Calling on blue ORA tort owners

[Mihai]

Hi there,

I got today what I hoped to be a frag of a blue ORA tort. The seller was on frags.org with good feedback. The first two pictures below are the frag that I got (sorry for the blur in the second one). The third was the one on frags.org.

I have doubts regarding the frag: for now it looks nothing like what I know to be a blue ORA tort, and nothing like the one on the frags.org picture. Can it be because the frag lost some color during shipping (less than 12 hours, BTW), will it color more later?

Also, he said that it will color more if it has less light. Is this possible? I thought that all corals color more with more light...

Thanks for your time,
Mihai

 

[Oceans Ferevh]

Dousn't look very blue :? Maybe it's just stressed from shiping and needs a little time? I'm no expert on SPS though.

 

[Anonymous]

They do color up/down depends on the light and other parameters that nobody can exactly tell you how to adjust. It is still a black magic right now.

 

[ChrisRD]

I wouldn't be too concerned yet. It can take weeks/months for an SPS frag/colony to really color-up - just be patient.

 

[Anonymous]

They do color up/down depends on the light and other parameters that nobody can exactly tell you how to adjust. It is still a black magic right now.

Screaming light in the 20K range, high current, low nutrients. 8)
At least, all the best SPS tanks that I've seen in person, with blue corals that are still blue, have those things in common.

Jim

 

[Unarce]

Don't worry, Mihai. It definitely looks like a tort. You'd expect the green hue from shipping stress, less intense lighting, etc. (typical of Cali-ORA torts). Who'd you get it from, BTW? The shape looks a lot like one that I sold to someone not too long ago.

 

[Anonymous]

I have a blue tort from ORA, along with a oregon tort, and your's doesn't look that different from my ORA tort. The lower reaches are a bit greenish like yours.

Some corals do color more with less light, although I don't know if these torts have that nature or not...

 

[Mihai]

Thanks guys. I exchanged that frag for another one (same mother colony) that has considerably more color on it. I placed it fairly high up under 250 DE MH (14,000K), let's see what it does in a few weeks.

The guy is Brian E. from Grifton NC. Seems like a nice guy. It's probably because I never saw a blue tort in person (perhaps I imagined it more "ink-solid" than it really is).

Thanks a lot for cooling me off (I was kind of upset with the issue).
Mihai

 

[mopecula]

like everyone said already. i too has an ora tort and it looks exactly like yours and i got it from my local lfs. good luck with it.

 

[middletonmark]

That's what most small ORA torts look like.

The deeper color seems to appear once the colony gets to a certain size. Of course light/chemistry has a lot to do with it too ... but I've been slowly watching mine deepen in color.

And frankly, the lighter blue is neater IMO.

 

[Mihai]

And frankly, the lighter blue is neater IMO.

Well... that's certainly open to debate .

M.

 

[middletonmark]

Yup, but given time I bet yours will blue up more.

Also realize that these seem to change depending on how direct of lighting they get - and more doesn't always equal better for this Acropora IMO.

Looks like a sweet frag of a great coral, either way

[you've got your aesthetics, I've got mine ... and I bet this coral will make us both happy]

 

[Ben1]

My ORA tort was also like this, greenish tint but nice blue on the tips with green polyps. It colored up to a nice blue though. Never as deep like my hoeki though.

 

[Anonymous]

I just got the same frag from Brian as well. Mine looked very similar to yours in the pic but after 2 weeks has colored up quite nicely. He sent me some very nice frags.

 

[Mihai]

I agree, mine colored up nice and solid blue. VERY NICE. I heard that he's taking hisi tank down - it's a pity, as he had some nice corals in there.

M.

 

[Anonymous]

Yes he is, hopefully his friend is buying it and he will be working with him on it to keep the good stuff coming. I picked up 7 frags from him and they are all doing extrememly well. Very nice stuff.

 

[Anonymous]

I never got to see his tank in person, just pictures.