My Experience with the new Purple Monster

[hunterallen40]

Some very exciting news... We were able to get our hands on a colony of the recently imported Purple Monster acros out of the Solomon Islands! Apparently, the shipment was very rough on them (funny -- if you read Tyree's article about them, he had a similar situation with his), so many did not make it.

We got ours on Tuesday (July 30, 2024), and it arrived in the USA the prior Thursday (July 25th, 2024).

Here's a picture of the colony the day we got it.

It definitely wasn't the smoothest transit to us (colony detached from the plate, but what can you do...), but the colony made it in (almost) one piece! We gave it a 10 minute KCl bath (1 tbsp in 1/2 gallon), and moved it into our fishless QT system.

We've been documenting the progress every day since we added it, and taking pictures (no orange filters + daylight spectrums only, of course!). We're starting to see those classic white polyps showing, and are hoping things continue to go well! I figured, as it's now Saturday, it's worth sharing this treasure with all of you.

We'll continue to upload photos, probably decreasing in frequency after things settle down... But you can see all photos so far here.

Here's a close up from today:

We are unbelievably excited to hear everyone's thoughts on this guy! Of course we will never call it the OG, or Tyree's for that matter... But we will definitely be calling ours "purple monster".

Hope you all will join us for the ride!

 

[hunterallen40]

Couple more pics...

 

[hunterallen40]

Cut a frag today... Excited to see how it goes! This guy definitely grows very slowly... Encrusting slower than my speciosas!

The colony is looking MUCH better than it did when it first arrived, and has continued to get that signature purple color. Been amazing to watch!

 

[crazyfishmom]

Looking forward to seeing it 6 months from now!!!!

 

[Reefering1]

When you say "new purple monster", what's that?, a different purple coral from the same area? Might be the pictures but it seems extra bubbly and lacks the distinct Christmas tree shape... still a very nice coral

 

[slingfox]

Looks great!

 

[hunterallen40]

When you say "new purple monster", what's that?, a different purple coral from the same area? Might be the pictures but it seems extra bubbly and lacks the distinct Christmas tree shape... still a very nice coral

This guy was collected from the Solomon islands. Ours doesn't really have the big Christmas tree shape yet, but the other pieces collected from the same colony certainly did. I'm sure ours will get it eventually, it might just take a really long time. I guess we will see!

 

[hunterallen40]

Looking forward to seeing it 6 months from now!!!!

Oh trust me, we are as well!!!

Looks great!

Thank you very much!

 

[Reefering1]

This guy was collected from the Solomon islands. Ours doesn't really have the big Christmas tree shape yet, but the other pieces collected from the same colony certainly did. I'm sure ours will get it eventually, it might just take a really long time. I guess we will see!

Hopefully, but beautiful piece regardless, keep us updated!!

 

[hunterallen40]

Hopefully, but beautiful piece regardless, keep us updated!!

Thank you very much! You know I will!

 

[Big E]

Cut a frag today... Excited to see how it goes! This guy definitely grows very slowly... Encrusting slower than my speciosas!

The colony is looking MUCH better than it did when it first arrived, and has continued to get that signature purple color. Been amazing to watch!

I don't want to come off as a hater but that doesn't look like the original purple monster. The coralite structure doesn't look close nore the growth pattern and color.

The branches are smooth and long and don't have a nobby coralite structure.

A small colony starting to show the Christmas tree growth

 

[Reefering1]

I don't want to come off as a hater but that doesn't look like the original purple monster. The coralite structure doesn't look close nore the growth pattern and color.

The branches are smooth and long and don't have a nobby coralite structure.

A small colony starting to show the Christmas tree growth

Is this your PM? If so, how long have you had it?

 

[hunterallen40]

I don't want to come off as a hater but that doesn't look like the original purple monster. The coralite structure doesn't look close nore the growth pattern and color.

The branches are smooth and long and don't have a nobby coralite structure.

A small colony starting to show the Christmas tree growth

No hate perceived! I started this thread hoping to get some conversation going! I was actually not convinced myself until a LOT of digging. Finding a true, lineaged purple monster is nearly impossible, and extremely hard to prove. As such, I've been looking back to Tyree's original photos for comparison. You must also consider that the OG has been around in the hobby for nearly 30 years, and may have changed over time in several ways. As such I will never, ever claim this is lineaged. But... I still think it's as close as we will get.

Shots like yours there definitely draw some doubt. Shots like this one make me more convinced we actually have the real deal (picture from this article). This looks like a much darker purple version of what I have, and I think we will get to that dark purple in a couple of months.

And I was also able to find a Steven Tyree article about the history of this legendary coral with a photo that looks much closer to the coral I have, even with the lack of obvious christmas tree shape.

 

[Big E]

I had that colony and lost it about 5 years or so ago. The last frag I had I sold to Reefbum.

The coral I had originally came from Tyree back when he first started to sell some. He sold some of it to Sand Dollar I believe, and my friend bought his frag from him. My friend grew it into a huge 8-9" colony with the Christmas tree form.

I'll have to check with my friend on the background/history but I think that's correct.

I know the branches can be shorter or longer due to flow and other variables, but that smooth coralite structure is still evident.

Anyways, you asked for some feedback so I gave you my opinion on what you have and that looks like a different species.

 

[DHK-BHWNJ]

No hate perceived! I started this thread hoping to get some conversation going! I was actually not convinced myself until a LOT of digging. Finding a true, lineaged purple monster is nearly impossible, and extremely hard to prove. As such, I've been looking back to Tyree's original photos for comparison. You must also consider that the OG has been around in the hobby for nearly 30 years, and may have changed over time in several ways. As such I will never, ever claim this is lineaged. But... I still think it's as close as we will get.

Shots like yours there definitely draw some doubt. Shots like this one make me more convinced we actually have the real deal (picture from this article). This looks like a much darker purple version of what I have, and I think we will get to that dark purple in a couple of months.

And I was also able to find a Steven Tyree article about the history of this legendary coral with a photo that looks much closer to the coral I have, even with the lack of obvious christmas tree shape.

I have to agree…

 

[SeaDweller]

Doesn’t @jda have this (real deal PM)?

 

[hunterallen40]

I have to agree…

Looks like your frag made it safely! Super glad to finally get a piece of it out there in the wild!

 

[Reefering1]

Got updated pics?

 

[hunterallen40]

Got updated pics?

Here's the mini colony in my display (taken under LED's). Under LED's it has a slight green glow on it.

The axial corallites remain white, but the rest of the polyps seem more purple than before.

I'll try and get some photos of mommy under the halides tomorrow!

 

[nickm]

Here's the mini colony in my display (taken under LED's). Under LED's it has a slight green glow on it.

The axial corallites remain white, but the rest of the polyps seem more purple than before.

I'll try and get some photos of mommy under the halides tomorrow!

It's an amazing specimen no matter the lineage.