Chop shops naming coral, Your opinions?

[m and m]

So out of sheer nothing else to do I was looking in feedback forms and found alot of things I never new. One question I came across made me think. Do you think Chop shop type stores should name coral? I would like to get one thing clear I am not talking down on chop shops here. Just do you think they should name there corals? Or do you think named corals should be received for when a main colony is propagated rather then the whole colony being cut up?

 

[cdness]

I feel that a colorful zoa is a colorful zoa. The naming stuff is for the birds. It just increases the price for a specific zoa and for the most part people buy into it. The only real named zoa I have are Eagle Eyes, but I saw the ultra colored ones a few days ago and mine look the same. Just marketing.

 

[xmetalfan99]

So out of sheer nothing else to do I was looking in feedback forms and found alot of things I never new. One question I came across made me think. Do you think Chop shop type stores should name coral? I would like to get one thing clear I am not talking down on chop shops here. Just do you think they should name there corals? Or do you think named corals should be received for when a main colony is propagated rather then the whole MC being cut up?

I think names should be reserved for colonies that are being propagated and not chopped up. Honestly, I am not a fan of coral chop shops due to this reason as well as how the second frags are cut, they are sold. No heal time, nothing.

 

[Nanofins]

I think names should be reserved for colonies that are being propagated and not chopped up. Honestly, I am not a fan of coral chop shops due to this reason as well as how the second frags are cut, they are sold. No heal time, nothing.

I do agree that the practice of chopping up a colony as soon as it arrives and then turning around and selling the frags ASAP is not in the best interests of the hobby, or business really.

On the other hand I have no problems with MCs being cut up if done in a responsible manner. Honestly, this is only good for the hobby, the corals, and the oceans. If we can spread a specific colony's heritage to several hobbyists it allows for a much greater chance of it becoming distributed and established in captivity while reducing the number of colonies that must be obtained to meet that specific demand. It also reduces the costs to the hobbyist (in most cases, not all, these days) and allows for people to get corals to grow out in their tanks for a more affordable budget which opens the hobby up to more people without requiring lots more colonies to be imported for a given market.

As far as naming is concerned, for those colonies that are distributed that might actually be of some great interest to the reef community at large, providing a name gives an easy way of referencing a particular colony that got hacked and distributed. Again, the real value of a name is to reference a source and that lineage, and that is why it would be useful.

 

[skinz78]

Honestly I think it is great that the chop shops try to name their corals. It cuts down on the confusion of all the corals names IMHO. Say there were 10 frags of a coral named "Joe Blow's World Domination Chalice" named by a chop shop, and the coral colony was 100 percent fragged up and sold to 10 different people. Now this is just an guess but I would imagine that 8 out of 10 of them people are going to hold on to the given name of the colony. On the other hand if the chop shop didn't name the colony and just sold the un named frags there is going to be 10 differently named frags out there of the same coral, this is where confusion sets in in most cases.

Now lets say that the chop shop is just that, a shop that doesn't aquaculture corals and they just chop newly imported colony's. IMHO they shouldn't be able to name a coral such as "Joe Blow's World Domination Chalice", if they don't aquaculture it they shouldn't put their name to it. It should just be called "World Domination Chalice".

 

[elegant_reefer]

Naming corals just raises the value, which is why he does it. I get stuff in all the time but I never name it.

 

[returnofsid]

In reading through this, several times, I don't believe "MC" is referring to a specific company, but to "Main Colony," or possibly "Maricultured Colony."

from the OP

Or do you think named corals should be received for when a main colony is propagated rather then the whole MC being cut up?

 

[Reef Pets]

I do agree that the practice of chopping up a colony as soon as it arrives and then turning around and selling the frags ASAP is not in the best interests of the hobby, or business really.

On the other hand I have no problems with colonies being cut up if done in a responsible manner. Honestly, this is only good for the hobby, the corals, and the oceans. If we can spread a specific colony's heritage to several hobbyists it allows for a much greater chance of it becoming distributed and established in captivity while reducing the number of colonies that must be obtained to meet that specific demand. It also reduces the costs to the hobbyist (in most cases, not all, these days) and allows for people to get corals to grow out in their tanks for a more affordable budget which opens the hobby up to more people without requiring lots more colonies to be imported for a given market.

As far as naming is concerned, for those colonies that are distributed that might actually be of some great interest to the reef community at large, providing a name gives an easy way of referencing a particular colony that got hacked and distributed. Again, the real value of a name is to reference a source and that lineage, and that is why it would be useful.

I agree with your statement 110 percent!

 

[skinz78]

Let's keep this on track please. This isn't about any given vendor and lets keep it this way.

 

[Lateral72]

Back on topic...


I don't necessarily have a problem with chop shops naming corals, as long as it is done with respect to the previous name of the same color morph. For instance, if a company gets in a colony of Magician zoas, they shouldn't turn around and name them something cool to alter the pricing scale. Now, if it's a new color morph that has yet to be seen, by all means name it whatever you'd like. I do understand where Nanofins comes in that it references a particular colony and source, but if the colonies are identical, whether from the same MC or not, they should be called the same thing. But if they display enough difference to warrant a new name (Bowsers vs. CARs for instance) then a new name would be better than trying to pass something off it's not.

But then again, there seems to be an influx of coral frag companies out there and it seems a new outfit pops up every other week. With an unprecedented amount of new morphs coming in, companies have to rush if they want to protect their investments. They need cool names and they need the corals to sell ASAP. The naming scheme seems to impose that there is actually a limited amount of a certain coral available, even if it is very common by another name or no name at all.

