GUIDES
Buying guides.
A few longer reads on corals worth knowing — what's worth chasing, what a name actually covers, and what each one's been doing across the vendors I check. One reefer's take: opinionated, sourced, and updated when my read changes.
BUYING GUIDEUPDATED JUL 2026
The best beginner corals for a new reef.
The corals that actually forgive a first tank — most are cheap enough to skip a price line; the named end is where a watch earns its keep.
BUYING GUIDEUPDATED JUL 2026
The best zoas to start a collection.
The named zoas worth starting on — and how to tell the sure things from the family names that hide a price range.
BUYING GUIDEUPDATED JUL 2026
The most-hunted acros of 2026.
The Acropora names that sell out in the first minute — and what they're going for right now.
PRICE MAPUPDATED JUL 2026
What named corals actually cost.
From polyp-priced zoas to four-figure bounces — the live cross-vendor price on each, and why one price tells you nothing.
BUYING GUIDEUPDATED JUL 2026
The torch corals worth chasing.
The gold-torch names people chase — which are genuinely distinct, which are the same coral wearing a new label, and what each one runs right now.
BUYING GUIDEUPDATED JUN 2026
How to find and buy rare corals.
The insider moves for catching a rare coral before it's gone — winning the live sale, spotting a fake, and not getting burned once it's home.