TM

Limited Edition -
Acropora efflorescens
500 Dollar Efflo
500 Dollar Efflo Original Colony Showing Intense Pigmentation
Photo by Anthony Yang
This Acropora efflorescens has two claims to fame. It has one of the most intense overall purple colorations of any Acropora efflorescens we have seen. Typical purple efflorescens corals have purple tips or purple branches. This particular A. efflorescens coral however can develop a solid purple coloration. In addition to this color, the coral also has a rather well known history in captivity. The online retailer who had the colony, has stated that initially he did not want to sell it. He had kept the coral for a year and it had colored up quite dramatically in captivity, but eventually it was listed for sale at a $500 price. At that time (January 2004) this was a very high price for an Acropora colony. The coral was sold by Anthony of Aquadesignz located in Los Angeles California. Avid reef aquarist Steve Weast of Portland Oregon purchased this incredible colony from Anthony around January 2004. Unfortunately the coral did not survive the transportation stress of being shipped from Los Angeles to Portland. When the coral arrived it was losing tissue and the colony did not survive long after. So this incredible coral then became infamously known as the $500 efflo colony. In fact there was even a forum message thread on Reef Central about this particular coral. Reeffarmers was not involved with the initial sale of this colony, but historically Steve Tyree has found that the shipping of whole Acropora efflorescens colonies within the U.S. can be difficult. Luckily however, Anthony of Aquadesignz had distributed one fragment of the coral to Roland Balmes located in Southern California. After the entire colony was lost, Roland then became the keeper of the $500 efflo. While Roland had the coral, he only distributed a couple fragments of the coral to a few aquarists. Roland thinks the coral develops more intense pigmentation under 14K and 20K lighting. Reeffarmers was lucky to acquire a couple of these $500 Efflo fragments in the summer of 2004. Unfortunately, Roland then lost his entire colony of the coral while waiting for a new tank to be delivered. According to Roland, he believes that only Reeffarmers was able to keep fragments of the coral alive. And it was not easy for Reeffarmers to keep our fragments alive. They were unfortunately frequently stung by other corals and did not do well the first year we maintained them. We eventually were able to get both fragments established as they grew some encrusting bases. One of the fragments even began to develop a main trunk and upward branches during the summer of 2005. Reeffarmers never made or distributed any fragments of these corals until we eventually harvested a couple of fragments and traded them back to Roland in late 2005. Roland had recieved his new reef aquarium by then. Reeffarmers is now in a position to distribute captive grown corals of the infamous $500 Efflo as a Limited Edition. After the First Edition auction, the first monthly reservation of this coral will be given by Reeffarmers to Steve Weast of Portland Oregon. In Reeffarmers captive reef the coral is currrently positoned to recieve moderate light levels under a 400 watt 20,000 K Radium Metal Halide. The coral appears to develop its most intense purple color under strong lighting. Limited Edition Reservation price for fragment is currently $125 per small sized fragment. The monthly limited edition reservation schedules can be found below. Please note effective July 2009 we have changed the harvesting and reservation schedule to bimonthly. This better matches the corals long term growth rate in captivity.
500 Dollar Efflo Roland Balmes Colony
Typical Efflo Growth Form Photo by Roland Balmes
Acropora efflorescens 500 Dollar Efflo
Reeffarmers Seed Fragment August 7th 2004
Finally forming initial encrusting base.
Weak to Moderate light.
Image Copyright © 2005 by Reeffarmers
All Rights Reserved.
Acropora efflorescens 500 Dollar Efflo
Reeffarmers Seed Fragment April 30th 2005
After getting stung a few more times,
coral is starting to form main branches.
Weak to Moderate light.
Image Copyright © 2005 by Reeffarmers
All Rights Reserved.
Acropora efflorescens 500 Dollar Efflo Reeffarmers Seed Colony December 4th 2005
After making fragments for Roland Balmes. Moderate light.
Image Copyright © 2005 by Reeffarmers All Rights Reserved.
Acropora efflorescens 500 Dollar Efflo Year 2009 Monthly Limited Edition Schedule

January
 Reserved for D. Schultz
February
 Reserved for B. Adams
March
 Reserved for I. Hartwell
April
 Reserved for A. Chan
May
 Reserved for D. Willingmyre
June
 Reserved for G. Kaplan
July
 Reserved for S. Cheney
September
 Reserved for B. Johnson
November
 Reserved for R. Patterson

Acropora efflorescens 500 Dollar Efflo Year 2010 Monthly Limited Edition Schedule

January
 Reserved for A. Eastridge
March
 Reserved for R. Cooke
May
 Reserved for J. Lenhardt
July
 Available
September
 Available
November
 Available

Acropora efflorescens 500 Dollar Efflo Year 2011 Monthly Limited Edition Schedule

January
 Available
March
 Available
May
 Available
July
 Available
September
 Available
November
 Available

Acropora efflorescens 500 Dollar Efflo Year 2008 Monthly Limited Edition Schedule

January
 Reserved for R. Driscoll
February
 Reserved for S. Hansen
March
 Reserved for R. Carlton
April
 Reserved for R. Adam
May
 Reserved for P. Schrieber
June
 Reserved for D. DeFrance
July
 Reserved for C. Eldridge
August
 Reserved for M. Rodgers
September
 Reserved for R. Rhode
October
 Reserved for E. Balls
November
 Reserved for R. Lin
December
 Reserved for M. Dockery

Acropora efflorescens 500 Dollar Efflo Year 2007 Monthly Limited Edition Schedule

January
 Shipped to R. Barton
February
 Reserved for G. Adkins
March
 Reserved for C. Pasko
April
 Reserved for J. Gallaway
May
 Shipped to M. Schwitters
June
 Reserved for R. Bash
July
 Reserved for J. Aviles
August
 Reserved for J. Carrol
September
 Sold as Buy It Now
October
 2009 IE-CFM Auction
November
 Reserved for D. Pham
December
 Reserved for S. Ledin

Acropora efflorescens 500 Dollar Efflo Year 2006 Monthly Limited Edition Schedule

January
 First Edition Auctioned for $360.00
February
 Shipped to S. Weast
March
 Delivered to E. Caamano
April
 Sold as Buy it Now
May
 CFM Auctions
June
 Shipped to A. Deukmedjian
July
 Delivered to C. Conway
August
 Reserved for S. Spargur
September
 Reserved for B. Wilson
October
 Reserved for J. Stoffel
November
 Reserved for A. Andrasz
December
 Reserved for G. Schwab

To inquire about reserving a limited edition farmed fragment of this coral please send an email to reeffarmers@aceweb.com.
Copyright © 2005 by Reeffarmers All Rights Reserved.
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