wild SPS corals, Marshall Islands

[sjfishguy]

I still don't understand why this has not been awarded thread of the month. I have been watching this thread since the beginning and I think I even said this before a few months back.... One of the greatest threads ever.

[indyjaco]

Any updates?

Awesome thread, very jealous.

[collie man]

I think he moved back state side

[n8ureman]

Quote R-balljunkie:"Why sure, Rhomboids are sooo 80’s. Ive gotten the hang of catching them, going to spread the wealth to the other folks on island that keep tanks. Scroll down for drool effect."

R-balljunkie how did I manage to miss not seeing this post sooner! Once I scrolled down I couldn't STOP the drool!! LOL!! Those are some sweet fish!! (many of them are dream fish for me, especially that Dr. Seuss fish!) too bad there wasn't a way for you to ship to the states!! I would be your first customer!! BTW how deep are you going to get the Rhomboids? It seems that the ones that were coming here earlier this year were having problems related to decompression issues.

[reret10]

wait you can do this with no lisense!!!!!!!!!!!!

[007Bond]

Winter time is coming... need tropical pic. fix!---Rick

[r-balljunkie]

Well folks. Been awhile since an update. All is fine and still living the dream here in the lovely RMI. I'm still diving, walking the reef, snorkeling and reefkeeping.


I had a firm job offer in Miami. It would have been a good “career” choice, but unlike Jerry McGuire, they couldn’t “SHOW ME THE MONEY!”, so I’ll have to let them know I cannot accept next week and stick it out here for awhile.
Didn’t realize how expensive it was to live in Miami.

I got a not so subtle PM from the fish wholesale mafia out of Hawaii to stop posting pics of fish out here and that I’m giving the impression it’s so easy to catch these species, thus driving down the marketability and prices.


Wow, somewhat floored by this PM as the guy came off as a total tool.


I really cannot emphasize and relay in words and pictures just how difficult it is to catch fish, nevertheless to find rarities like the few posted. This is a culmination of thousands of dives, countless hours in the water and a skillset well past most folks including myself.


You seeing pics of a fish in a bucket mean nothing in my book. Trust me; they just didn’t jump in by themselves.

I'm just lucky enough to be in the same boat, literally (d a m n, been waiting to say that) with someone who has these skills.

I'm only a vessel/mediium to deliver content through this single thread on RC to fellow hobbyists who are like minded fish/reef geeks like me….no hidden agenda to expose “truths”…just having fun while I can out here.

Anywho, nuff about that. Thought I’d posts some shots of my unique “Biotope” aquarium instead of open ocean/reef shots. I’ve relegated myself back to my trusty point and shoot, both for tank and underwater shots.
The learning curve was too steep for me to take good pics with the DSLR rig and I found myself doing more fidgeting with flashes, white bulbs, f-stops etc instead of enjoying my dive. I just do a few presets on my point and shoots, smallish adjustments in the water and off I go.
I’ve gotten better using it, but not even close to the same results I can get with my Oly XZ-1. I’m going to sell the UW DSLR rig.
I have a couple of new fish in the lineup, leopard wrasse and some juvenile Acares Midget Reef Chromis. I only have two at this point but the goal is to get 10+ or so since they are so small and relatively easy to catch.
A couple of wrasse jumpers have made their departures by way of carpet surfing. Goodbye cruel world

The coral lineup has changed a bit….still have a couple of the “original” SPS frags going and some new pieces. I’ve been fascinated by a cool soft coral in the tank. It looks spikey like a cactus and seems to do well in captivity.
Regarding the tank, I’ve switched primarily to ASW for the most part. I'm putting in NSW when I go and collect dumping in the 5 gallons which I used for transport. It seems my parameters are doing fine as the tank is around 2 years old now and everything seems A-OK. I’ve also started to dose amino’s daily. Not sure if its snake oil or not, meh another 40 bux down the drain I guess, but I feel better about it.

Originally Posted by ziyaadb

what a load of fish awesome just awesome

Yep. Would have been nice to keep the beno or the Dr. Seuss…. I have to sit stare and dream like everyone else. Brian is not big on charity….you know what they say “teach a man to fish”….”catch a fish”…..whatever.

