Let's talk rare soft corals

Tamberav · Feb 20, 2023

rja said:
Hey R2R,
I am newly interested in rare(ish) soft corals after having interest in Zoanthids, Euph, and many of the other commonly favorable coral species. My interest peaked when I was searching for higher light/flow corals that I could populate the upper part of my tank with. I wanted to avoid acros at all costs and the easier SPS never has interested me. So, I turned to Sinularia and Sarcophyton. After getting a very large Toadstool and Kenya Tree colony, I began searching for individuals with more color to glow better under my predominantly blue spectrum. So, I sought out a neon green sinularia and some form of Japanese Long Polyp Toadstool.

Although none of this is rare by any means, I am simply curious as to what is truly out there in terms of unobtainable soft corals. My LFS has what appears to be a true OG Weeping Willow with the 5-inch tentacles. This coral is NFS and has been so for as long as I can remember. I saw a YouTube video showcasing a yellow leather before, apparently those are very rare as well. Much of what I see on the internet as far as rare leather corals are fake weeping willows or very old forum posts about neon colored toadstools and sinularias which appear to actually be dyed. Apparently dyeing corals used to be a thing-- But that is a topic within itself.

Regardless; can anyone provide me with some photos or names of some truly rare soft corals? There just seems to be no real hype surrounding them the way rare acros, torches, zoanthids, and mushrooms have.

Yes, mushrooms and zoanthids are soft corals which are part of the rare hype-train. May we leave these two types of coral out? Unless we are talking about some really insane ones like the Doughboy shroom, etc.

Thank you all!

Many nice softies are not going to look that great under heavy blues.. you may want to rethink that if you really want a variety of nice colors.

You can get the true yellow leathers but it is more from other hobbiest and not so much a LFS.

Unobtainable? Probably a frag from the original weeping willow, I mean exact parent/lineage and not the copycats.

Video Details the Attributes of True Weeping Willow Leather | Reef Builders | The Reef and Saltwater Aquarium Blog

Let’s get one thing out of the way, there are NO original Weeping Willow leather corals for sale anywhere, because I know the three people I’ve ever given frags of this coral to. However…

reefbuilders.com

Bedsides what @Grsfish listed as they covered most I would have chose, I would add certain color morphs of Stereonepthea hard to find, chili coral is less common too, blue Effaltournaria, and actual colored blue xenia.

Tcook · Feb 20, 2023

This was my yellow Fiji. Had a few other leathers.

reeftwincities · Feb 20, 2023

@Acroporaguy those are some of the nicest corals I’ve ever seen. I’d also consider a Canada trip as I’m in MN and visit a decent amount with gf family there (obv would need to check permits). We need those in the states!!

My rare:
-pulsing sinularia (tho all the pics I’ve seen online appear pink and mine is more gray)
-yellow figi leather
-lots of stereonepthias
-jawbreakers

littlebigreef · Apr 29, 2023

There’s several different weeping willows, all are special in their uniqueness. I’m a zoa collector, but I absolutely love blue sympodium, I’m doing a dedicated rock of them and a nice flame clove variety.

On a side note, I always enjoy seeing nice softie/sea whip/gorgonian established aquarium. Throw in a chilli coral, some carnations and keep it going, that’d be pretty cool.

Cheezle · Aug 7, 2023

Devaji · Aug 15, 2023

Grsfish said:
Some that are not as common now that have taken me years to get are the yellow Fiji leather
Pulsing sinularia
I have a few different types of long polyp toadstool leathers that are pretty nice and not as easy to find
Neon green capnella is pretty nice
Ruby red Xenia is also nice and not as common
Here are some pics so you can see what they look like