It doesn't look like a pink lemonade to me. Wrong colouration and growth to be a pink Lem.

No, I didn't think it was either, that is why I am asking. The only similar part is the lime stalks. But what is it?

I'm pretty certain that it's an acropora sp.

I think that may be it. Thanks. Or at least I found another pic on the internet that is a pretty good match.
http://urbansage.com/images/Acropora_sp03.jpg

Never heard of it before, though. Guess it is not a designer acro,...LOL.

It can be. Do you want me to give it a name?

Haha, no,... am afraid what that would be...

lol

Doing more research on the internet, it seems there are a lot of corals called Acropora Sp, and many don't at all resemble my coral, or the link above. So is this just a generic catch-all name? Haha, maybe I should give it a name..., before the kien does...

There are a lot of species under the acropora genus. It's just a very specific way of describing a coral if you're like me and generally don't know what type it is.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acropora

first, wow. Your tank is gorgeous.

second, 'sp' is common biological shorthand for 'species'. Acropora is the genus that a good number of our SPS fall in to, the other major genus represented in SPS tanks is Montipora.

For example, 'Bonsai' generally refers to Acropora valida, 'millies' are all various colour morphs of Acropora millepora, Oregon tort is Acropora tortuosa, and I think 'Pink Lemonade' is Acropora nasuta (but don't quote me)

On the other hand, a 'Monti cap' is Montipora capricornis, and all 'digies' (green digi, red digi, etc.) are Montipora digitata

If someone doesn't know the exact species (and this is true in pretty much the entire world of biology), they'll state the genus followed by 'sp.', so 'Acropora sp.' potentially refers to all 149 described species of Acropora, which is why you got such varied results when you searched that term.

In your photos, the overwhelming majority of species are in the Acropora genus, likely several being different colour morphs of the same species, though you've got at least one from the Seriatophora genus (birds nest), a couple Montiporas, and what might be a Stylophora or a Pocillopora, then your LPS.

I do a lot of work out in the grasslands doing vegetation assessments, the entire family of blue grasses (genus Poa), of which Kentucky blue grass (the main component of most Canadian lawns) are incredibly difficult to identify to the species level because there's so bloody many of them and vegetatively they all look the same. The reports we produce almost always list the Poas we find as 'Poa sp.' because we just can't tell what it is with any more specificity than that.

Finally, the common names that you know, like 'Pink lemonade' or 'Strawberry shortcake' are pretty meaningless from a biological point of view. Within a single coral species, colour morphs are HIGHLY variable. The original 'Pink lemonade' coral that everyone is so hot and bothered over and in so many people's tanks are all clonal descendants from a single wild colony that very well may have been completely unique in its coloration for its species. That species likely has dozens (perhaps hundreds) of other colour morphs in people's aquariums, and perhaps thousands or hundreds of thousands of other possible colour morphs still out in the ocean. That one morph from that one colony only has a 'common' name because it happened to be particularly beautiful, and someone at the original coral farm where it turned up had good marketing sense. This is true for all 'named' corals.

That's why I think Kien was only half joking when he suggested you name it. All the famous named corals (red planet, Oregon tort, pink lemonade, etc. etc.) were just random wild caught specimens until someone gave them a name and started selling them, which means that the overwhelming majority of corals you buy or see in people's tanks don't really have 'names' beyond their genus & species (which tell you very little about how pretty a coral will be). If yours is not a direct frag of some mother colony that is already named and out there in circulation (and most corals aren't), and it developed in to a particularly beautiful and desirable specimen, you could name it whatever you want and start selling it.

Who knows, maybe in 10 years people could be coveting 100 dollar frags of 'Reef Pilot's Green Popsicle'.

ugh that was long, I mean - to clarify

What makes 'pink lemonade' different from all other Acropora nasuta (if that's the right species), is that true 'pink lemonades' are direct frags, however many steps removed, off the mother colony that was originally given that name. Theoretically, there could be other A. nasuta colonies out there in people's tanks that look EXACTLY the same in terms of coloration as 'true' pink lemonade, but if they weren't grown from frags off that one specific colony that was originally named 'Pink lemonade', it's technically not.

Pink Lemonade has an interesting history in captivity, it started out as just some random wild acro from Reeffarmers (owned by Steve Tyree, hence 'Tyree's Pink Lemonade). It got passed around a small community of reefers for a while, had a couple of different names, and now, 15 years later is a staple in the hobby. Your pink lemonade is a clone (aka, frag) of that original coral. You could have three other A. nasuta in your tank, even looking very similar, and they wouldn't be 'pink lemonade' because they're not clones of that one original colony, which itself is a clone of probably a single wild specimen. It's why there's more corals than common names, not many morphs get branded like that

Thanks, and kind of confirmed what I was learning about that sp suffix. It is interesting that i did indeed find one pic on the internet that looks exactly like mine (at least to my eyes), but also just has the sp designation. So maybe I should name it.... haha.

And thanks for looking. My tank is still a very early work in progress, and just starting with the SPS. I am learning lots, though, which is a big part of the fun.

haha if that's just starting you're going to need to clear some shelf space for your tank of the month awards.

Shhh, you're not helping....