I do not mind new colonies being named, fragged and sold as under a new name. As Nanofins points out, it's great for the hobby, and it will actually increase the variety of corals available to us. Think about it, how many of us got a XYZ coral and it morphed into something newer and cooler colored? Now take a single colony, multiple it by 10-100 frags and we'll see how many NEW morphs form out of one individual colony.

 

[Troylee]

I could care less what they do... Except tagging a wild piece with a high end known name to fetch big money...
Pretty plain and simple buy from a trusted vendor...

 

[caudill187]

I believe that I should be designated the "world coral namer" and all cool corals should be sent to me for naming and distribution. This would make things much more simple for everyone

Seriously though, the current system seems to be working, and IMO, the more lineaged and named aquacultured corals that begin circulating in the hobby, the better for our wild reefs. I have heard stories recently of coral importers and wholesalers more frequently naming wild corals and distributing them at "LE" prices, rather than selling them as whole colonies to Vendors that used to do all of the naming (or Vendors that sell them to hobbyist who then name them), which I think is a relatively new phenomenon. I don't know if this is good or bad, but could potentially result in a bigger impact on wild reefs, as wild corals become the "new releases" rather than those acclimated to captivity and aquacultured by smaller vendors or hobbyists. Sometimes these wild palys that are being sold by wholesalers at premium prices are look alikes that are sold under the same name as established corals (ie. bloodshots, armageddons). Sometimes they are the same coral as those that have already been established and circulated within the hobby. Many are newly introduced species.

I'm no expert on the coral business, and am a consumer so as Troylee suggested it is mostly not my business, but I guess when its all said and done, the higher prices that a nice new coral fetches, for anyone, eventually results in more demand for cooler corals and more cool corals for hobbyists like us.......which I like I do think it is important for ME to try to be mindful of the impact of our hobby on wild coral populations and spend my $ accordingly...my two cents.

 

[Paul_N]

I could care less what they do... Except tagging a wild piece with a high end known name to fetch big money...
Pretty plain and simple buy from a trusted vendor...

+1

I'm fine with ANY vendor naming coral whether they are a chop shop or not simply because I don't care what the coral are called. I would buy 1) because I liked the way the coral looked and 2) because of the vendor. I wouldn't really care if they sold me "XXX's brilliant chalice" they named or it was just a no name red chalice. The naming is done so often that it makes me see a thread with a coral and the name really goes in one ear and out the other when I read it. I just look at the pic and the price.

 

[m and m]

Is there any way to add a poll to this?

 

[my2girls]

I don't like named corals period. Chop shop or not. IMO it's a big problem in this hobby. Many reefers buy named corals like they have a coin, stamp or baseball card collection. Pretty lame. I know so many guys that know all the names but can't keep the stuff alive.

 

[-Logzor]

I do agree that the practice of chopping up a colony as soon as it arrives and then turning around and selling the frags ASAP is not in the best interests of the hobby, or business really.

On the other hand I have no problems with MCs being cut up if done in a responsible manner. Honestly, this is only good for the hobby, the corals, and the oceans. If we can spread a specific colony's heritage to several hobbyists it allows for a much greater chance of it becoming distributed and established in captivity while reducing the number of colonies that must be obtained to meet that specific demand. It also reduces the costs to the hobbyist (in most cases, not all, these days) and allows for people to get corals to grow out in their tanks for a more affordable budget which opens the hobby up to more people without requiring lots more colonies to be imported for a given market.

As far as naming is concerned, for those colonies that are distributed that might actually be of some great interest to the reef community at large, providing a name gives an easy way of referencing a particular colony that got hacked and distributed. Again, the real value of a name is to reference a source and that lineage, and that is why it would be useful.

Good point but the problem with this is theory is that you assume those corals will do well in captivity. If a chop shop is cutting up mother colonies and sends out frags that are ultimately doomed, then people will need more frags and thus more mother colonies. In effect, the original distributor of the fragments does not know which specific species/harvest locations/coral types/etc do the best.

On the other hand, if they choose to keep the mother colony for a longer period of time, they will learn which do best and how to harvest those which have the best survival rate, THEN this is where your theory makes sense.

 

[swannyson7]

Is there any way to add a poll to this?

I not positive because I'm still learning, but if you were to start a new thread with a poll I could move the comments in this thread over to the new one and close this thread.

 

[BroncosZOA]

Names

On one hand giving names helps people to distinguish what they have from others.

On the other hand giving something a name is a marketing tool to SELL. Purple zoo with yellow ring and alternating skirts is worse then purple hornet.

Its not being used in a scientific way to develop a complex list of the different variants of zoas, its being used as a way to make money. That is why people are getting annoyed.

There is thousands of different zoas and keep a complex list of all variants is a good idea like zoaid.com but as i said its being used to make money and create hype.

The one thing that distinguishes a purple hornet from a Green bay packer is color and patterns, in scientific terms they are all zoanthids.

 

[Viva'sReef]

Names are cool and all, name away....but I choose a coral based on how good it looks, and the color morph. I've been doing this for years now, and can pretty much look at a chalice frag or even colony and tell you if it's going to do well, or be one of those type that just wither away.

 

[kellyjn]

I could care less what they do... Except tagging a wild piece with a high end known name to fetch big money...
Pretty plain and simple buy from a trusted vendor...

Couldn't agree more. Unless your named coral morphed into an entirely different color in your tank, calling it something similar is lame, desperate, and shady. Strawberry Shortcake ,Blue Shortcake / Armageddons, Green Armageddons / Spacemonsters ,Blue Spacemonsters.