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Authentic Edition AE Leng Sy Montipora Montipora sp. Authenticated from Leng Sy Established April 7th 2015

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AE Leng Sy Montipora - Original Colony History and Seed Distribution

The original Leng Sy Montipora was acquired by Leng from coral importers in the Los Angeles area during 1996. The original colony was brown and developed its incredible coloration in Leng's captive system. Steve Tyree saw the original colony and took the above images in 1996 using 35 mm slide film and a macro lens. Capturing coral color on film was very difficult back then and remained relatively difficult until modern digial cameras were available. At that time Leng was very tight with his corals. He just did not make fragments back then. His main goal was to see how corals and fish developed in his miracle mud based filtration system. Eventually he decided to make his first frags of the colony and broke off his first section for distribution. Leng did not ship corals so he wanted Steve to ship fragments to Mike Paletta and Sanjay Joshi. No other fragments of this coral were ever shipped, but thankfully one local person managed to convince Leng to harvest a fragment a few years later. That fragment ended up being the only surviving authentic second generation seed and its history is described in the next section.

The original distribution fragments went to Sanjay Joshi, Mike Paletta and Steve Tyree. Steve distributed a couple of fragments to his customers, but none of those survived long term. One went to Bill Schroer of Piece of the Reef, but the reef holding that fragment was wiped out by someone pouring a chemical into the reef. Probably chlorine bleach. Steve lost his original seed as the captive coral reef mail order business was having difficulty during the 1999 Y2K slowdown. Sanjay Joshi lost his also and there were no surviving fragments. Mike Paletta however had a different experience. He lost his original seed fragment and then refound it later in the back of his reef. Quite a few of the current Leng Sy Montipora lines out there can be traced back to this refound Mike Paletta fragment.

Leng lost the original colony around 2001/2002 when his tank experienced a wild KH fluctuation. Many sps were lost due to the fluctuation. Leng Sy then called Steve and told him about the loss and immediately Steve asked Bill Schroer and Mike Paletta if they still had their seeds. Bill of course had lost his and Mike stated to Steve that he also lost his. So Steve assumed they were all lost and the coral was now gone from captivity. Now a few months later Mike Paletta found a Montipora fragment in the back of his reef that had fallen back behind the rock structure. It had browned out under low lighting, but eventually developed green and a purple edge. Mike made the assumption that it was probably the Leng Sy, since he did not have any other Montipora that were green with a purple edge. Although once you lose custody for a brief period, there is an amount of uncertainty involved. It is possible that the refound Mike Paletta frag was a different brownish Montipora that later morphed green with a purple growth edge. Mike has assumed it was the real deal, while Reeffarmers assumed it was not a certainty. Reeffarmers sells corals, while Mike is a private collector and has only traded corals.

Most of the more legitimate claims of the Leng Sy clone trace themselves back to this refound fragment from Mike Paletta. Reeffarmers has never seen them however fully develop the exotic characteristics of the original Leng Sy. These include extensive 1 inch long nodule growths and purple plum edges that are over 1 inch wide. Their green color also appears to be a forest lime green. When Reeffarmers has sold these fragments, we have referred to them as the Mike Paletta morph of the Leng Sy Montipora, just so the uncertainty is accurately conveyed to the buyer. We are not saying they are not the Leng Sy, only just recognizing that a certain amount of uncertainty exists. They are not authenticated by ALL the holders of the original fragments from the original colony. And Mike himself has noted that corals do morph in captivity and he is interested in seeing if his line can develop the exact characteristics of the Cruz Arias line.

AE Leng Sy Montipora - Current Surviving Lineage Description and Details

A few years after Leng Sy lost his colony, he told Steve Tyree that he had given one seed section to a friend of his who was local. That person had picked it up direct, since Leng had never shipped a fragment himself. Now Leng never told Steve who that person was, so it was just assumed to be a rumor. Then in 2015, that person (Cruz Arias) finally contacted Steve with an incredible story. He was the one Leng Sy had mentioned over 10 years ago. He had almost lost the coral once when KH had fallen to the low 6's, and the coral had browned out for many years due to low light levels, but he had saved it and now the coral was doing spectacularly under strong lighting. It took a few days, but Steve was eventually convinced that this was the real deal and Leng Sy himself then verified the story. We will summarize Cruz's story below, but for the complete incredible story from Cruz himself, click on this link.

