Chris Meckley, the owner of ACI Aquaculture, and I have different levels of experience in the reefkeeping hobby. Therefore, it’s fair to say that his preferences for corals may differ from mine. However, I always enjoy the opportunity to compare and contrast our favorite coral picks whenever we meet at a reef show.
This tradition was first started by Jake Adams and Meckley. At the beginning of each show, they would walk around from vendor to vendor sizing up the selection and picking out some of the most unique pieces.
In an effort to continue this tradition, Meckley and I have done it three times now. Each time, I have learned something new about the unique corals we find. For this reason, I have affectionately named it “The Meckley Awards.”
Most recently, we attended Aquashella in Daytona and walked the floor, viewing the fantastic selection of livestock from the vendors. While searching for Meckley’s top pics, we were both drawn to corals that Reef 2 Aquarium harvested in Australia at the Top Shelf Aquatics booth. One that immediately caught my eye was a beautiful rainbow Button Scolymia.
In true Adams and Meckley style, Chris was instead drawn towards a different coral that many hobbyists likely overlooked due to the other intensely colored corals in this tank. Not only was this Alveopora one of Chris’s top picks, but he also purchased it to place on his farm. According to Chris, “The majority of the Alveopora we see in the trade are generally the encrusting Alveopora catalai or the branching A. spongiosa, and most are green color varieties with white or pink coloration in the mouth.” Chris said this particular Alveopora stuck out to him because “The dark color in its skeleton tissue and polyps with pronounced pink shades on the tips of the tentacles is something you don’t see often and is truly a unique color variation for this species. The thickness of the flower-like tentacles also leads us to believe it is Alveopora tazardi.”
As we moved around the show floor, Chris found another piece that most people would just walk right by. This Cycloceris sp. was sitting in a tiny display tank at the PNW Customs booth. It was brought to the show by Ben Aronowitz from BSA Corals, who is well-known for offering boutique-grade pieces.
Chris explained his top pick, “The dark tissue contrast with long neon green tentacles and bright red/orange hues at the base of the tentacles is not something you frequently see in the trade. Most scientific references refer to the genus in the family Fungiidae as Mushroom Corals. Most are simply referred to as plate corals or “fungia disc” species in the aquarium trade. This plate coral was easily my top pic of the show, and I decided to bring it home to add to our collection.”
Both pieces look to be thriving in the systems at ACI Aquaculture, and hopefully, one day, they will be available to the masses!
As reefing hobbyists, our palate matures, and we learn to appreciate odd and unusual corals that we may have shied away from as beginners. It’s almost like food, art, or even wine. I invite you to participate in this tradition at the next show or swap you attend. You’ll start to see coral in a whole new light.
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