18 Gallon Caribbean Corallimorph and Ricordea tank (pic heavy)
 

Here are the first pictures of my 18 gallon ViaAqua aquarium. It has been running for about 3 weeks, and I attached the corallimorphs and ricordea to the rocks about 2 weeks ago. It is illuminated by a 150 watt 14,000k XM HQI bulb about 14 inches above the water's surface. Underneath the tank is a 20 gallon sump (about 12 gallons full) with a built in protein skimmer similar to a CPR bak Pak, and a deep sand refugium. Water is returned with a Mag Drive 5 via two outlets. I haven't added any extra powerheads to ensure that all the corallimorphs will attach to the rocks properly. There are no fishes as of yet, and the only motile inverts are blue leg hermits and astrea snails. I bought the whole tank, stand, HQI, sump, pump and live rock on Craig's List for $180. It is a very sweet set-up. It is cooled by 2 Ice Probes controlled by a thermostat that also came with the tank.


http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i9.../wholetank.jpg


I collected all of the corallimorphs and invertabrates myself. I work as a licensed marinelife collector in the Florida Keys. I have been saving aside the very best of the best polyps for myself over the past couple of months. As for ricordea I have the following colors:

Green (the brightest green I have ever seen)
Blue
Turquoise
Orange
Gold
Green Rainbow
Blue Rainbow
Pinkish Orange
Peach

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i9...okdownrics.jpg

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i9...ldricrocks.jpg

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i9...ainbowrics.jpg

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i9...ainbowRics.jpg

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i9...luenoflash.jpg

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i9...e_goldrics.jpg

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i9...iewallrics.jpg

The other polyps that I am very proud of (due to their extreme rarity) are:

- RED Rhodactis Santothomae (Warty Corallimorph) - I have only seen 3 of these ever (I collected 1 and left the other 2 in the wild to keep multiplying). This is 3 out of literally thousands of Rhodactis...

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i9...rtyshrooms.jpg

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i9...kdownwarty.jpg

- Red Discosoma sp. with GREEN mouths - These are stunning, and the contrast is amazing between the red and fluorescent green. Reds are rare enough as it is in the wild, red with green are precious.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i9...redshrooms.jpg

- Blue Zoanthids - These are really a beautiful color blue with a few that have green centers.

- Ultra Green Zoanthids - I have only seen these four polyps that I have. They were all by themselves on the reef. Maybe not exceptional worldwide, but definately exceptional for the Caribbean.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i9...n_bluezoos.jpg


- Green tentacle zoanthids -

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i9...enringzoos.jpg

- Orange Ringed blue Discosoma calgreni

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i9...ringshroom.jpg

- Blue striped green D. carlgreni

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i9...ipedshroom.jpg

- solid blue, smoothe D. carlgreni (?)

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i9...blueshroom.jpg

- Super Green D. Carlgreni - The green on these mushrooms rivals any mushroom worldwide. These pictures don't do the fluorescence justice.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i9...eenshrooms.jpg

- Super Blue Ringed D. Carlgreni - Again, the blue ring around these mushrooms looks fake, and is more blue than any mushroom that I have seen from anywhere. The pics don't fo them any justice.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i9...shroomrock.jpg

- Green/purple Palythoa grandis- These sun polyps are beautiful. They were collected from deeper water as plain brown, but a couple weeks in our holding tanks outside and they colored right up. Regal indeed.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i9...oalookdown.jpg


- Super blue and green Umbrella Corallimorph (D. neglectum). THis one has great color, but the camera doesn't quite capture it all.

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i9...enumbrella.jpg

I guess the pics speak for themselves. The tank is only just starting, so I'll have to repost in a few months onceI start getting them to divide and fill up the empty space. I am continuing my quest for true pink, yellow, and red Ricordea florida. I would post in the trading forum about it, but alas, I don't have my 50 posts to do so.

Side view:

http://i70.photobucket.com/albums/i9...ftsideview.jpg


Hopefully people will start to appreciate the sheer diversity of Caribbean corallimorphs through my pictures. There are some that blow the best Pacific mushrooms out of the water. It is my goal to collect as many morphs as possible...

wow, neat corals

Collect most of that stuff localy? I'm in Big Pine a few times a year and most if not all the stuff in your tank is in your back yard.

Wow, those shrooms are amazing. I know you are not suppose to harass about selling corals online, but I'm sure someone will ask, will there ever be a chance of you selling/trading extra shrooms as they multiply, or do you have contact information on where you sell the shrooms you collect?

Now that's what I'm talking about!!! Nice ricordea and zoas man. Keep your eyes peeled for those reds, yellows, and pinks. Show us some more pics of the sump, equipment, lighting, ect. Would like to know more about your system, so post away...

BTW, What's Craig's List? Seems like you got a major discount on equipment :)

Yes Donovan, indeed I am on Big Pine, and these are all out in our backyard so to speak. I am blessed to have the job that I do :-). I was the one that contacted you not that long ago on eBay about trading some of my ricordea for some of your pink/yellow/red ricordea. My offer still stands. I have some things on eBay under the name "Caribbean_corallimorph"

I will try and get some pictures of the rest of the set-up soon.

Beautful tank Anthozoan, I love all the different species you have collected. I will be checking out your ebay sales along with Donavons.

what do you have to do in order to becom a qualified marine life collector? I would also like to see some pics of the sump/equipment, im a gear nut. thanks

The state of Florida has a moratorium on issuing any more marinelife collection permits. However, it is still possible to buy one from an estblished collector. I believe that there are about 100 licensed collectors in the state. I am able to collect legally, as my boss has a vessel permit which covers anyone that is on his boat.

