book of coral propagation

[grady]

Has any one read the new book by anthony rosario calfo, Book of coral proagation. Is the book everything it says it is?

[mgk65]

I got the book several weeks ago and it is packed with information. Written in a very readable style.

I think it is one of the best values going in coral books.

mgk

[Jayson]

where did you get the book from?

[mgk65]

The book is available from www.readingtrees.com

Tell him MGK sent you... :D

mgk

[Jayson]

Thanks i like the look of the book. I have iquired about becoming a dealer for the book for my store. Thanks for the heads up.

[Frick-n-Frags]

Hi Grady, a little off topic, but is there a good LFS with corals in Toledo? I have heard rumors. I am getting ready for the periodic exodus to Tropicorum and I have to go through Toledo(from Cleveland). Thanx.

ps Dan (Salty Critter) are you going to check this book out? so I can get it if it is good? I am still tripping out on Eric Borneman's book, especially his descriptions of all of the pigments and compounds in coral relating to photosynthesis. Wow, cool stuff.

[LiquidShaneo]

FnF,

*Good* LFS in Toledo? That's an oxymoron. :p

There's only 3 LFS that I've even been to in Toledo: Coral Reef on Sylvania and Jackman, Tropical Reef on McCord, and CQuarium on Reynolds Rd. There's some others but I've never been to them and for the most part, these are the "Big 3" in Toledo. CQuarium shut their doors to their LFS to the general public just a couple months ago and moved to a warehouse to focus on mailorder for some reason or another, so store visits aren't easy to get. I've never tried to get a visit since they closed shop so I don't know how hard it is. I've heard (no direct experience) that he also runs his salinity around 1.021 which in my book is pretty low for a reef system. FWIW, I've never been overly impressed w/ them but that's my opinion (and don't flame me for it since they're a sponsor of ReefCentral!). :p Coral Reef has some OK fish, but the guy runs copper in his one fish system along w/ a lower SG (i.e. hyposalinity) because he believes it to help w/ parasites (personally I do not believe in the hyposalinity myth). The corals are decent, but I haven't seen anything unique there lately and I was there a couple weeks ago. No Acropora or stonies from what I remember. At one time they had some killer orange Ricordea florida but I haven't seen any there since I got mine. Tropical Reef...I stopped in there last week on my way home and they didn't have much coral stock to see nor did they have much fish either that you couldn't get at Tropicorium. I've never been overly impressed with their knowledge either.

If you're coming from Cleveland you could probably stop at Aquatic Tech ( http://www.aquatictech.com/ ) but you being from Cleveland leads me to believe that you've already been to their store. If not, it's worth a visit if nothing more.

Anywhooo...that's my experiences with the Toledo LFS'. Heh, if you were heading further west past my place I would *give* you some Capnella. I've got like 30 frags of it that I have to get rid of and none of the LFS' in my area (Archbold, OH) know *** they're doing so I have to sit on it and hope that I find someone that wants it. I'm about 50 minutes due west of Toledo on the toll road btw. Trop doesn't want it as they have a boatload too so I haven't been able to unload it on them either. Also, I do not ship so don't ask... :p If there are any Ohio, NE Indiana or southern Michigan people that want some, come on down. :D

I would stick w/ Tropicorium and spend as much time drooling over their stock as possible. :)

Shane (aka 'liquid')

[LiquidShaneo]

Oh, I almost forgot...this book was discussed on Compuserve's FishNet a week or two ago and the table of contents was posted on their forum. At first reading the description on readingtree.com didn't overly impress me b/c their's a lot of info on the web about coral prop. However this guy does come at it from a different angle so I'm thinking about picking the book up sometime. Here's the full TOC for the book from FishNet:

