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  #51  
Old 08/09/2005, 11:32 PM
Anthony Calfo Anthony Calfo is offline
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I feel like I've seen pics of those acans before... but I just can't seem to recall where from. Hmmm...
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  #52  
Old 08/10/2005, 12:14 AM
coralite coralite is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by ReeferMac

You ever go by the name of skinnychinaman, Anthony? Remember a conversation about an 'unkown and rare' Echinophyllia for sale on aquadesigns? I believe you and I hashed that one out over PM a few months ago.

- Mac
LMAO!!!!
Hey Calfo, I like them 2 acans you pictured in your article right next to the shady looking guy in purple gloves, You know where I can find acans like that for $6?
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  #53  
Old 08/10/2005, 12:34 AM
Anthony Calfo Anthony Calfo is offline
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purple is your color, Jake

As for acan sales... I took a flight home to LA from the Pacific this summer which included cargo from 5 different exporters that had boxes of acans in tow being sold to LA for $5.50 - $6.50 each (for medium or large respectively). Just like all the other stonies in the shipments. Just like any other week. These chaps really make their money on freight and box charges. Its a huge source of income for the early side of the supply chain.

I toured the facilities the week prior and consulted some folks... took lots of pics. I really can't say how many species of acan where there... at least 3. All were lumped/shipped legally under the permit type-species Acanthastrea echinata.

Wild color combination too... bi- and tricolors in seemingly endless color combinations (a few too that I've yet to see in US tanks yet).

I was frankly more impressed by the deepwater Montipora species being collected. Stunning colors! Truly stunning.

And many of the same species/colors that were collected in shallow water were pale or even "bleached"

A stark reminder to us/aquarists that not all so-called "sps" corals can be kept under standardized light, water flow (etc) params. It really does chide me to see so many folks get caught up in lighting/hardware concerns without giving enough thought to a truly compatible and specific list of candidate species.

Is it really any wonder that shallow water yellow-finger Porites or Goniastrea (pastel Acros, etc.) mixed in tanks less than 3 feet deep with plating Montipora or other deepwater corals does not produce stunning color and growth for all? not surprising at all... we simply cannot standardize parameters for such unnatural mixes in a mere meter or less of water.

but I digress

kind regards to all,

Anthony
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  #54  
Old 08/10/2005, 10:54 AM
Jus Reefin Jus Reefin is offline
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Anthony, it would be great if the hobbiest knew where the specimen was collected from in order to give it proper care. What do you suggest would be a good way to determine this once you have purchased one of these corals. I have a Montipora species that was the brightest purple I have ever seen in my life but it has bleached out in my tank, I'm wondering if it good indeed be a deeper water species and needs to go in a shaded area.

peace
Rob
  #55  
Old 08/10/2005, 12:15 PM
Anthony Calfo Anthony Calfo is offline
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it's a great/fair question Rob...

Indeed hobbyists and industry merchants alike have pondered the possibilities for years. I have sat through worksessions and on panels of "experts" (industry/hobby, academic and airline specialists through the years with various attempts to come up with some kind of protocol.

The essence of most such attempts has been to form a basic protocol that collectors could follow with even a few basic parameters to label each specimen with (depth, water clarity, lux, region... whatever)

But the bottom line is the same: the means for most collectors to actually do this (time, money, equipment) just isn't available for most.

And... to do any such thing takes 1) time (logging) and 2) money (administrative and hardware).

Any expense incurred to improve the quality of the product must likely be built into the final cost of the "product" (coral, fish, etc.)

And consumers of the world, but particularly American and English aquarists, have long demonstrated that they/we are VERY price conscious (read: cheap/frugal... overhearig a conversation in a pet store or from your wife, "That saltwater fish costs how much?!?!?!?" )

Although the outspoken minority of enthusiastic/experienced aquarists/collectors on high profile message boards like RC here seem to be willing to pay for such extra service, the truth is that we/such hobbyists comprise an extremely small fraction of the market.

Our industry is driven by beginners (indeed underscored by the high turnover of aquarists at large entering and leaving the hobby every year).

And this fiscal majority will not (economically) support the increase in price for corals, fishes, etc to get collection information.