Cruz became very interested in Marine Biology and was actually mentored for awhile by Dr. Leng Sy of the University of California at Irvine. That mentoring was centered around the concept of harmonization with Mother Nature's ability to create a balanced environment and transferring that harmonization to captive ecosystems. After a couple years of mentoring, Cruz was rewarded by Leng Sy when Leng harvested a few fragments of his personal coral collection and gave them to Cruz. That is how Cruz acquired a pale bottom shelf section of Leng Sy's Montipora. Leng instructed Cruz to not disclose that he had acquired these corals. This was during the winter of 2001. Unfortunately a few months later, Leng Sy had an accident in his reef that caused him to lose both his Purple Edged Montipora and his all Orange Montipora.

Over the next few years Cruz struggled to keep the coral alive and thriving on a modest budget and with weak to moderate lighting. Then in 2005, Cruz had an accident in his reef that was similar to the one in 2001/2002 that Leng experienced. His reef alkalinity experienced a major swing when he noticed it had dropped to 6 dKH and he quickly raised it back up. The Leng Sy Montipora lost its color and experienced an environmental induced bleaching. Basically zooxanthellae were expelled and pigments were lost but the tissue was still alive. Cruz then kept parameters very steady and the coral started recoloring up a few months later.

From 2006 to 2010 Cruz ended up moving to Las Vegas Nevada for a few years and then eventually moved to Illinois near Chicago. In both moves he was able to transfer the Leng Sy Montipora to their new reefs successfully. In the winter of 2010 Cruz setup a new reef system in Tinley Park Illinois. He had hooked up with some big names in the industry who were located in the area. He also studied up on captive filtration, water chemistry and reef lighting. His corals at that time were doing well, but he wanted to create a system where they would thrive and do their very best. Cruz also worked on helping to design a new lighting system and also on proper ionic balances of major sea salts.

Cruz eventually created a system where the Leng Sy Montipora began to thrive and redevelop all of its original unique characteristics. During these early 2010 years, he concentrated on his 10 year old corals and had not been interested in all the new coral morphs that had been entering the captive market. In the fall of 2014, Cruz came across a frag of purple edged Montipora that was being sold as a Leng Sy Montipora. His impression was that this coral was different then the Leng Sy Montipora he still had and that was now thriving in his reef. He did some online research and discovered the original line was considered lost to the hobby as of at least 2003. But why were fragments being sold under that name ? The situations described in the previous section of this web page have described how all that had come about.

Cruz Arias Leng Sy Montipora Colony Image Taken in Late March 2015. Note Wide Purple Edges are Colored Purple Plum a More Reddish Purple. These Purple Edges Appear to be Up To 1/2 Inch Wide and are Thick. Also Note the Insane Over 1 Inch Tall Nodule Spire Development. Image Copyright © 2015 by Cruz Arias All Rights Reserved.

Cruz Arias Leng Sy Montipora Colony Closeup Image Taken in Late March 2015. Closeup of the Incredible Extensive Tall Nodule Spire Development. Conditions Must be Ideal and Morph Must Possess Ability to Develop Tall Nodules. Note in Bottom Left Center Purple Plum Develops on the Lower Side of the Plate. Image Copyright © 2015 by Cruz Arias All Rights Reserved.

Cruz then began to realize he may be sitting on the only surviving genuine seed section. The real deal. He had distributed a few fragments of his coral over the past few years and contacted all his friends who had received sections of his Leng Sy. No one had kept it alive. It was at this point that he contacted Leng Sy of Ecosystems Aquarium and Steve Tyree of Reeffarmers. Cruz eventually decided to transfer his entire colony to Julian Hechavarria of Elegant Corals LLC. Elegant Corals LLC has generously decided to give fragments to all the original Leng Sy Montipora second generation seed holders. They include (Leng Sy, Steve Tyree, Mike Paletta and Sanjay Joshi). Some of these original holders will help propagate and spread the real deal back into the captive reef market. Elegant Corals is currently using the remaining main colony for growth and morphological studies, but may eventually begin distributing fragments.

