wild SPS corals, Marshall Islands
 

Yokwe and Aloha. i thought i would share some pictures from the Marshall Islands. ive been keeping a reef tank for some time, first saltwater tank in 1992. i recently moved to the Marshall Islands, and brought my reef setup with me. all the corals pictured are locally collected by myself. i have a tendency of swapping them out, so please forgive the lack of continuity in the shots. im going out next weekend, and if something catches my eye, the tank will change once again:lmao::lmao:

anywho. enjoy the pics....keep in mind, zero export from the Marshall Islands, so these are very indigenous.
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Hi man,
WOW!!!
You live in a paradise of corals!
Beautiful picture of the native corals and of your Reef!
Keeping posting, please! :bounce3:

How well behaved is the C. auriga? How long have you had him?

that is so awesome... collecting your own corals... nothing can beat that! nice job! :)

very nice!

Wow, thats so cool. Your tank looks really nice.

I am jealous. We all spend hundreds of dollars for something that comes out of the ocean for free. for you to just go pick and choose is simply bliss! every good thing comes in moderation.

Wow, that's awesome!!! So do you just get your water from the ocean as well? I noticed the Reef Crystal bucket, but I'd think getting natural sea water would be better. Do the acro's colors morph from the wild and after awhile in your tank?

That is amazing. Way jealous!

Marshall Islands!!!!!
 

You are very fortunate to live in such a pristine reef habitat. Love the pictures and keep us posted to any new additions ! Great Reef Set-up and thank you for sharing... Simply Heavenly!:fun2:

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a few more pics. the threadfin is fine, a bit of a pig and not a nipper at all. not all the butterfly's are reef safe around here, found out the hard way. i started the tank with NSW and it had minimal cycle. the trade off was though the water was very inconsistent. i just switched to tropic marin, and the corals are responding very well.

the color morphs i see occur in nature. the last pic, of the first set i posted is the most interesting, with the pink acro growing out of red...the same coral.

my current fishes are abysmal, compared to what you see. unfortunately catching fish is a skill that still eludes me. i met a marine biologist here locally whom happens to be an 'expert' catcher of fish, and i should be going out with him. he has been importing the Cirrhilabrus johnsoni wrasses, so hope to have a pair of those soon.

I'll try to post some updates later on, if anyone cares to see.

Man how great would that be. Great shots.

Very cool pics of your native reef!! Please keep on sharing.

So, let me get this straight. You live on an island in the middle of the Pacific where it's probably pretty nice while it raining and gray here in Seattle, the ocean is your personal frag tank and when you get tired of the ones that are in your tank at home you simply swap them out, and you get stuff for free that we can't get for any price. Is that about right?

Now I must hate you! I really gotta move...

Mike

Interesting that the NSW isn't stable compared to our mixed salts. You've definitely got a bunch of us jealous. If I ever win the lottery I'll be your next door neighbor..lol Keep the pics coming and thanks for sharing..

All I can say is... AWESOME.

-Chad

wunderful reef you have there - hope to get diving there once

Wow, that's the way to live.
Dive for your corals and eat from the same area haha.
Totally jealous, more pics!

As with everything in life, there's tradeoffs to living on an island in the South Pacific. I can't run out and get a cup of starbucks or sit down to at a restaurant and eat a fine meal. the diving is out of this world , i would hazard to say with any other spot in the world....we do quite a bit of walk in dives, never get bored between the sea turtles (they often follow you the whole dive), manta rays, reef sharks, moray eels, fish, corals etc......... if anyone is interested in dropping out of society for awhile, you can Google 'kwaj jobs' to see what's out here.

definitely don't consider it unless you like being outdoors, diving, boating, deep sea fishing, exploring, the beach, other cultures...the weather/temp varies only a couple degrees all year. it's pretty much 85 degrees every single day. no one wears pants, just shorts.

not trying to make anyone jealous, must wanting to share some pics.....I'm a hobbyist just like you :)

Those pics are amazing!

anywho. enjoy the pics....keep in mind, zero export from the Marshall Islands, so these are very indigenous(quote)

ORA has a aquaculture setup there so we do get a few here in the states from the marshall islands


that said when you going to post a pick of one of those sea turtle in your tank so everyone on the board will be jealous. more pics please

yes you are correct.
i believe ORA's facility is for mostly for clams, the next atoll over near the capital, majuro.

http://www.orafarm.com/about/about_marshall.html


we get notices for turtle hatchings here a couple of times a year, to keep an eye out around dusk...its crossed my mind to grab one of the little buggers and put him in my display tank to take pictures, but im sure someone 'politically correct' would flame me, plus they're still listed as an endangered species. if i ever did it, it would be my little secret :lolspin::lolspin:

collecting clams at low tide. for every 5 you see, only 1 is remotely even possible to remove without damaging it. you have to pass on a lot of oooh and aaaah.

still looking for the elusive black clam for my tank.

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