Does Lineage Matter?

[Shep]

So I've kind of wondered this for awhile now but does lineage actually matter/increase the cost of a coral? I always see people asking for or stating the lineage of a coral but unlike an animal or a piece of art, its really difficult if not impossible to prove the lineage of a coral. (partially due to the way corals are fragged, sold, fragged, sold....) So why do people still care so much about it? I understand the idea of having an idea of how it will color/grow but this has never been a strong reason for me simply due to the fact corals grow and color up so differently depending on the lighting, placement, water quality, etc. This is by no means trying to start a flame war or troll people, I am just generally curious about it.

 

[Zero Nitrates]

Doesn't matter to me, but I do like to buy frags from tanks with established colonies.

 

[Diesel]

I have tried this last year to sell the same corals.
I sold the linage named frags before the unnamed frags, the thing is the unnamed frags were all linage frags too.
Some hobbyist were asking if I knew the name but stayed blunt on that as it was a test for myself.
Others noticed in a way that the unnamed rack had some similar looking corals............ well they were the same, lol.

 

[hybridazn]

To me it doesn't affect the cost of the coral in my book. I'm mostly concerned about getting a piece from the source that introduced it or close to it.

 

[vanpire]

Lineage itself doesn't matter to me, except for one characteristic: how long has it been in captivity. Usually, but not always, corals with well know and long lineage have been in captivity for a while and more likely to survive in my tank.

 

[nemo1017]

1. Do I like it.
2. Can I keep it alive and thriving.
3. Did the other guy have pests.
That's about all that crosses my mind lol.

 

[kschweer]

I would say it depends on the person. Some will day without a doubt while others don't care. I personally don't usually care but with certain corals with many "look a likes" out there I ask for it especially if a premium price is being asked.

 

[hinovak]

The funny thing about the whole lineage fiasco. Is that there are multiple named corals that are essentially the same coral. I have seen first hand several, that to the naked eyes can not be distinguished from one sellers original colony, to the next. Of course you can put the corals side to side under the "microscope" and maybe notice a few minute details, however, nothing so great in my humble opinion that it really should make that much of a change in the price of said coral. My LFS store has four different versions of the orange passion. RRA, RRC, SC, RRUSA. Yes if you had them lined up side to side, you can tell a tiny bit of difference in a couple, however due to different prameters in every tank, which will affect the corals display of colors, I seriously doubt anyone would be able to tell which was which. Even in their display tank, which is quite large, I can not see any difference between them from that distance. To me, the whole lineage thing is more of bragging rights sake, than actually the display of colors for many of the corals available. Of course, with anything, there are exceptions to the rule, where a certain coral does display better colors to a similar looking one, but honestly, each system is so different prameter wise, the said coral will look vastly different even if they are both cut from the mother colony at the same time. I am amazed how different some of my favorite corals look in other friends tanks, after I have given them a piece, and they grew it out. There are just too many variables that effect what trait the coral displays. A coral in a zeovit tank will look nothing like the same coral in a high nutrient tank. Sorry, got a little off topic, but you get where I am going.

 

[WilRams]

I don't really care as long as I can tell the coral is what it is being sold as. When I bought my WWC Bounce the seller had lineage that easily traced back to WWC. It was nice to have but did not make or break the deal for me. I put it down in my notes and will pass it on to the next person.

 

[Tegridy Reef]

I fell some corals have multiply name and some corals I think mater but some I don't think so I thinks naming is getting goofy now

 

[Sabellafella]

Its different for others, personally i never onced asked for lineage to anything because ill never buy somthing expensive unless i see it for myself. But online orders, especially people who are spending tons of money, have the right to know where the title came from. I deffinitly agree, certain times people should not worry about it.

 

[saltyhog]

At one time I had three different frags from the same colony that looked completely different in the three different places in my tank that they occupied. I agree with above...how long has it been in captivity, what does it look like, are their pests in the tank it's in.

Additionally, I don't care for it especially if it's the cause of the "booger" size frags that are sold these days.

 

[Shep]

I think my biggest problem is that there is almost no way to really prove the lineage of a coral, maybe for the first two or so fraggings but after that...

 

[watchguy123]

Lineage is simply the attempt as a purchaser to replicate the appearance of a colony described or pictured. The old limited editions or the "named" corals were called proven in that they had been in tanks for so called generations and that both their survival and color were reasonably likely.

We all realize frags morph for many reasons and color is definitely not guaranteed. My experience is that it takes a year or two to really know if that frag you just purchased is going to color up to that colony you were hoping to have. I have had frags that never turned out to be what I had hoped. I've probably bought 5 or 6 tyree pink lemonades till I found the one that developed to my hopes. I think the other frags most likely were not authentic lineage. I believe that happens because legitimately someone buys a lineaged frag that isn't, and that error is passed on without malice. I also think some people sell not lineaged as lineaged but I assume very little of that sort of misbevior actually takes place. Mistakes do get made. And perhaps with my tyree pink lemonades, maybe if my reefing skills were better, I would have colored up that first frag or maybe I should have bought it from Steve Tyree in the first place