Originally Posted by 007Bond

When I seen that fish on DFS from The Marshall Islands, You immediately came to mind. I was wondering if you had ever came across one of those guys. A 6 thousand dollar fish... I figured they must have caught the only one in the ocean! ---Rick

This is not my handy work, rather my fish catching buddy Brian Greene. He is moving back to Hawaii in the next few weeks….super sadface. I'm glad to have gotten the opportunity to get to know him and go diving with him. He really is a super nice guy in and out of the water, and an absolute classy original.

Originally Posted by curlykid

beautiful fish there! love the hogfish.

+1

Originally Posted by Mangodude

I read a lotta threads and not too much really catches my eye. But WOW. My jaw just dropped. Quite litterly.

Can you even ship that out of the marshall islands though?

Yes you can ship from here, but you need licenses etc from the RMI government, a wholesale connection here and in Honolulu/Hawaii to hold the fish etc. I'm just a hobbyist so I don’t have any commercial interests…just stuff for my tank.
This is why some of the species indigenous to the Marshall Islands are sooo expensive…serious logistics to consider.

Originally Posted by imarkspeed

cool theard

Thanks

Originally Posted by Crazy_Beaver

Sooooooooooo jealous!!!!!!!!!!

I'm jealous of your 155 satellite HD channels verses my 6 over the air stations. There….we're even!

Originally Posted by FlyingRev

Do Again! Do Again! Do Again!

?? Sounds like my wife

Originally Posted by sjfishguy

I still don't understand why this has not been awarded thread of the month. I have been watching this thread since the beginning and I think I even said this before a few months back.... One of the greatest threads ever.

Meh,
Just an idiot out on the reef having fun. I think you have more “dedicated” hobbyists than myself.

Originally Posted by indyjaco

Any updates?

Awesome thread, very jealous.

Yes. See above.

Originally Posted by collie man

I think he moved back state side

Almost, not yet ready to leave….trying to avoid the states, if I can.

Originally Posted by n8ureman

Quote R-balljunkie:"Why sure, Rhomboids are sooo 80’s. Ive gotten the hang of catching them, going to spread the wealth to the other folks on island that keep tanks. Scroll down for drool effect."

R-balljunkie how did I manage to miss not seeing this post sooner! Once I scrolled down I couldn't STOP the drool!! LOL!! Those are some sweet fish!! (many of them are dream fish for me, especially that Dr. Seuss fish!) too bad there wasn't a way for you to ship to the states!! I would be your first customer!! BTW how deep are you going to get the Rhomboids? It seems that the ones that were coming here earlier this year were having problems related to decompression issues.

You gotta go deep for the Rhomboids. The party starts at 100’, don’t really want to mention where it ends….we got club rules around here, so "on the record", 130’….off the record, no comment

I really really really want to emphasize safety. there's not a single fish in the ocean thats worth dying for. We are all seasoned divers who are in the water every single weekend. We listen to our dive computers (some people wear two computers) and keep clear of deco. When your bottom time is up, ding ding, start to ascend.

It takes some skill to do proper needle/decompress a fish. You’re gonna stick yourself a few times with the needle as you sway with the surge. Its like performing surgery in a washing machine. You have to have a deft touch doing so, or you just end up with a dead fish.

Originally Posted by reret10

wait you can do this with no lisense!!!!!!!!!!!!

Yes. This is non-commercial, not selling to anyone. Everything you see stays when I leave. I’m doing this because I enjoy being in the water, enjoy keeping a tank…..I’ve had an aquarium in the house since 1992.

Originally Posted by 007Bond

Winter time is coming... need tropical pic. fix!---Rick

Winterfell is calling…at least for you guys. It’s still the endless summer here. Ask and you shall receiveth.

Enjoy the pics.

[r-balljunkie]

[r-balljunkie]

[SERVO]

C,

Your pictures just get better and better and better! It is really a great experience to live vicarious through you! I'm glad that you didn't take the Miami job and even happier that you continue to post your experiences here.

