Overrated Corals in the Hobby

[teeeerav]

It's surprising to see how many people don't like bounce mushrooms. While I don't dislike them I'm not inclined to buy them just due to their price, but it makes me think about how a lot of people like animals with deformities such as fancy goldfish or French bulldogs or pugs for that matter.

You can throw me into the group of people that don’t like those animals either. To me, deformities shouldn’t be the end goal, especially if it is detrimental to the health of the animal.

 

[Bitter old man]

Acanthophyllia just a boring donut.

 

[Sam7]

My favorite is the new generation of the "Sam Stars Gen7" .....selling for $999 currently

 

[hatfielj]

Scolys come to mind as over-rated to me. They are nice looking and all, but they don't do anything once you get them. They just kind of sit there and stay the same. They are way too expensive for that in my opinion.

 

[ChinoAquatics]

lol those 1.5K yumas might be overrated for me but the bounce hate is crazy One of my first corals might still be my favorite

 

[christinna77]

Acanthos, scolys, cynarinas... all ridiculously expensive and honestly boring to me. I also find bare bottom tanks with the entire bottom covered in them pretty tacky.

 

[13rodo]

I’m really not into leathers. Give me a torch garden over a toadstool any day!

I wasn’t really into acros until I got this one called a “cherry bomb” at a tidal garden live sale. That one has won me over! I’m thinking my problem is that I never really splurged for something fancy

For the non-acan/scoly folks, do y’all ever watch them after-dark when their tentacles come out?

 

[Baldyreef]

lol those 1.5K yumas might be overrated for me but the bounce hate is crazy One of my first corals might still be my favorite

Gotta say I’m part of the group who’s a fan of bounce shrooms, very nice og!

 

[ChrisfromBrick]

goniopora

 

[Baldyreef]

Acanthophyllia just a boring donut.

And the ones that aren’t are pretty steep

 

[Boxed Fish]

zoanthids and anemones. anemones Remind me of jelly fish, they need there own tank that has very low flow as they move around way to much and could cause disaster I a mix reef. ive seen some nexus and higher end anemones going for 1800 recently. great colors but easily could be a 1800$ mistake in a tank with power heads. zoo's are just pointless above 40$

 

[RocketCityReefer]

Are there certain corals in this hobby that you feel are overrated? Maybe ones that fetch a hefty price, but don't really seem worth it. Or maybe ones that constantly get recommended to beginners and you are tired of seeing in everyone's tank. Or maybe just coral that you don't like in general for no definable reason. While I don't have a lot of coral that I dislike, ones that I don't want to keep in my future tanks are green and pink sinularia. I just feel that they spread too fast, and don't show a lot of vibrant color. Don't get me wrong they are great for beginners and I've had many in my previous tanks, but they just don't appeal to me anymore personally.

A lot of the “high end” anything. The colors are often no different than other corals you can buy. It often feels like they are throwing a special tag on it to charge more.

 

[OGRocksrighton]

I have to say as an Old School reefer that mushrooms and Euphyllia are just not my cup o' tea. "Beginner" corals were for beginners. I get the fascination with mushrooms and truth be told Mr. $10K Purple Jawbreaker mushroom, Ben from BSA is like a little brother to me. I knew him before he had his first reef tank. A torch is a torch is torch. How many overpriced torches have you seen melting away in a Nano/Mini? I guess it's the 101 Dalmatians thing where the popularity craze has a very negative affect on the animals. If you remember the days or if worked at an LFS during the first Nemo mania meets Nano Aquarium perfect storm you remember what happened to Blue Tangs.

 

[Orko]

I just spent $200 on a 2 headed Australian almost see through Octo Spawn it looks incredible... However it is the Most I have ever spent on a peace... Looking at it still I have heart attacks thinking something was wrong with it .. that is prob the most I will ever spend on a coral...

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I'm not a huge fan of the "high-end" coral collecting. This is no jab at anyone who sells corals that are expensive or those who buy them, but I don't see myself doing it.

For example, I like this yellow torch; one place will list it at $30, but another place will list it at $200+ due to the origin of the coral or it being a slightly brighter yellow. I'm going to choose the cheaper coral every time. To some people, names matter, lineage matters, and the exact colors matter. To me, I just get whatever is the cheapest, haha

 

[BeanAnimal]

Anything made more expensive by its name, lineage, or who owns it.

 

[Nordy]

Indophyllia and cynarina, I don’t want to shut off all my flow in the dark period, the skimmer, return, prepare food, stick my hand in the tank and babysit there needs. I have a 1k cynarina Skeleton. I thought I might put a Looney Tunes Stylocoenelia over it, then sell it for 1k when it’s fully encrusted.

 

[Nordy]

I got a Frankie’s Bride mushroom that dislodged off the coral plug within 24 hours of it arriving. My coral spending habits changed drastically after that. I like to think it drifted to a place it was happy to settle in my tank with a groom, and remarkably it would come out with a newbie to show, but there’s a 1 in a million chance. Probably MP40 fodder and degenerated sand bed material for the pods and high end diners of coral flesh.

 

[DmitryB]

Special zoas can be overrated. They often don't look like they were advertised under your particular tank lighting and, surprisingly often, change colors completely, usually in an undesirable way. Prime case: white zombies losing their white patches and becoming a drab maroon paly.

I was excited to build a zoa garden in my 40. Bought a bunch of beautiful Zoas!! After putting them in my tank, 75% of them do not look like their photos under any of my Radion spectrums: no glow, just drab and muted. Very disappointed.

 

[X-37B]

Any coral over $100, lol.
Was going to do high end corals but only have one. I actually prefer coras with unique structure over color.
One of my favorite ones, on the bottom, with a unique growth pattern.