Coral offshoots

Where do the animals at Tom's Corals come from?

My heart beats for collecting and breeding exceptional corals. Founding ‘Tom's Corals’ has been a small dream come true, as it gives me access to particularly interesting sources of imported animals to expand my own breeding stock.

There are essentially two types of origin of the animals that I offer for sale. On the one hand, of course, corals from my own breeding. These are animals that are optimally adapted to the conditions in the aquarium. As a result, they are usually more stable than their freshly imported counterparts - but there are also fewer surprises in terms of growth and coloration than with animals that have yet to acclimatize to their new habitat.

Then I also offer corals from the sea. Of course, all corals come from somewhere in the sea, but animals with the abbreviation ‘AM’ are acclimatized corals from mariculture. This means that the corals were bred in coastal farms in Indonesia & Co and then came to me via import and intermediaries. On the one hand, I buy these corals to expand my breeding program. Because in order to offer you an interesting selection, new colors or growth forms are needed from time to time (I'm also a hunter-gatherer myself ;)) - and then there are corals, such as special euphyllia, which simply grow faster in the sea.

However, these farm-bred wild animals are not sold directly, but are first acclimatized. This means that they remain in my facility until they have familiarized themselves with their new habitat and I can sell them to you with a clear conscience. This means less risk for you and I can take a piece of the most beautiful corals for breeding.

Coral offshoots

AM stands for an acclimatized offshoot from mariculture. The mother has grown in the sea. After an acclimatization period, an offshoot is made and put up for sale when it is fit. The acclimatization time can vary greatly. Millepores are often stable after a few weeks, while Acropora tenuis can take a little longer.

Coral offshoots

DNZ stands for offshoot from German breeding. This means that the offshoot has grown completely in the aquarium. In general, it can be said that offshoots from German breeding are somewhat more color-stable and less sensitive than their marine counterparts.

Coral offshoots

SC stands for signature coral. These are offshoots from German offspring of corals that have stood out due to their color or growth habit. Signature corals always come from a special mother and are not ‘look-alikes’.

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The size of the offshoots

Why are the offshoots always so small?

There are several reasons for this: in the beginning, I stocked the store almost exclusively with cuttings I had grown myself. This has shown that the small corals are much more stable in shipping than larger sticks. Thanks to our shipping system, we now have failure rates of less than 0.1% - and the size of the cuttings also plays a part in this.

With our cultivated corals, the reason is obvious: if we were to send larger offshoots, there would soon be nothing left 😉 - don't think of the offshoots of our cultivated animals as a tree that will immediately decorate your garden, but rather as the offspring of a particularly beautiful variety that will grow into a beautiful tree in your garden. In this way, the coral grows optimally according to its environmental parameters and develops a natural shape.

Normal question

Coral offshoots

The normal offshoots have a size of 2-3 cm. A mother stock has to grow in the aquarium for about one to two years until it is ready to regularly produce offshoots of this size. The offshoots then form a foot disc in 2-4 weeks and are ready for sale.

S-Question

Coral offshoots

These frags are smaller and often have tips that have broken off when handling or trimming corals. S-frags are always a good way to get great species at a reasonable price.

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