Coral Grow out Holding System
 

Hi

I am living in Vietnam. I have had alot of requests from fellow hobbyists regarding cherry picking some of the more rare and unusual corals etc. that this area has to offer. I am on a little quest for a guy right now.

I have a 5 x 15 meter commercial space that I can use. I can have tanks made locally pretty much any size I want. I will probably end up using T5 lighting.

SPS corals are alot more difficult to ship do to customs restrictions also.

What recommendations would you guys make regarding coral selection and tanks in the available space? I am not interested in fragging, only colonies. Some may be wild stocks that I will acclimatize. I have access to UV treated NSW if that makes a difference. I intend to set up around 2000 gallons total at the end of the day. Would numerous smaller tanks be advantagous to a few larger ones? What corals would you recommend keeping? This won't be a large scale commercial venture, just very specialized high end corals. I am not really that concerned with profitability, I intend to keep my day job. Thanks in advance, any input would be appreciated.

Regards

Neil

Definatly some zoas and chalices..

All stony corals out of the question from Vietnam, just soft corals.

Go with several large tanks, whatever is available over there. Dont think of it as total gallons, thats irrelevant. Think in sq meters or sq feet, whatever your used to using. 50 sq ft should give you a good starting point. Any smaller and you will probably regret it.

I imagine your biggest cost is going to be cooling the water most of the time. Whats your solution for that?

How are you shipping, air freight?

Are you going to be cherry picking from the collectors their? Or diving?

Ive seen some pretty awesome zoas come out of vietnam lately, and we both know how popular those polyps are :) I have seen some "aussie" colored leathers as well, but kind of rare. I know the sarcophytans that come out of their are nice and big, but they are heavy to ship so im not sure you want to even mess with that.

Are you going to dip everything before it comes in? Quarantine? Dip and quarantine?

I am looking at 20m2 SA to start. Chalice is doable as are Zoa's. Im not here to sell though just asking advice thanks.

Regards

Neil

Regarding cooling I will use commercial chillers. They are common for the seafood market her. I will supplement with top down fans driving evaporation. My makeup will be lab grade TD water and NSW for any changes. Large scale on a small scale.

regardless of what you decide to do, I'll love to get a bunch of stuff from you when it's all set and done :)