But honestly, my tank is still almost bare on one side, and I have too much SPS on top where it is shading the lower spots. So, it will take some time and shifting around some rocks, before it looks decent. Coral and rock placement is just another part of the learning, I guess.

Regarding identification, a coral's environment can dictate it's morphology, which makes identification even more challenging.

man ur tank is turning out awesome!! nice work

Thanks. It's slow progress, but very happy with how my SPS is turning out. I've had to do quite a bit of pruning with some of them, and now am thinking might have to move some rocks around to change the placements. And I have some serious warfare happening in a couple spots.

dude i cant wait till i have sps that need pruning lol

Oh it will happen,... you just need the right lights and water conditions. And some patience.

hey, didn't nobody tell you that you can't have nice healthy, growing SPS with LEDs ???? Apparently your tank missed that memo.

Haha, yeah, sure seems so. And maybe some people need their eyes checked, too...

Just got back from Mexico after 9 days, and the fish and corals (except 1 frag) are all good. Parameters all stayed stable, and my dosing did not need adjusting. Glass needed a good cleaning. Only the upstairs tank had an auto feeder going, so the fish were all hungry and happy to see me.

Only casualty (maybe) is a Hawkins Echinata frag (yeah, had to be that one) that got knocked down and buried in the sand. I hadn't epoxied that one down because I was planning to move it later. I suspect one of my hermit crabs is to blame. Then my goby proceeded to bury it. I moved it to my frag rack for now and will see if it comes back to life. Looks a little green now, and no sign of polyp extension.

I have a Foscam camera and my Apex controller set up so I could watch things remotely. Was always good to see some fish swimming around. I did get a little anxious when I saw the weather reports last week with that strong Arctic Outflow. Doesn't take much to get a power outage in my area of Langley. But happily it didn't happen.

But sure is cold coming back home, after laying around the beach there, snorkeling, etc....

This is what my Hawkins Echinata looks like now, after being buried in the sand while I was gone (not sure how long). Is it still alive, and will it recover? Looks a little green, and maybe some RTN at the base. No sign of any polyp extensions.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psc1435a89.jpg

It has tissue so I would say its very much alive. Maybe it just need some time to come out from the shock it received for being buried alive :P Previously, whenever I would see corals are a bit ****ed (less polyp extension and things like that), I would put few drops of amino to cheer them up. I use coral vitalizer now. Atleast, that's my experience.:smile:

Yeah, it looks more alive in the pic. Can't see the flesh detail when looking at it in the tank on the frag rack. Just looks green. It was more blue and light colored before.

Would more or less light be good for it at this point in time? Right now, I have it near the back of the frag rack, so it is not getting too much light.

Can't comment on that with confidence but generally, corals recover better under low-moderate light with lesser than recommended flow instead of. Since it was buried inside sand, I would start it low and then move up a bit every couple of days to the regular position.

Take those with grain of salt since I am talking in terms of regular coral and have heard echinatas can be a bit tricky and they are deep water I believe?

Well, my Hawkins Echinata is still alive. Thought it was going to RTN after being buried in the sand for several days. But looks like that has completely stopped, and not even STN. I think I see some polyps even trying to come out... So pretty happy with that so far.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps9374045d.jpg

Traded for a Strawberry Shortcake frag yesterday. Barely a quarter inch sticking out of the plug, and probably the smallest frag I have ever had. But seems to be alive, and even some polyps showing.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps10b635f3.jpg

Another mystery coral. Anyone know what this is (besides acropora sp.)? Got this frag a few months ago and now branching out in all directions.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps04360f53.jpg

Who did you get it from? Looks like the purple polyp that I had it in Bblinks tank befor

Nope, got it from Kelly (007), but at the time, couldn't tell what it was.

That's a hell of a nice piece over there :mrgreen: Just put a fancy name on it :D

Looks like you are a vivid collection of smooth skin acros :smile:

Purple turtle splatter

hmm.. kelly did get a frag from me as well.

I lost my mother colony, so, I am trying to track down a frag of it from somebody.

I'm sure I can get you a frag, Peter. But it is still pretty small, and would like to grow it out a bit more. It's really taking off now, though, so shouldn't be too long.

Do you know what it is called? It's definitely a nice piece alright.

Haha, yeah, that is a good description of it alright...

Red Planet still growing like crazy.... And can't get any redder than this.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psa5f8c303.jpg

And this is what it looked like just 11 months ago when I got the frag.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...psb8ae2235.jpg

Thats less than a years growth?? Wow that red planet grows fast!

Well, actually, it was slow to start. Here it is from last Apr, just barely covering the plug.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps4e404d36.jpg

And this is from Oct, barely 2 months ago.
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps932c66af.jpg

As you can see, it has pretty well doubled in size in just the last 2 months. And the color is much better now. So it definitely likes something in my tank.

That is impressive. I can't believe how fast that has grown. Mine has just started to grow noticeably faster. I hope it takes off like yours :mrgreen:

What happens when a Setosa meets a Red Planet?
http://i1304.photobucket.com/albums/...ps5b7f985c.jpg

Who wins? I am OK if they just put up a border between them, but if one starts killing the other, then I will have to do something. I had to lay down an epoxy strip to stop my Sunset Monti from killing a neighbor SPS. Is that necessary again in this case, too?