Did I mess up by buying an non BIGR Walt Disney?

[Thomasreef]

I recently acquired a Walt Disney coral and shared it in my local reefing community. However, someone commented that it was a mistake not to buy the BIGR version. Is that true? I believe the one I got is authentic (photo below). What do you all think?

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

What does BIGR mean?

 

[Psyduck]

If you truly care about where it came from, then that statement would matter but it appears to be walt disney tenuis so to me thats what matters. Colors change depending on many factors so who cares as long as you are happy with the purchase?! At the end of the day many name corals are commonly collected. People pay more for the store names where they first started selling tbh.

 

[Psyduck]

What does BIGR mean?

What people call OG walt disney

 

[Thomasreef]

If you truly care about where it came from, then that statement would matter but it appears to be walt disney tenuis so to me thats what matters. Colors change depending on many factors so who cares as long as you are happy with the purchase?! At the end of the day many name corals are commonly collected. People pay more for the store names where they first started selling tbh.

so shouldn’t this be a frag from the original mother colony?

 

[ChiCity]

What does BIGR mean?

What people call OG walt disney

it’s actually a guy named mike biggar,
who sadly passed away from cancer a few years back

 

[exnisstech]

Sounds like you have a coral snob on your community

 

[Psyduck]

so shouldn’t this be a frag from the original mother colony?

Thats hard to know. Even at stores, unless they literally record all the lineage they wouldnt know either.

 

[Reefer Matt]

It could be anyway. But unless the vendor signs a piece of paper saying that they sold you one, no one can really claim the brand name anyway. Lineage usually only matters to collectors, and is almost impossible to track. There is no standard process or recognized authority.

 

[Reefer Matt]

What does BIGR mean?

Here’s the memorial thread.

Thread 'With Love for One of Our Own... A Memorial Fundraiser for the Family of Mike Biggar'
https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/w...draiser-for-the-family-of-mike-biggar.754982/

 

[Charlie the Reefer]

Agree with a lot that was said here.

1. The same lineage can look very different in different tanks/environments. Even in my tank, I have multiple spectrums/filters I can throw on to really change how the coral fluoresces. Blasting cool white, white, royal blue, violet, blue, etc...

2. Same lineage can look very different as a frag. Frags, especially tiny ones, in my experience can get drastically different colors than the mother. Also, mini colonies even get different colors than both frags and mother! Especially when its first cut and is healing.

3. Echoing what someone else said, names actually do matter to some people. I care about names for example because certain named corals do actually literally have a genotype associated with them and when you get to 50+ species that starts to matter, just for organization.

4. On the other hand names sometimes don't matter to me. At the end of the day I also like coral that just looks cool/different. It's up to what you want. What corals you like are subjective, and often a named coral may cost a lot more than something that looks very comparable, or even cooler. I'd say that guy is in the wrong for saying "what you should have bought" because it's subjective and up to you.

5. The only other thing is if you aren't confident about lineage, don't frag it and sell it with that lineage name because it's just dishonest practice. I'd say it matters less if you're not looking to produce a lot of frags but reef keeping is a small community and reputation is really important.

Hope that helps a bit, just my opinions.

 

[Charlie the Reefer]

I'd also just like to add that based on that pic alone that 100% looks like and could be a BIGR Walt Disney.

 

[McPuff]

I had "normal" and BigR WD in my tank at the same time and they really didn't look much different. Still have one of them and I really don't remember which it is. But I like it cuz it has cool colors. If you like the way yours looks, just enjoy it.

 

[Thomasreef]

I'd also just like to add that based on that pic alone that 100% looks like and could be a BIGR Walt Disney.

Seems like you are right, I asked the store and they claimed it was the original.

 

[kenchilada]

If you like it, it was not a mistake.

If you don’t like it, it was a mistake.

Wives are the same way.

 

[Troylee]

Agree with a lot that was said here.

1. The same lineage can look very different in different tanks/environments. Even in my tank, I have multiple spectrums/filters I can throw on to really change how the coral fluoresces. Blasting cool white, white, royal blue, violet, blue, etc...

2. Same lineage can look very different as a frag. Frags, especially tiny ones, in my experience can get drastically different colors than the mother. Also, mini colonies even get different colors than both frags and mother! Especially when its first cut and is healing.

3. Echoing what someone else said, names actually do matter to some people. I care about names for example because certain named corals do actually literally have a genotype associated with them and when you get to 50+ species that starts to matter, just for organization.

4. On the other hand names sometimes don't matter to me. At the end of the day I also like coral that just looks cool/different. It's up to what you want. What corals you like are subjective, and often a named coral may cost a lot more than something that looks very comparable, or even cooler. I'd say that guy is in the wrong for saying "what you should have bought" because it's subjective and up to you.

5. The only other thing is if you aren't confident about lineage, don't frag it and sell it with that lineage name because it's just dishonest practice. I'd say it matters less if you're not looking to produce a lot of frags but reef keeping is a small community and reputation is really important.

Hope that helps a bit, just my opinions.

Just for the record linage won’t work with these vendors today! There’s so many sticks out there that vendors have tagged their own names on! A tranship comes in it gets cherry picked and certain vendors get a colony of this and that and then it’s got multiple names and the same coral lol.. it’s not like the old days! I can name several Millie’s and tenuis that are identical and I’ve seen them grow together and combine to make a single colony but yet it was from 2 different places and had 2 different names! Some vendors even love to take a coral that’s been around and slap a new name on it for more coin! Sad but true!

 

[Reefer Matt]

Just for the record linage won’t work with these vendors today! There’s so many sticks out there that vendors have tagged their own names on! A tranship comes in it gets cherry picked and certain vendors get a colony of this and that and then it’s got multiple names and the same coral lol.. it’s not like the old days! I can name several Millie’s and tenuis that are identical and I’ve seen them grow together and combine to make a single colony but yet it was from 2 different places and had 2 different names! Some vendors even love to take a coral that’s been around and slap a new name on it for more coin! Sad but true!

Many Reefers want names though. They sometimes get mad when we say it doesn’t have one. The hype outweighs the purists now. It also gives them a way to look up the coral and see the average price. Oh well, different times I guess.

 

[bakbay]

Many Reefers want names though. They sometimes get mad when we say it doesn’t have one. The hype outweighs the purists now. It also gives them a way to look up the coral and see the average price. Oh well, different times I guess.

Indeed - same with torches now. They're pretty much very similar, if not the same coral; however, vendors called it their own due to water parameters, lighting, flow, and Photoshop setting! Very sad...

 

[Reefer Matt]

Indeed - same with torches now. They're pretty much very similar, if not the same coral; however, vendors called it their own due to water parameters, lighting, flow, and Photoshop setting! Very sad...

Even wholesalers/importers are naming coral before retailers/vendors get them. Coral have become a niche traded commodity instead of captive animals. Reef tanks are a showcase of not ocean life, but a trophy of dollars to some. Imo, a Corvette is a much better way to go in that regard. Lol!

 

[bakbay]

So supply and demand! As long as the demand is there —why ruin such a beautiful supply chain?

I would love to bring the cost down so many other hobbyists and I can enjoy but I’m just an army of one. For starters, stop paying retail price and boycott others?