AE Leng Sy Montipora - Reeffarmers Seed Certified Distribution Records

Reeffarmers Authenticated Distribution AE Leng Sy Montipora First Wave Fragments
A	April 11th 2015	Reeffarmers 7 Ft Raceway (OG Seed for Captive Grown Fragment Harvests)
B	April 11th 2015	Reeffarmers 8 Ft Raceway (OG Seed for Spire Growth and Study ) (Click on Image for Spire and Growth Study Page)
C	Shipped April 28th 2015	Mike Paletta (OG Seed for Spire Growth and Study)
D	Shipped April 27th 2015	Reeffers Cove (Private Trade)
E	Shipped April 27th 2015	Brent Bryan (Private Sale)
F	Cristina Pavone Shipped April 20th 2015	First Public Auction (Public Sale)
G	Jill Nezworski Shipped May 5th 2015	Second Public Auction (Public Sale)
H	Mike Brewster Marlon Persad SE-CFM Atlanta May 16th 2015	Third Public Auction (Public Sale)
I	Shipped May 11th 2015	Robert Williams (Private Sale)
J	Delivered May 15th 2015	Fay Simmons (Private Sale - Fragment Lost and Will be Replaced)

Reeffarmers Authenticated Distribution AE Leng Sy Montipora Second Wave Shard Fragments
SH-A	Delivered May 17th 2015	Justin Leoni/Reef Grow (Private Trade)
SH-B	Waiting for Encrustation and Growth	Open (Private Future Sale)
SH-C	Delivery On Hold	Fay Simmons (Private Replacement)
SH-D	Justin Hartman Shipped July 28th 2015	Fourth Public Auction (Public Sale)
SH-E	Louisville CFM November 21st 2015	Sixth Public Auction (Public Sale)
SH-F	Matt Guess Delivered September 26th 2015	Fifth Public Auction (Public Sale)
SH-G	Shipment Scheduled September 2015	Aaron Klein (Private Sale)
SH-H	Shipped July 27th 2015	Corey Dale (Public Sale)
SH-I	Shipped June 3rd 2015	Hugo Zuniga (Private Trade)
SH-J	Picked Up May 2015	Michael Gonzales (Private Sale Lost)
SH-K	Picked up July 26th 2015	Michael Gonzales (Private Replacement)

Authenticated Distribution of AE Leng Sy Montipora Through Elegant Corals
EC-A	Shipped April 27th 2015	Brian Stover
EC-B	Shipped April/May 2015	Dennis Sandoval
EC-D	Shipped April/May 2015	Menard Villaber
EC-E	Shipped June 2015	Mark Bustami - Sixth Element Systems
EC-F	Picked Up August 5th 2015	Brice Noonan
EC-G	Shipped August 2015	Tullio Dellaquilla
EC-H	Shipped August 2015	Sanjay Joshi (OG Seed for Spire Growth and Study )
EC-G	Shipped September 2nd 2015	Brian Alexander

Reeffarmers Authenticated Secondary Seed Distribution AE Leng Sy Montipora Farmed In House Fragments (160 Raceway)
A	April 11th 2015	Reeffarmers 7 Ft Raceway (OG Seed for Captive Grown Fragment Harvests) (Broken Down in August See Original A Image Above)
GA-A	Delivered September 27th 2015 Birmingham	Matt Jtineant
GA-A-A	Delivered by Matt Jtineant September 27th 2016 Birmingham	Daniel Sanders
GA-B	Delivered September 27th 2015 Birmingham	Jon Wallace

Reeffarmers Authenticated Primary Seed Distribution AE Leng Sy Montipora Farmed In House Fragments (180 Raceway)
A	April 11th 2015	Reeffarmers 8 Ft Raceway (OG Seed for Captive Grown Fragment Harvests) (Broken Down in August See Original B Image Above)
GA-A	Shipped March 17th 2016	Eric Schlitche