Book of Coral Propagations

TABLE OF CONTENTS

REGISTRATION 7
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 8
A LETTER FROM THE AUTHOR 10
I INTRODUCTION 13
II CONCEPT AQUARIUM DYNAMICS 15
Unique Systems and Features (Just how crazy are you?) 17
Refugiums and Vegetable Filters 63
III DISPLAY VERSUS MARICULTURE 69
IV CORAL FARMING IN GREENHOUSE OPERATIONS
Considerations 72
Planning 77
Design and Preparation of the Site 79
Construction 83
Display and Culture Vessels 87
Practical Applications 89
V SYSTEMS AND HARDWARE
Habitats 91
Natural Aquascaping 93
Artificial Aquascaping 102
Basic Equipment 104
Toys, Bells, Whistles and Your Stressed Wallet 118
VI HUSBANDRY. The Life-Sustaining Parameters 131
Lighting 132
Water Movement 151
Water Quality and Conditioning 160
Pre-treatment 167
Chemistry and Additives 174
Nutrient Control 199
Feeding and Nutrition 209
Natural Feeding Strategies 209
Live Food 215
Prepared Food 218
VII CHOOSING HEALTHY PARENT STOCK 223
PHOTOGRAPHS 229
VIII CORAL FAMILY OVERVIEWS 235
Stony Coral (Scleractinians) 236
Non Reef-building "False Corals" 280
Soft Coral (Octocorals) 283
Zooanthids and Corallimorphs (Zooantharians) 312
Tridacnid Clams 320
IX SHIPPING AND RECEIVING LIVESTOCK 329
RECEIVING:
Process of Delivery to Consumer 330
Import 331
Wholesale 332
Retail 333
HANDLING SHIPPED ANIMALS:
What to Expect 334
Acclimation Techniques 335
Improving Survivability 336
SHIPPING. Sending Cultured Products Domestically and Abroad
Special Needs: Transport & Pack Preparations 339
Shipping Methods 345
Accountability 346
COLLECTING YOUR OWN ANIMALS 348
X QUARANTINE 349
XI CORAL PLACEMENT AND COMPATIBILITY 352
XII PROPAGATION STRATEGIES
Candidates 357
Propagation and Reproduction. What's the difference? 360
Techniques of Coral Propagation 365
Preparation and Tools of the Trade 376
Producing Divisions 378
Securing Divisions 389
After-Care and Growth 403
XIII PESTS, PREDATORS AND DISEASES 405
XIV TROUBLESHOOTING 422
XV THE CHALLENGE OF CORAL IDENTIFICATION 426
XVI DOCUMENTING & REPORTING 427
XVII THE RESPONSIBLE AQUARIST 429
BIBLIOGRAPHY 432
GLOSSARY 435
CONTACTS AND SUPPLIERS 441
INDEX 443
ABOUT THE AUTHOR 450


hth

Shane (aka 'liquid')

[grady]

hi frick in frag, to answer your question about toledo, don't waste your time stopping, if you are going to the tropicorium. All of the local shops in town keep mostly soft corals, and nothing out of the ordinary. Luckily cquarium closed to walk in's. Every time I went into that store fish were floating, and the tanks looked sick.
I guess internet business will be better for Cquarium so people don't have to see dead animals!

Thank you everyone else who replied, I think I will buy this book. I was trying to find a book that will top Eric Boremans latest, but that may be hard.

[mgk65]

One thing to note, Eric's book is fantastic! Lots and lots of color coral pictures. Coral Propogation is full of information, but not nearly the level of pictures as in Eric's book.

mgk

[Elendil]

My review would be biased since I've been a friend of Anthony's for some time, but I'll point out a couple good points...

The book is very unique in its approach. The style is very casual with a lot of humor. It also hits on a lot of aspects of the business of mariculture rather than just the biology. Things like getting permits to build your greenhouse don't show up in other books on corals.

I would recommend it as a book worth picking up. No, there aren't pages and pages of glossy pictures, but we already have Eric's book for those!

And if any of you get a chance to chew the fat with Anthony at the national conferences or the events here in Pittsburgh, I highly recommend it. He is a unique individual :bum:!