It has unsurprisingly played out this way in many other areas of the hobby thorough the years...

to this day, most aquarists balk at the higher price and smaller size of aquacultured fishes...

and... among wild fishes, most merchants still will not buy hand-caught fishes from better/further locales if they are more expensive when the same species is available for less from the Philippines, Indo, etc. They do this because customers demonstrate time and again that given to choose between a $30 blue regal tang from an unnamed locale and a $55 blue regal tang from Fiji, they will take the "same-looking" cheaper specimen almost every time.

Another example... QT fish. The overwhelming majority of aquarists (even savvy ones as we have in our RC community here) far and away will not pay the extra money to an LFS for fish that have been properly held in quarantine before resale. If you put a shop that sells yellow tangs out of the bag for $19, next to a shop that sells fabulously conditioned and 4+ week screened/QT tangs for $39... there is absolutely no question which LFS will sell more tangs.

We could go on...

But the good news is that frankly, even with such information (like water depth, lux readings, etc)... there are so many other factors that will influence coral growth or even assimilation in general to captivity.

There just is no way to standardize physical parameters from the many niches of a single reef, let alone the different oceans of the world from which we all pull specimens to make a collection.

Our corals will adapt and change as needed.

As for the (commonly) bleaching Montipora species... indeed too much light. If/when you dive and see them on a reef, they are generally no where even close to those fabulous Acros. Instead, they are in deeper, calmer waters. And they too often bleach wickedly under bright halides and shallow aquaria.

Those colorful montis are better started with diffused light. My fav technique is to put them in the tank (yes... MH lit and all) in the final place you want them from the start. But... cut some fiberglass flyscreen that is slightly large than the footprint of the new coral. Then place a stack (say a dozen sheets for bright tanks) in a rigged place over the water surface (under the lights) so as to cast a shadow on the new coral. You can then remove one sheet of screen every other day for the next three weeks to provide a very gentle acclimation of new corals to a new (captive) lighting scheme.

FWIW

kindly,

Anthony
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  #56  
Old 08/10/2005, 12:28 PM
Jus Reefin Jus Reefin is offline
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Thanks Anthony!!
  #57  
Old 08/10/2005, 12:49 PM
Anthony Calfo Anthony Calfo is offline
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very welcome, my friend

I do love those colorful Monti's too! FWIW... the best I have seen in aquaria that kept those fabulous import colors were under heavy blue MH or (more often) blue weighted florescent lighting schemes (3:2 VHO/PC, blue: daylight)
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  #58  
Old 08/10/2005, 01:05 PM
Jus Reefin Jus Reefin is offline
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My next bulb change will be to 20k's I'm an LPS freak so I don't really need the intense 10k lighting with 250w MH that I have now
  #59  
Old 08/10/2005, 01:50 PM
oddballs oddballs is offline
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Being a shop owner is one of the most satisfying occupations ive ever done its a real dream come true!But there are millions of not so fun things that go with our shop and then there are the questions that you have no answer to like where did this coral originate from depth ,curent,placement etc etc etc.iI personaly do a lot of reading and studying on anything to do with the glass boxes we are so fond of but no matter how much you do know there is never going to be a day when i can say i know it all let alone the stuff i can study and learn but thats what makes this a great hobby/lifestyle .The frustrating thing is the type of thing i stated above as anthony said its going to be real tough to get the collectors to tell us the specs of the collection site!Hopefully we can find a sollution to this problem but i honestly dont see how?I guess thats were on corals such as sps we can hopefully buy only propigated corals but thats a big hope!
  #60  
Old 08/10/2005, 03:27 PM
TippyToeX TippyToeX is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by Jus Reefin
It's a shame a few bad apples give all of us "true" collectors a bad name!
Well said Rob. That is one thing I am getting sick and tired of.
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  #61  
Old 08/10/2005, 05:50 PM
JenDub JenDub is offline
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Anthony can you do a "happy" article next time? Like the reefers that propagate for the good of the hobby or what about the woman of RC....Amy, I am looking in your direction???

Let's try to encourage people to start farming or buy farmed corals rather then bring up the dark side. I know the importance of these types of articles but I need some happy reading.

and Rob I totally agree with you...damn apples
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  #62  
Old 08/10/2005, 06:07 PM
Jus Reefin Jus Reefin is offline
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Lord knows RC is full of Lovely knowledgable Reefer Ladies!!!!

Jen, your corals never cease to amaze me.

