Buying brown outs

[SeanCallan]

I've had a very limited exposure to brown outs and I was curious why fewer reefers purchase brown outs.

 

I may be misguided in my statement but the majority of the reading I've put in over the years when I had my tank and even after the fact usually turned up very few people purchasing brown outs.

 

I'm not sure if there are vendors in the area who would be willing to sell them, but I know I for one would love to get a hold of a few little colonies when I have my tank up and running. I had the opportunity (a while ago) to acquire a brown out tabling acro which eventually turned into an amazing piece: Purple base with green tips and red polyps.

 

Any reason why most people stay clear of brown outs?

[dzekunoi]

IMHO because it's gambling. Can be good, can be not so.

[blaze98]

I will buy browned out frags, colonies....not so much. I have had 2 frags that started out brown turn into nicely colored pieces, one was a tri-color, one purple. I just don't think people are willing to pay the money for brown colonies.....as dzekunoi pointed out it is a gamble, I will gamble $10 to see what happens but less inclined to spend $40 or $50.

[SeanCallan]

I will buy browned out frags, colonies....not so much. I have had 2 frags that started out brown turn into nicely colored pieces, one was a tri-color, one purple. I just don't think people are willing to pay the money for brown colonies.....as dzekunoi pointed out it is a gamble, I will gamble $10 to see what happens but less inclined to spend $40 or $50.

 

I managed to get my acro for $15 it was about the size of a baseball.

 

Are there any stores around here who have brown outs or do you get them online?

[jamesbuf]

Never heard it called that before. Looks like you're going to be a good contributor to the club. I personally have never seen a store advertise a "brown out", but if they do have something brownish, it usually is much cheaper than everything else.

[blaze98]

The brown outs that I found were at Roozen's, but they get so much stock it is a matter of luck coming across a nice piece. These two have been the only corals that I have purchased from there and I think it was a matter of luck that I found them hiding in the back of one of the tanks.

[treesprite]

don't corals sometimes become brown if xoanthellae is overgrowing from too much nutrients? In a case like that, isn't the coral still healthy? This is what I see written in places that talk about nitrate at 10 or 15.

[jason the filter freak]

seems like a gamble that may or may not be worth taking

[davelin315]

I enjoy buying them periodically if I can identify something promising in the coral itself, whether it's growth pattern or unusual corallite structure, or hints of other colors buried below. I don't see too many, though, as many of them are such common corals that it's not worth pursuing them (for instance, I would most likely never buy a brown M. digitata as it's likely to stay that way).

[onux20]

This guy was brown from Apr untill about Aug. Here are before and after shots....

 

Ron

 

[zoozilla]

Nice find, Ron

[onux20]

Nice find, Ron

Thx

[SeanCallan]

Definitely a nice piece.

 

When I have my tank up and running I want to try and get my hand on maybe 2 small brown out colonies, sure it's a gamble but isn't everything in this hobby?