And for the tool collector who PM'd you, the first law of economics is supply and demand. The only thing that supplies demand is the fish and not a picture.

[Dexters Reef]

Originally Posted by r-balljunkie

Beautiful Pics, just read the whole thread! What kind of fish is in these pictures?

[r-balljunkie]

Originally Posted by Dexters Reef

Beautiful Pics, just read the whole thread! What kind of fish is in these pictures?

These are Acares Midget Reef Chromis.
i see them retail for around 30 bux a pop. wow, thats $/inch as they are smallish in nature.


i would play lilke im "all knowing", but the honest truth is I asked myself earlier today , and found out today the naem by my instant fish ID, marine boilogist resource.

they're really smallish and hang out in schoals around 20' or so of water, which is perfect when you are trying to do a safety stop coming from deep dive.

congrats on waisting an hour of your time reading this whole thread. i hope it was on company time.




c

[007Bond]

Ahhhhhh. feeling much better now! Thanks---Rick

[ziyaadb]

nice to see u back bru, its been too long.

Ahem i have to say it bra, Get some blue and actinic bulbs in your system everything is looking too brown

[r-balljunkie]

Originally Posted by ziyaadb

nice to see u back bru, its been too long.

Ahem i have to say it bra, Get some blue and actinic bulbs in your system everything is looking too brown

Z,

the tank is every bit of 14K blue-ish in person.
180W of LED's, plenty of adjustment in the color spectrum.

im messing with the white balance on my camera to represent the true colors of the corals and fish....kinda taking out the blue. it shows much much differently in person. im not a maestro with the camera yet.


some new additions to the tank, next update. didnt know their was something called a fanged blenny fish on the reef. had to find out the hard way

[ziyaadb]

ahha that would explain it. they say ur 1st 10 000 pics are just practice after that u get better

lols shame sorry boet, them fang blennies bite

[TXChewy]

Chuck,

Damn glad to see you are still around the hobby. I have not seen any posts on the Houston local forum, you do know it has a new web address. There are still a few of us "old timers" still on there. Felix stopped by and showed me your thread on RC, Im glad he did. Can I pack a tent and squat somewhere on the island?

I hope the family is ecstatic for island life as you are and we are for you.

Cheers
Brian

[mkbtank]

Thanks for the update!

I dive, but it never even occured to me that you would have to help fish decompress. Could you detail that a bit more? (Just curiosity sake)

You are the definition of "Living the dream" So cool.

[indyjaco]

such a cool thread. I had to re read it.

I say keep posting pictures of the fish you catch. I like seeing the rare gems.

[Seanthefish]

One of the best threads I have read on reef central! Amazing pictures, great story.... Thank you so much for sharing and spending the time to make it!


Any updated tank shots?

[Seanthefish]

One of the best threads I have read on reef central! Amazing pictures, great story.... Thank you so much for sharing and spending the time to make it!


Any updated tank shots?

[Drae]

How does this thread not have 5 stars? People need to put the "hater-ade back in the cooler. Lol

[jasplreef]

Like many others have stated, " best thread on RC". I just spent the better part of 3 hours reading threw all 19 pages and watching every video. It's great being able to see the reef threw the eyes of another reef geek.
Please keep the photos, videos and commentary coming. Ill be tagging along for the ride.

Cheers Jas.

[miserkris]

Originally Posted by mkbtank

Thanks for the update!

I dive, but it never even occured to me that you would have to help fish decompress. Could you detail that a bit more? (Just curiosity sake)

You are the definition of "Living the dream" So cool.

Hello there Mike?!
This is kris from del val! I have been reading this amazing thread but I don't see pics /vids ...why is that ? Wonder if the OP can show some links !

Hi OP:

Pls PM me with a link to ur vids /pics elsewhere ! Thx!

[seamonkey84]

Wow, that's all I had to say about this thread. Even the native Australian collection thread over in the anemone and clown forum doesn't have the diversity and colors that you show! Them again that's exploring the shallows at low tide vs diving out to the Sps reef.