Amy, sorry about your Pooch!

Like with anything there is too much stereo typing in this hobby!
  #63  
Old 08/10/2005, 06:22 PM
Anthony Calfo Anthony Calfo is offline
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Happy reading is indeed on the horizon

I prefer to read and write on such matters myself. The (small) negative sides of the hobby bum me out

Slated next are articles on magnificent florescence (tons of eye candy) and biotope displays. No drama here
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  #64  
Old 08/10/2005, 07:34 PM
shane 1111 shane 1111 is offline
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i have a store not to fare from me that QT it's fish. it is about 30 minutes from me. i love the store
  #65  
Old 08/10/2005, 07:40 PM
TippyToeX TippyToeX is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by JenDub
Like the reefers that propagate for the good of the hobby or what about the woman of RC....Amy, I am looking in your direction???
If I could write an article worth reading I'd be all over writing about the female reefing population. That would be a great read.

Quote:
Originally posted by Jus Reefin
Amy, sorry about your Pooch!
Thanks Rob.
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  #66  
Old 08/10/2005, 08:14 PM
oddballs oddballs is offline
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Do we get pics with the ladies of rc article!!!Im down!
  #67  
Old 08/10/2005, 08:25 PM
shane 1111 shane 1111 is offline
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so am I!
  #68  
Old 08/10/2005, 09:19 PM
JenDub JenDub is offline
Is it Charles or Jen? =)
 
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Quote:
Originally posted by Anthony Calfo
Happy reading is indeed on the horizon ... No drama here
I can't wait.

Quote:
Originally posted by oddballs
Do we get pics with the ladies of rc article!!!Im down!
hehe...look what I started. Amy I think we need to round up the gals of RC.
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  #69  
Old 08/10/2005, 09:57 PM
Maximus Maximus is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by JenDub
I can't wait.



hehe...look what I started. Amy I think we need to round up the gals of RC.
Swimsuit edition, anyone?
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  #70  
Old 08/10/2005, 10:38 PM
marillion marillion is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by Anthony Calfo Slated next are articles on magnificent florescence (tons of eye candy) [/B]
I have pics, Anthony...

Peace,

Chip

[violation]

Are you okay man? This is a family board, please keep the language family friendly. - Ali
  #71  
Old 08/10/2005, 10:57 PM
Project Reef Project Reef is offline
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...and Chip, just because I edited your post, doesn't mean I still don't want frags of each of your corals. You have some cool pieces there. I'll be looking forward to those pictures.
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  #72  
Old 08/10/2005, 11:16 PM
marillion marillion is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by Project Reef
...and Chip, just because I edited your post, doesn't mean I still don't want frags of each of your corals. You have some cool pieces there. I'll be looking forward to those pictures.
LOL. Sorry about that. I'm hoping to have more pieces in there as soon as I can get another job.

Peace,

Chip
  #73  
Old 08/11/2005, 01:20 PM
oddballs oddballs is offline
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Hey marillion this is a dumb question are you a comic book fan?Do you still read them?The reason im asking is im a marvel fan and ive been out of the reading loop for a while and wanted a update on the happenings!next the ladies of rc calander now thats what we need i mean we could use it as a great fundraiser!!lol!
  #74  
Old 08/11/2005, 05:30 PM
Brad A. Brad A. is offline
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Quote:
Originally posted by fc.pride
i think the anthony you are refering to is this guy...
http://aquadesignz.com/lps.htm
my god.. close to $1000 bucks for an acan..
is it me or is this just plain ridiculous. im a newbie and even then my 3 polyp acan has 5 in just 6mths.
i was amazed at the colors but equally amazed at the price. jeez.
I noticed people are buying the $1000 acan's, at least they get free shipping, how generous!

I thought the PM was crazy, but this acan fad is out of control.
  #75  
Old 08/11/2005, 06:09 PM
Vili_Shark Vili_Shark is offline
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You guys forgot that 3-4 months ago US$1000.00 was cheap for an Acan .

When people here, were saying this coral is not rare, there were others here saying it is very rare, and also saying it's not coming from Indonesia.

In Indonesia, instead of offering this coral for 3.00-4.00 categorised with Favia and Favites, they will charge for it, slightly more than 10.00.

Where did all the hard core Acanthastrea guys go???cant see them lately....

 

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