Hawaiian Reefers

[nodea717]

Hey guys... been awhile...

I am ready for a meeting anytime you guys are up for it. Tank is coming along nice. Spleen - I definitley found Young's, the best korean I have had on the Island hands down.

Later,
Don

[superxdude]

Sounds good Don. Our Christmas schedule is almost done (and so am I). We need to hit that place near Diamond Head and K-Bay sometime as well.

I am off Fri-Sat-Sun this week.


SuperXdude

[spleen93]

I'm ready too. My weekends are filling up quickly this month though so let me know soon if we want to shoot for this month or next. Diamond Head sounds like an interesting place for a lot of things and sounded popular when we tossed it around earlier in the thread.

Spent the last couple of weekends working on PVC plumbing on the 50 gallon - ugh. Reminded me once again why I hate plumbing. Almost there though - still need to plumb the closed loop!

Spleen

[Malifluous]

Any reefers on Maui?

[lpsreefer]

My friend is from Hawaii and he says you folks have something called “sand turtles” that live in the sand. I wanted to bring back some and put them in my sand bed, does anyone know if they’re reef safe? Will they harm corals?

[spleen93]

Sounds like a mole crab? I think they require burrows that are deeper than the typical DSB - plus, all the digging may not be so good for the bed - more than just stirring that's for sure. They're scavengers so corals should be OK though. You'll never see it most likely if you put it in the tank - just a hole in your sand except maybe you can train it to come out with feeding




Spleen

[lpsreefer]

Thanks for the info. Your picture looks like what I saw when I visited. I want to find something to stir my sand bed besides bristle worms, they are ugly as heck! Those mole crabs don't have the gross thing going on. I just need to be sure they WON'T harm corals sitting on the sand, brain, plate, etc. If anyone knows for sure, please chime in, I think I really want some!!!

[spleen93]

Conches, Nassarius snails don't do it for you? At least you have access to them - we're REALLY limited in Hawaii as to what we can find/put in our sandbeds here (mostly sand stirring gobies)

Spleen

[Myvortex]

Originally posted by spleen93
Conches, Nassarius snails don't do it for you? At least you have access to them - we're REALLY limited in Hawaii as to what we can find/put in our sandbeds here (mostly sand stirring gobies)

Spleen

Really limited in Hawaii? That is a hilarious statement! Spleen, I suggest you go to your local harbor and take one gallon of live sand. Its the same as what people call miracle mud. There are better alternatives to Nassarius snails such as worms and small crustaceans, etc..... Too much to Identify. Get feet your wet!

[Myvortex]

Originally posted by spleen93
Conches, Nassarius snails don't do it for you? At least you have access to them - we're REALLY limited in Hawaii as to what we can find/put in our sandbeds here (mostly sand stirring gobies)

Spleen

Really limited in Hawaii? That is a hilarious statement! Spleen, I suggest you go to your local harbor and take one gallon of live sand. Its the same as what people call miracle mud. There are better alternatives to Nassarius snails such as worms and small crustaceans, etc..... Too much to Identify. Get feet your wet!

[bboy aqua]

so any set plans for the next get together/bbq?
the snorkling idea sounds fun

[spleen93]

Originally posted by Myvortex
Really limited in Hawaii? That is a hilarious statement! Spleen, I suggest you go to your local harbor and take one gallon of live sand. Its the same as what people call miracle mud. There are better alternatives to Nassarius snails such as worms and small crustaceans, etc..... Too much to Identify. Get feet your wet!

Maybe that was badly said - meant more in the sense of things that can be bought to add to the tank. Yes, wild sand can certainly be added to the tank to add biodiversity. Possibly with the risk of adding bad hitchhikers/pathogens to the tank?

Then again, what do I know ... I run BB.

Spleen

[spleen93]

Originally posted by bboy aqua
so any set plans for the next get together/bbq?
the snorkling idea sounds fun

Before I commit us to going someplace like Diamond Head, I've been meaning to check out the area to see where specifically it would be good for us to get together. But work has been keeping me from getting out there to check things out. Anybody that's familiar with the area that wants to specify a location?

Spleen

[superxdude]

that would be great Spleen, but my schedule is wacky as well. 3 days on, 3 days off....

[bboy aqua]

Originally posted by spleen93
Before I commit us to going someplace like Diamond Head, I've been meaning to check out the area to see where specifically it would be good for us to get together. But work has been keeping me from getting out there to check things out. Anybody that's familiar with the area that wants to specify a location?

