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I thought it would be a good time to introduce a new feature here at Fragd.it blog named Coral Trends. We will try to give you all a monthly focus on whats hot in coral for the US and Canadian markets.
We are fortunate to be in one of the hot spots of coral importation in North America. We have seen a lot of corals pass our eyes, and those we didn’t see often enough end up in our collection! But this feature is not about us, rather about what other reefers are calling amazing, and eyecandyful!
So without any delay, here are the current hot items in the market:
CANADA:
Deep Water Zoanthids
There are about 5 morphs that have come in from an Indonesian supplier. I could only find 3 pictures of these morphs. There are other pictures out there, but are clearly photoshopped. Above photos are as real color representations as you can get. Pictures courtesy of North American Fish Breeders.
United States:
Echinophyllia (Chalice Coral)
These corals are so hot right now, that frags are going for well over 100$. You know when a coral group is hot when they are receiving looney names. Photos are courtesy of Reef 2 Reef.
Trained by the thirteenth ring master of the Sian Xiuang Coral Temple. Currently is apprenticing the art of Acropora shaping in the ancient tradition of Ninja Fragging. Known as the SPS hero! 
Great idea guys! Good write up on the current state of the industry as far as “wants” too. The acan craze seems to be dieing down a fair bit as well, much to the dismay of one of the GTA’s retailer’s!
Here is a few of my untouched “Deepwater” zoanthid pictures to add to the piece:
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c175/dbleg2k/My%20Coral/DWZOAS1.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c175/dbleg2k/My%20Coral/DWzoas.jpg
These are a little blurry sorry
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c175/dbleg2k/My%20Coral/DWzoas3.jpg
http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c175/dbleg2k/My%20Coral/NAFBSWZOAS.jpg
Thanks Gregg. Yup, those are the zoas. I am pretty sure once the chalice insanity dies down, these zoas will be hot for a few months.
I think the chalice craze is hitting its crescendo. There are too many no-named “named” corals out there now. It’s the crazy names that will ruin the market. Every store and their dog now has a LE chalice and it’s loosing it’s face value. The originals will remain pricey ie: Tyree watermelon/red watermelon, Bazooka Joe, the original mummy eye and Oregon mummy eye, Miami hurricane/pumpkin patch, not so much the Bubblegum Monster since it grows like a weed. But the new named corals will only be collectable to those that are serious collectors, not to the everyday reef keeper. And as soon as they have their one eye frags and they share them with their friends the demand will die and prices will drop. It’s the same as any craze coral, the real gems remain expensive and elusive and the rest just look good but aren’t worth as much.
Don’t get me wrong, I love some of the chalices out there, but I just don’t think the craze will last much longer. Zoanthids are in the same boat. A good PPE is still in demand. You can still find good bidding wars on eBay for a purple hornet, etc. Chalices have been maxing out around $250-500 while some zoo’s are going for $800 (high end of the scale albeit).
Maybe I am out to lunch, but that’s how I read into it.
I think it is great you are doing a feature on coral trends. I am amazed that every time I go on my local coral forum, I see some new type of coral that is hot hot hot and expensive expensive expensive. Alot of times it seems cheaper to buy a coral from a store or online rather than from a fellow reefer. It’s like the comic book collecting craze of the 90s.
I vividly remember that comic book craze. I actually still have the comics, that are now worthless
Thanks for reading John, and stay tuned for more installments of this cool feature.
Well, sweet… Someone will love this and I can’t wait to tell her about this. Thanks again…
Acans where the craze not to long ago too, Glad I didn’t overpay. They seem to be much cheaper now. I try and stay away from the “corals of the month” No point in paying double.
But if you are first to have them.. you are cool!!
Who starts these trends? I mean, are these rare corals that happened to be newly discovered, or were not available in volume?