Reef Raft SPS rant... Let's see real pics of your Reef Raft Pieces....

[Proteus]

Originally Posted by Bill@IA

Great. :big grin: You can never tell with words on a screen what is really going on.

That said, there really is no grapevine or secret to Reef Rafts SPS. Sure they get their SPS from the ocean like everybody else but that is where the similarity ends. Jay and Jenson are able to be very selective right where the collection begins and from there they do a terrific job applying the necessary conditions to bring out the colours they see. They use lots of Metal Halide and T5s.
Lucky locals get to see many of these colonies in person and for the most part they really do get amazing stuff………..seriously. Collecting them and working at keeping those colours while aqua culturing these beauties is a lot of fun and a great challenge to me.

Your right.. Bill I found that the colors are very dependent on conditions. If you look at Jay's tanks his halides are inches from the water surface.

[Bill@IA]

Originally Posted by Proteus

Your right.. Bill I found that the colors are very dependent on conditions. If you look at Jay's tanks his halides are inches from the water surface.

Indeed they are. That is the reason why I added IAS in front of the RR Acro named pieces on our website from day one. I can prove lineage on all my pieces, from original Colony to Frag to New IAS RR Colony/Frag but I couldn't guarantee they were going to look exactly the same after being under my lights in my water conditions for an extended period. (Or yours)

[Myka]

After viewing everyone's photos in here, and numerous photos on other threads (and other forums, etc), there is one thing that really stands out to me, and it has to do with the photo people post of the corals mounted in their system. In my experience, SPS coloring is HIGHLY dependent on the amount of nutrients in the water - particularly low, but measurable amounts of nitrate. We all talk about lowering nutrients all the time. However, SPS get color saturation from many things, but one of those things is nitrate from my experiences.

When I look at photos of Reef Raft corals (other SPS too generally) and I can see other corals in the system I can tell by reasonable guess how much nitrate is in the system. OR, it is a system with undetectable nitrate that is fed heavily either by high fish load (lots of fish poop) or feeding SPS directly with small micron foods (powders or liquids). My opinion, is that SPS are the most visually appealing when the tank has as much food in it as the tank can handle without having algae trouble.

Of course, I'm not always right about this, these are animals we're talking about in systems that are anything but alike, so there are MANY variables. Though in my experience, this is certainly a trend.

Here are some photos - the "low nutrient" photos were taken in spring 2011, and the "medium nutrient" photos were taken in winter 2013. These are in the same system, same bulbs (same amount of use on them at the time of photos), etc. Of course these are only a few photos, but take a look at your own tank, at others', and see for yourself.

Here is a piece in my system when the system had undectable nitrate and low fish load:


The same exact same piece in the same system when nitrate was barely detectable, fish load was higher, and I was feeding the corals:





This is Acropora desalwii in low nutrients:



The same exact same piece in the same system when nitrate was barely detectable, fish load was higher, and I was feeding the corals:

[Bill@IA]

Bingo. You said it perfectly, and that is what I like about SPS. It is all about finding that choice piece and bringing out, or keeping, the colours.
This can also be about finding a hidden gem. i.e. Taking an ordinary SPS colony or frag and bringing out more colour.

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Bill@IA

Bingo. You said it perfectly, and that is what I like about SPS. It is all about finding that choice piece and bringing out, or keeping, the colours.

Yes. Those guys have SPS talent! I don't think the photos are adjusted significantly. I've seen some of these pieces at the Reef Raft booth at MACNA 2013 in person. Those guys know how to color up SPS. That's all there is to it. They could make a brown SPS look like the next best thing. This is the trouble with the Reef Raft stuff - most people do not have the talent they do, and thus their RR pieces just do not look like the photos.

I think if people are disappointed in their RR pieces they should be disappointed in their own ability, not the actual coral. From what I've seen, some of the RR pieces are more difficult than others - like the Diablo. If you want something easy to color up, buy a Sunset Monti. I would LOVE to test my own ability with a RR Diablo in my own "medium nutrient" tank, but I don't want to pay that much for an experiment.

[shrimp]

I definitely agree with your thoughts on colours/nutrient levels.

[Bill@IA]

Originally Posted by Myka

Yes. Those guys have SPS talent! I don't think the photos are adjusted significantly. I've seen some of these pieces at the Reef Raft booth at MACNA 2013 in person. Those guys know how to color up SPS. That's all there is to it. They could make a brown SPS look like the next best thing. This is the trouble with the Reef Raft stuff - most people do not have the talent they do, and thus their RR pieces just do not look like the photos.

I think if people are disappointed in their RR pieces they should be disappointed in their own ability, not the actual coral. From what I've seen, some of the RR pieces are more difficult than others - like the Diablo. If you want something easy to color up, buy a Sunset Monti. I would LOVE to test my own ability with a RR Diablo in my own "medium nutrient" tank, but I don't want to pay that much for an experiment.

Reef Raft Canada pictures not so much but Reef Raft USA…thats a whole different story. (No matter anyway, ReefRaft USA is no longer)

Talent?? Yes indeed….but I have also seen some very good SPS collectors fail to colour up some pieces while mastering others. Dialing in the right balance of nutrient import/export is one challenge but getting the right amount of light also makes a huge difference. My SPS will take a lot more light when there is more food available for them and colour up more because of it..

[Myka]

Originally Posted by Bill@IA

Talent?? Yes indeed….but I have also seen some very good SPS collectors fail to colour up some pieces while mastering others.

Oh for sure. I'm pretty sure the Reef Raft guys don't keep the ones they can't master though.