Finding Namesake Candy Cane

Razorbacks · Sep 27, 2023

I'm looking for some help tracking down the strain of candy cane coral that it's name really originated from. The most prevalent strain these days is clearly kryptonite.

Jake Adams talked on the reef builders podcast in 2021 about a strain of candy cane called "Star Mint" and he also talked about it on the reef builders website (pictured top left). Jake said at the time and I agree that it's the best looking strain. He said he had seen a lot of strains over 20 years that people claimed where the same but just aren't. For photo representation I'm sharing examples.

Top middle is something Tidal Gardens had available in the past that they called the same thing. Looked decently close. Top right is something they have on site today under the same name, but doesn't look the same to me.

Bottom left is an ORA strain. It has consistent striping, but hard to tell based on lighting how similar it really is. Next over is an "alien eye" WWC strain, then a Live Aquaria strain that looks like what I might typically find in an LFS (not even close). Finally is a photo from another R2R member @bsagea a few years ago that looks pretty close.

What are your thoughts? Has any come across a variant they thought looked as good or better than the top left and where did you get it?

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal · Sep 27, 2023

Razorbacks said:
I'm looking for some help tracking down the strain of candy cane coral that it's name really originated from. The most prevalent strain these days is clearly kryptonite.

Jake Adams talked on the reef builders podcast in 2021 about a strain of candy cane called "Star Mint" and he also talked about it on the reef builders website (pictured top left). Jake said at the time and I agree that it's the best looking strain. He said he had seen a lot of strains over 20 years that people claimed where the same but just aren't. For photo representation I'm sharing examples.

Top middle is something Tidal Gardens had available in the past that they called the same thing. Looked decently close. Top right is something they have on site today under the same name, but doesn't look the same to me.

Bottom left is an ORA strain. It has consistent striping, but hard to tell based on lighting how similar it really is. Next over is an "alien eye" WWC strain, then a Live Aquaria strain that looks like what I might typically find in an LFS (not even close). Finally is a photo from another R2R member @bsagea a few years ago that looks pretty close.

What are your thoughts? Has any come across a variant they thought looked as good or better than the top left and where did you get it?

Those are all the same variety...

James M · Sep 27, 2023

those are all the same just different lighting and pics

Razorbacks · Sep 27, 2023

Really? You think the Live Aquaria version is identical to Jake's just different lighting? I can barely see any white color in it. More like shades of burgundy.

To clarify: I think some of these could be the same or close but not all. I definitely see more and stronger stripes on some than others. Most of what I've posted I'm not actually finding for sale. There are several of these photos I would immediately buy and assume to be the same if they were actually for sale. However, what I generally find for sale are versions with 3 or 4 faded stripes and muted coloration. Basically I'm really disappointed when I try to find anything that looked like the reef builders photo. Jake's version had 10+ stripes per head that were consistent from one head to the next and really gave that candy cane / star mint look.

I don't know. Maybe it's in my head or maybe reef builder's had great photoshop skills or perfect lighting when they took the photos.

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal · Sep 27, 2023

Razorbacks said:
Really? You think the Live Aquaria version is identical to Jake's just different lighting? I can barely see any white color in it. More like shades of burgundy.

To clarify: I think some of these could be the same or close but not all. I definitely see more and stronger stripes on some than others. Most of what I've posted I'm not actually finding for sale. There are several of these photos I would immediately buy and assume to be the same if they were actually for sale. However, what I generally find for sale are versions with 3 or 4 faded stripes and muted coloration. Basically I'm really disappointed when I try to find anything that looked like the reef builders photo. Jake's version had 10+ stripes per head that were consistent from one head to the next and really gave that candy cane / star mint look.

I don't know. Maybe it's in my head or maybe reef builder's had great photoshop skills or perfect lighting when they took the photos.

They're all versions of the same coral. Think of (purebred) dogs... they're all the same kind of dog but there are still differences. Same with roses...

Razorbacks · Sep 28, 2023

Well yes, I understand that they are all candy cane corals and that the ones I've posted photos of share many characteristics and could be grouped together.

What I'm trying to say is I find very few examples for sale that look anything close to an actual "candy" cane in terms of having a large number of well defined stripes. The name would not even make sense to me without some of these photos online.

I would love to get my hands on a version that has a well defined "candy" cane or "star mint" look.

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal · Sep 28, 2023

Razorbacks said:
Well yes, I understand that they are all candy cane corals and that the ones I've posted photos of share many characteristics and could be grouped together.

What I'm trying to say is I find very few examples for sale that look anything close to an actual "candy" cane in terms of having a large number of well defined stripes. The name would not even make sense to me without some of these photos online.

I would love to get my hands on a version that has a well defined "candy" cane or "star mint" look.

What I meant was, the photos you posted are all the same type ("star mint") of candy canes. There will naturally be some differences between specimens.

James M · Sep 28, 2023

Top shelf aquatics has some you’re looking for

caddnima_reef · Sep 28, 2023

I believe, another factor to consider is also the environment. I see some corals when that came from the seller only to change color in your tank, because of many factors. Some bought very expensive torch only to change color and become different.

Razorbacks · Sep 28, 2023

EeyoreIsMySpiritAnimal said:
What I meant was, the photos you posted are all the same type ("star mint") of candy canes. There will naturally be some differences between specimens.

Sure, but again I think we're on the same page and just talking semantics. Specimen, strain, whatever terminology we want to use, I'm just saying I think some have considerably more stripes than others and that appeals to me and is what I'm looking for.

100% agree that corals can and do change both just in photos and from exposure to different lighting/tank conditions/grow out. However, I'm trying to avoid buying a strain from 5 different places to get to what I'm after. A single frag from TSA with shipping would be $65 so that adds up quick if I have to try several places.

Below is a zoomed in side by side of 1 head of Jake's coral next to an image of the TSA strain. I tried to count all the white stripes with red dots. I counted 9 on the TSA and maybe one more tiny one. We can call it 10. In Jake's photo I count 17 so it's not really even close. I looked at a lot of different photos on TSA's site of different frags of the same trade name and couldn't get anywhere close to that count.

I'm just looking for someone to say, "yes I have something in my tank that looks like the photo on the left and I got it from XYZ site" or is willing to sell me a frag. If it happens that the TSA just looks like it has fewer stripes, but they grow in as the coral grows / settles in that's great but wanted someone to back that up before I spend the money.

To me the other R2R member photo was the closest one and then of the ones I can actually find for sale, the ORA version seemed closest, but would like to dig up some more photos before placing an order.