One of our favorite aspects of having a coral reef aquarium is going coral hunting – not seeking out the most gaudy, rare or expensive coral colonies before anyone else but really having an eye for that overlooked piece of exotic coral that is growing on the side of a mushroom rock, buried in a small cluster of Clavularia or zoanthid polyps or growing on the side of just about any other coral. Julian and Victor will feel us on this. The proliferation of fluorescence-highlighting blue LEDs have helped the coral hunt a lot but the act of coral hunting is always one of keen observation and paying attention to detail, which recently paid off with this unbelievable nice chunk of orange polyped purple Porites.
Being a coral reef aquarists is not only being able to find that diamond in the rough, but also the process of tweaking chemistry, lighting, flow and placement to make that coral truly stand out. In just two weeks this lump of Porites coral has slowly but steadily increased in coloration and intensity, firing up its colorful growth margins and beginning to envelop its base. The orange polyp purple Porites is still not in full blow direct light from two Ecoxotic Panorama Pro LED strips but when we move it, lookout! We expect this incredible and large polyp strain of Porites to color up even more as it settles into captive life and we’ll be sure to distribute it far and wide to guarantee that it persists in the hobby, which shouldn’t be hard since this is a hardy Porites afterall.
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