However, if you get a saltwater fishing license you can collect 25 specimens of any non-restricted species a day. So that means only 25 blue leg hermits or 25 orange ricordea.

If you want to buy out a collector for his permit, you are looking at $100K-500K depending on whether they are selling their boat, infrastructure, etc.

lol how much would a saltwater license go for then, and what corals if any are not restricted?

He said 100-500K for how much a permit costs, althought I bet it doesn't cost that much from the government. :D

For collecting corals all stonies are illegal, but you can collect soft corals but not the rock they are one. Hopefully Anthozoan will clarify.

really cool

Indeed, all stony corals are illegal to collect, as is live rock. You can collect gorgonians with 1" of rock around the base. The guy I work for has a live rock aquaculture site down here in the keys. If any stony corals grow on these rocks, then they are legal. We haven't introduced any of these into the market. When and if they do, then things are going to get really sticky. How will anyone tell the difference between wild harvest and frags of frags of the aquacultured stock? As is already the case, a LFS buys one shipment of aquacultured live rock, then they buy illegal wild harvest, and they can hide behind their reciept of the aquacultured rock. Even the state biologists can't tell the difference between wild harvest and aquaculture (This really happened). Down here in South Florida many LFS's supply "tampa bay aquaculture rock", that are oddly shaped like staghorn branch rocks...

Anyway, sorry to digress. A saltwater fishing license can't be too much money, anyone that wants to sportfish has to buy one. Probably less than $50??? Probably cheaper for residents than out-of staters.

You can't buy a permit to collect professionally anymore. That's why the cost varies so much. depends on how desparate the collector is to sell out, and whether he is selling a boat, etc with his permit. I believe that there is one for sale in the local paper for $600,000. Yikes.

Interesting to note is that there is an initiative amongst some conservation groups for a "buy back" program, where they are going to offer a large amount of cash for a collector's permit which will take them out of circulation. Not sure if this has happened yet, but I wouldn't be surprised to see it start happening in the next couple of years. So unless you are willing to shell out more than what these conservation groups are offering, good luck trying to become a collector. And once all the collectors are gone in Florida, we are all going to be pretty screwed as hobbyists. No more cheap astrea snails, blue legs, emerald crabs, cucumbers, etc, etc. As far as I see it, these conservation groups are rather short sighted. Removing these permits won't eliminate the demand from the end user, and thus 3rd world countries like Haiti are going to pick up the slack. But at least in the US there are stricter controls, daily limits, marine protected areas, etc, etc. In all likelihood, when you move these activities overseas, the collection will be much more damaging to coral reefs.

Unfortunately, the saltwater aquarium hobby is an easy, soft, "feel-good" target for beauracracy. Not sure that there is a way to counteract this initiative if conservation groups can pony up a sizeable amount of cash per permit (say $150,000).

hmm... i definently agree that removal of the remaining collector permits will drastically increase price and i know for a fact that Haiti and some of the other island nations have caused alot of damage due no collection laws. Maybe the goverment should do some research with their money instead of spending it on anti-collection propaganda.

That is amazing! You got wicked corals for nothing.I see purple people eaters are from florida! I love the st.thomas ric too.

can you show us some pics of where you get your corals from?

Interesting topics...I was not aware of the collecting situation in Florida and how it may evolve in the future. I guess I never realized that collecting permits were transferable like that, seems like the government is the loser with 3-rd party people making thousands of dollars off of their permits.

Nice post! What other fish/inverts do you collect. I look forward to collecting some fish in the near future. I would love to see more pics of the stuff you collect.

wow thoes are so awesome! Isn't it legal for pretty much anyone to collect them as long as you have a fishing license? I would travel down there if i could get some corals like that.

is this page true?


http://myfwc.com/marine/recreational/recharvestmls.htm

Yes, you can collect "recreationally" for you own tank. You cannot sell them to wholesalers or stores etc. You have to have a SPL w/ marine life endorsement for selling them.

Anthozoan, what's the best way you have found to get the ricordias off of their rocks. I saw some nice ones in Puerto Rico a couple weeks ago and was thinking of the best way for removal ( I left those, but do have some other frags :) )

What are some good areas in the keys to look for corals? Do you have to take a boat out pretty far or can you just go snorkling somewhere around shore?

Not many beach diving spots in the keys. Best diving in the keys is w/ a Boat on SCUBA gear....

Oh and I forgot to pay tribute to how nice the tank looks!!!! Very nice, makes me want to set up a small tank kinda like that. :)

The best tool to get ricordia off rocks is a gasket scraper tool (like a thin chisel). Use it to pop off as little rock as possible underneath the holdfast. If the ricordea tears, it will usually heal itself in a few days.
There is currently legislation to make it illegal to have more than 1/4" of rock around the holdfast, but as of now, it is a grey area.


The best place to get ricordea is on the inshore patch reefs. They seem more abundant where the water gets slightly more turbid believe it or not. You can find lots of drab green ricordea on the in-shore gorgonian/macroalgae patches, which is where we get most of the other corallimorphs, but the ricordea is always a drab green in here. Sometimes you come across these ricordea that are like 4" in diameter which look really cool even if they aren't that colorful. They look like anemones.