The "brownies" thread of progression, the happy times, the sad times

BoomCorals

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Recently did a "brown acro" experiment after many people shared stories of triumph and dismay, ups and downs, about the "browned" coral they bought. For those who don't know, "brownies" is a term that we started using to describe these pieces. You know the type... Browned or discolored, boring, and dull, found on the rack at your LFS or maybe in the bargain bin of an online vendor.

This thread is to share the stories of your browned acros, whether the outcome was amazing or it ended in a sad white skeleton. Whether you participated in our recent brown acro experiment, or you have a story to share or progress to show of any coral you found, please do so here! In my experience brown coral can on rare occasion provide the most amazing gems in this hobby.

I have certainly had many a browned out coral either die completely or just STN one day and turn into a white skeleton graveyard. But I've also had some turn into incredible pieces that have since been fragged, shared with friends, and even returned back to me as new frags after starting up a new tank etc.

Here are a couple examples of frags that were brown and boring and became amazing pieces.

The first is Midnight Sunrise Millepora.
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Next up is Rose Garden Millepora
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I also had one colony that I bought that was discolored but huge. After a few weeks it started to STN. I left it in the tank until there was nothing but a single branch still showing life, with the rest of the 5" colony nothing but dead skeleton. I broke off that piece and it is starting to return to live, grow new branches, and even showing some new colors. No name for it yet.
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So please share your stories or post your progress as you go!
 

Waters

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I usually have the opposite problem....mine turn brown :) Seriously though, I have always been afraid to buy brown, colorless acros. Maybe I will give them a second look.
 

Ibn

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This
Rp4yZiI.jpg

to this

to this now

That piece looks very similar to one that I just picked up recently. Hopefully it grows into something similar to that beautiful piece of yours!
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Fragged the tip off this one for a buddy. No idea what the colors would eventually be since it started out as brown. Came from an Aussie shipment.
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Had a tinge of color when first picked up. Also, this one has a very unique color to the growing edge, which is only seen as a frag.
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Hints of mint green seen from the original frag before picking it up.
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Pulled out all the BRS reefsaver rock and replaced them with Tonga on 5/3/17. Lost this beautiful piece shortly later.
tris_acro_lost_082217.jpg
 

enveetie

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great progression pics, but i have to be honest, i get so depressed when i see them. it just verifies how slllooooowwwwww acros grow
 

kdino

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Got my order yesterday from Boom and was impressed with the shipment and the sizing of these "small" corals. Here are some pics of the unboxing and the corals themselves.
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Really nice touch with the wax sealed invoice and correspondence
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shipped with a cool pack to keep the corals happy in the summer heat
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Just an example of how the corals were bagged up.
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5 small colonies floating in my little 5.5 gallon office tank

Below are some open air shots of the corals after they were removed, inspected and dipped
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Here are some in tank shots, i kept them on the bases for now as I didn't want to frag them off and stress them out more after a day long dark bumpy box ride
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Ill share some more pics today after 24 hours in the tank, got some decent PE on some pieces but also some RTN/STS on the tenius in the back, which is a shame because that is a beautiful piece, or looks like it will be.
 
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BoomCorals

BoomCorals

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I think that tenuis should be ok as it had that already when I received it, but it still had great PE and the tissue loss did not progress while I had it. But if not let me know!

And you see what I meant about the 2 corals on the same plug? The one looks to be mostly gone but the other is in great condition, hence why I counted it as a "small" piece.
 

KJoFan

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I don't know if the appropriate comment is to say "looking good" because well...but they certainly don't look bad from what I can tell. Save the tenuis you mentioned, but maybe you can frag/save a branch of that one?

So, that's an order of 5 small if I understood you correctly?

Thanks for sharing and looking forward to pics 24 hrs on.
 
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BoomCorals

BoomCorals

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I don't know if the appropriate comment is to say "looking good" because well...but they certainly don't look bad from what I can tell. Save the tenuis you mentioned, but maybe you can frag/save a branch of that one?

So, that's an order of 5 small if I understood you correctly?

Thanks for sharing and looking forward to pics 24 hrs on.
5 small, though most of those were closer to medium size to be honest as I had a lot more mediums than smalls. :D
 
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BoomCorals

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d98dd12dae93634afc6d3dbc760ea54c.jpg
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Got them floating one looks totally gone but Matt at boom refunded it before he sent it out so no complaint here
Yea I knew it was a long shot when I refunded it, but figured I'd send it anyways on the chance some part of it retains tissue and can be fragged to survive.

The rest all look just like they did when I boxed them up! Get them under lights and let's see what kind of colors they show. :D
 

tcarter1936

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Yea I knew it was a long shot when I refunded it, but figured I'd send it anyways on the chance some part of it retains tissue and can be fragged to survive.

The rest all look just like they did when I boxed them up! Get them under lights and let's see what kind of colors they show. :D
It actually does have some tissue left. So there is still hope. All four of the others have a real chance. Can't wait to see if they color up.
 
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