Spleen

ok cool
i have never been there so i wouldnt know where would be the best spot

[spleen93]

I REALLY need to get out there to check things out again.

Spleen

[electrokate]

Hi,
I was into reef tanks bigtime but moved here in August so have no coral. Kinda enjoying the ease of FO systems to tell you the truth, course I had a bunch of tanks... so maybe I was a little burned out.

I personally know a guy who got the book thrown at him for having an illegal lionfish that was caught as a feral by his friend in Waikiki. In one day they raided him and all his friends. So they do it from time to time, be forwarned. And I have been told by many people that they would love to catch someone "raping the reef" and put them in jail.

I understand the why of the law, almost every body of freshwater I have looked in on Oahu has south and central american fish in it to make the point. It's unfortunate people dump their unwanted pets in the wild, always has been and always will be. Some people just are not smart enough to consider the many reasons this is a bad idea, we pay the price for their lack of brain cells. Whether they dump kittens in the woods or Nemo at the beach... or let their girlfriend's birds go because they are annoying. People do stupid things. Personally I think we should get it legalized to keep native aquacultured coral and liverock, but til then I am going to enjoy the remarkable ease and piscine diversity of fish only systems (:.

So that's my intro. Basically want to hang with other fish geeks, snorkel, and clarify what we can do legally.

There are a lot of places to snorkel that you wouldn't think offhand would be worth it, even Wailupe Beach Park (5045 Kalaniana’ole Hwy.)... it's got a dredged trench along the peninsula where the rich folks keep their boats tethered. If you swim along the edge of the dredge you can see a ton of cool fish and a few nice specimens of coral, one of which is in the middle of the trench and the size of a VW bug. Park stinks though, I think the broken glass is deliberate. At low tide the undredged part is about 8 inches deep so that might not be the best time (: It's fun to float with your body hidden by the shelf and look down where the fish are, they seem less scared this way.

I would love to do Magic Island, myself. Haven't checked it out yet.
Kate

[spleen93]

Welcome Kate! I would have never thought to have gone snorkeling in Wailupe Beach Park - I give you credit for being more brave than me.

Magic Island is actually kind of cool to go night snorkeling at (not sure if you can any more - they may close that park at night). You can snorkel along the rock wall and see what seems to be hundreds of glowing saron shrimp eyes staring back at you as you shine your flashlight at them ... Daytime, it seems kind of dead.

And FWIW, to clarify, not ALL corals are illegal to collect. All stony corals are illegal and can't be collected but zoanthids/palythoa are soft corals that are not protected. But you can't take the rock that they're attached to so you need to peel them off. There's also a variety of Anthelia that's local (never seen it in anybody's tank - it's tiny so it would be hard to remove from a rock) and a leather that's local as well (also never seen it in anybody's tank - might be too ugly for anybody to want, LOL).

Spleen

[nodea717]

Yeah... welcome Kate! Always nice to see more people in the thread interested in pushing for legalized tank raised specimens. Hope to see you at our next meeting when we get it finalized.
Don

[SethSPST]

I snorkeled out at Diamond head beach the other day for about an hour. Was kind of disapointed because there wasn't a large variety of fish that we saw. We stayed inside the reef. We did see lots of humu's. Saw one that must have been at least 15". Saw a few butterflies but that was about it. The wind was ridiculous (sp?). Made it kind of crappy. I only saw one stony coral and nothing else.

[spleen93]

Yeah, Diamond Head's not good when the wind's up - there's a reason why surfers and windsurfers head there when the conditions are right.

Hmmmm ... should we try someplace else then? There really is no "for sure" place any more on Oahu ... We might just have to bite it and go anyways.

Spleen

[nodea717]

Im looking for something new... email me to talk trade. nodea717@yahoo.com
thanks,
Don

[superxdude]

In kuwait right now until mid february. Once I get back, I'll start work on the tank again. Wife is watching it for me, but it's nothing more than a few fish, rocks and aiptasia.


SuperXdude

[SethSPST]

Good to hear from you Dude. How's everything over there?

[superxdude]

So far so goood. Nasty vehicle accident yesterday though. Not my unit, fellow army unit down the road. They say Kuwait has 3rd deadliest roads in the world. Like it really matters once you are in the top 10....