[big 5]

saw an authentic steve tyree purple monster frag the other day is this coral actually worth the cash?

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by big 5

saw an authentic steve tyree purple monster frag the other day is this coral actually worth the cash?

Where did you see this authentic Steve Tyree purple monster frag?

He's only selling one frag per month at $135 each and he's booked solid until February 2009. According to Steve, there are a lot of so-called authentic purple monster frags on the market that are not authentic.

As to whether it is worth the money or not, it's simply a matter of supply and demand. The demand exceeds the supply. It's an extremely delicate, extremely slow growing Acropora sp. (possibly A. valida) with an unusual growth form and an intense coloration.

[Poseidon]

okay I'm completely LOST on this... Never heard of a purple Monster, and I've never seen a frag priced at at $135.00!!! Do either of you have a picture or a link so I can see what you are talking about???

[zhenya]

Originally Posted by Poseidon

okay I'm completely LOST on this... Never heard of a purple Monster, and I've never seen a frag priced at at $135.00!!! Do either of you have a picture or a link so I can see what you are talking about???

here you go,Mike.I hope Steve won't mind me using pic from his site

http://www.reeffarmers.com/current_purplemonstor.jpg

You can visit the www.reeffarmers.com for details and prices on some other pieces

[Ninong]

Originally Posted by Poseidon

okay I'm completely LOST on this... Never heard of a purple Monster, and I've never seen a frag priced at at $135.00!!! Do either of you have a picture or a link so I can see what you are talking about???

Click on Limited Edition Corals Updated 2/17/04: http://www.reeffarmers.com/
Then scroll all the way to the very bottom of the list.

This is what Steve Tyree has to say about the Purple Monster on the Purple Monster's webpage:

The Purple Monstor Coral has been written about and talked about by quite a few reefkeepers now. I thought I would include this Purple Monster Page to give reefkeepers some facts behind the coral. This coral was exported from the Solomon Islands in 1995. Since then, I have seen thousands of corals exported from the Solomons and Fiji. I have not seen this coral in any of those shipments since 1995. There are corals that are similar to the monster and I have given these the name of Purple Monster - Like corals. What is unique about the monster is the shape of the branches which taper to a point with short rounded corallites and its unique intense coloration. In fact one of the corals that came in that 1995 shipment (which unfortunately did not make it) was shaped like a minature christmas tree. The polyps are extremelly small for an Acropora and white. This species is very difficult to keep and has a very slow growth rate. Slow growth rates are typical for corals that are difficult and have very small polyps. I believe there are only a handful of living fragments of this coral with probably less than 6 surviving. I know some people are out there selling purple monstor fragments but what they probably have are purple monster-like fragments. The purple monster coral grows too slow to be a good candidate for farming. If you have recieved a fragment compare it to the above pictures to verify if it is the real Purple Monster.

Veron (author of Corals of Australia and the Indo-Pacific) has seen the mother colony and could not identify it. He guessed that it might be an Acropora valida since he has seen that species grow into this unique morphology or shape. The uniqueness in the form is the tapering shape of the thick branches. They almost look like your typical christmas tree shape with a fat bottom area that tapers to the pointed tip. The purple monster-like corals are probably thick acropora loripes or austera. The like imposters do come from Fiji and Solomons, but I have yet to see the real purple monster morph of A. valida imported since 1995. I have never seen the true exotic morph come in from Fiji. The name of Purple Monster was coined by Steve Shvetstoff who lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. Originally I thought a good common name would have been the Christmas Tree Coral since that describes the rare form. This name was already used by another coral and the phrase Purple Monster became the popular name. The League of Coral Farmers and DE are not farming the real monster simply due to its slow growth rate and lack of fragments. We will try to bank this particular species for future farming potential.


Purple Monster in 1995



Purple Monster in early 1996

[kevinpo]

I have one So far it hasn't been too impressive but this is often the case with frags. When they grow into large colonies they can take your breath away (well maybe this just happens to me).

Regards,
Kevin

[Reefland]

It sure is an awesome looking coral!

[Poseidon]

Yup sure is!! I really like that DEEP DEEP PuRpLe!!! but $135.00 OUCH!!! I think I try my luck a Blue Tort first!!!

[loc01]

Check out this site .

http://www.reefermadness.us/images/RMD02200092.jpg

[reddhaus]

Originally Posted by loc01

Check out this site .

http://www.reefermadness.us/images/RMD02200092.jpg

I saw this on reefermadness last night and have become very interested. The price is very steep but it is a very beautiful piece. The coloration is just incredible to me.