoa colony might be 50-100 polyps. A zoa frag might be 1-6 polyps.

[Brooks]

Chance of survival is dependant on the care you provide. Not the necessarily the size of the frag itself. Colonies usually have a well encrusted base with multiple branches usually ranging in size from 3+". A frag usually is a broken off branch (or polyp or piece) with a smaller size like .5-1". If you go to my latest blog entry "New Coral " you can take a look at the new milli I got. The largest piece is considered a smaller colony.