Mycedium robokaki is a chalice coral that continues to surprise us. We’ll never forget the first time we spotted Mycedium robokaki with a plain tan base color and tiny bright orange mouths. Back in 2007 the reef hobby was still ruled by Acans and lords so chalices hadn’t yet hit the mainstream but even then, we couldn’t wait to get a frag of this beautiful coral.
Fastforward five years and we’ve now seen Mycedium robokaki in a myriad of colors with bright ornage or yellow oral discs being fairly common, and maricultured colonies are quite often available for less than a bill. A new color strain of Mycedium robokaki with stupendous bright pink oral discs has just been teased by LiveAquaria, officially introduced as the Raspberry Eye Robokaki chalice, the August frag of the month.
Mycedium robokaki looks a lot like a smooth-skinned Echinophyllia chalice coral, but the thin skeleton and closely spaced corallites are much, much smaller. In nature the robokaki chalice is found in moderate energy environments that are not too bright, not too clean and not to much water flow. The conditions of the natural environment in which Mycedium robokaki is found means that it is the epitome of a perfect aquarium coral – it doesn’t require bright light, in fact it will bleach easily if given too much, it doesn’t need too much flow and it grows rather fast.
All of these features ensure that LiveAquaria will have a hit with their new DFS Raspberry Eye Robokaki chalice, since collectors to beginners will be in the market for such a gorgeous coral. Better yet, if their green Mycedium chalice coral is only selling for $59, the new Raspberry Eye Robokaki probably won’t be much more than a $100 and for a good size frag too, not like the booger sized-freaking crazy chalice corals that have been breaking the records for the price-to-size ratio of coral frags.
If you think you want to get yourself a piece of Mycedium robokaki chalice coral, keep an eye out for a decent sized piece of the “standard issue” brown with orange mouths strain being maricultured in Bali and elsewhere. And if you want to get you a piece of LiveAquaria’s Raspberry Eye Robokaki it should be released and quickly selling out from the aquacultured coral section of the Divers’ Den starting this month.
