More Cool Corals Continued!

Hello everyone. First I would like to say "Happy New Year" to my readers who celebrate Chinese New Year! There is a saying that if you work on New Year's day, that you will be working hard everyday for the rest of the year. This will explain why the the Chinatowns here close (open all year but the big new year day). Good thing I don't consider updating my blog work:)!

I know in Vietnam, Chinese New Year is celebrated much like our Christmas - people exchange gifts and families get together. My wife Anne has been trying all day to call her parents in Vietnam, but the phone lines have been jammed. Here in the US, it is just treated as another day for the most part. With the heavy population of Chinese in Indonesia, I'm sure there are celebrations going on over there.

And now, more corals for you to desire!

So this deepwater acropora is a Northern Bali special! This is the famous Acropora suharsonoi. Grows very slow and normally comes in brown-green. Sometimes get lucky and find one that is green-blue. Oh by the way, did you know that this coral was discovered by a local diver that is affiliated with the Forestry - Mr. Suharsono! For those of you that don't know, the government department that overseas the export of fish and corals is the Forestry department. In Tonga, it was the Fisheries. There are rumors though, that the Fisheries in Indonesia will take over from the Forestry at the beginning of the year 2010. Of course there will be some policy changes when this happens, hopefully for the positive.

Here is a blurred picture of the same coral without flash. Note the bluish color - way cool!

Here is another deepwater Bali special - Acropora tenella!

So this cool deepwater acro is an Acropora selago. This particular specimen was found in way deep water. The growth pattern is really strange on this coral, almost like a sea fan. Most acros that are found way deep down have this thinner branch fan like growth pattern.

Cute little Acropora cophodactyla anyone?!

Red cocoworms are seasonal in Indonesia. They are only available during the rainy months, November through February. They only come from a region in East Java and for some reason, it is only accessible during the rainy season. It turns out that during the other better weather months, the currents are too strong where these are found - how weird is that?

The color morphs range from white to white/red to all red, the latter being the most expensive.

One thing unique about these cocoworms is how they are packed for transport. A piece of plastic is used to cover the opening during packing. So basically, the packer makes sure there is water in the tube and covers with a piece of plastic and rubberbands the opening shut. This is to avoid the heads from falling off during shipping.

Here is a close up shot of the cocoworm ready to be shipped.

Beautiful x-large green-blue symphyllia!

Another beautiful symphyllia for your reef!

Strange growth form on this turbinaria makes it look like a montipora!

Gorgeous Acropora desalwii! This coral always has green polyps. The very close looking Acropora plana has purple polyps. Both corals occur in the same area and look much alike!


Sorry for the blurred picture. These are from my supplier, ready for me to pick through. Part of the thing is that I must pay extra for each piece that I select. Sometimes I have to buy the whole batch, but only export 20%.
But my suppliers are my lifeline, without them, nothing! They also in turn appreciate me teaching them what sells and what doesn't. My customers understand what I do for a living in Indonesia and supports my high end corals, even if they have to pay higher prices than most of what my competitors sell for. What makes me laugh is when people ask to get the cherry hand picks from me but wants left over pricing - not gonna happen! You get what you pay for!

And here are some of my picks from this batch.

Beautiful Acropora Efflorescense is also another Bali favorite. This coral used to be common about 6 years ago, but have literally disappeared, along with the solitaryensis.

A pair of slipper lobsters. These taste really great and you can find them at the Chinese restaurants. Some of them end up on the hobby end too.

One of my favorite fish of all time - the emperor angel! This boy was huge!

Here it is again. The shark is over 30 inches long. The angel must have been at least 18 inches long - gorgeous!

An elusive anemone - a purple tipped/based Heteractis magnifica!

The crew packing my corals for transport.

Conclusion

Ok guys that is it for today. I hope you enjoyed the pictures and info. Happy Chines New Year!

Cheers,
Eddie

More Cool Corals!

Hello everyone. For continuation of my Coral Adventures hunting down cool aquacultures in Northern Bali, go check out my second part of the adventure on www. reeftank.com/blog.

And now, let's continue on to some awesome corals!

These blue palys actually have yellowish skirts - way cool!

An unusual large Blastomussa wellsi colony. Extra big metallic red heads!

Acanthastrea rotundofloras are not common. This cool little coral will develop a green rim under artificial lighting!

Strange metallic pink and blue - green chalice!

A monster colony of a Favites pentagona - the "war coral"!

Another cool purple tipped Entacmae quadricolor!

Strange but cool mint looking Bali brain!

Crazy multicolor Bali brains are hard to come by!

A very nice collection of Bali brains!

Metallic peach palys anyone?!

I have the best aquacultures in the world! This dark pink/light purple millepora is just one of many color morphs of this species available.

Killer blue and purple milleporas are not a problem!

A collection of hand picked Acropora milleporas ready for export. The lucky Italy customer was indeed impressed!

Another nice red paly morph!

A little stressed but hanging in pretty good. This Acropora echinata has much potential under halides!

My favorite - the Acropora gomezi!

Some very cool small wild acros!

A collection of aquacultured Acropora carduus - stunning under halides!

Conclusion

Ok guys that is it for today. I will be updating with more awesome corals in just a couple of days!

Cheers,
Eddie

Cool Corals Continued!

Hello everyone. Before continuing on to more "cherry corals", I would like to introduce the "TRT Comparison Shopping Tool". The Reef Tank CST will officially launch tomorrow Monday the 19th on the online Reef forum Thereeftank.com. Basically what it is, is that if you are looking for the best price on an aquarium item (including livestock), simply type in the item and the search engine will automatically find the best deals on the web - how cool is that!
Please go check it out!

And now the corals:)

So this pink and green echinophyllia chalice is one of the more common color morphs available. Looks spectacular under halides! Oh and these come in huge colonies. I've seen specimens over fifteen inches across!

Red carpets are pretty rare, even in Indonesia. I passed on this gorgeous piece as it wouldn't have made the transit - just too big. Just sitting there, it appeared to be around thirty inches across! I always urge the suppliers and fishermen to leave these monstrous living things in the wild.

Stunning orange rose anemone with purple tips from Flores - incredible!

Blue palys are always high in demand. This cute little piece actually has orange highlites in its skirt!

Metallic frogspawns are just amazing!

Green bubble corals are lovely (if it doesn't die during shipping!). Sometimes I get lucky and find one that is almost blue!

The best red gonioporas come from Sulawessi!

One of the more rare corals that took me a long time to id. This echinomorpha will form a nice green rim under halides!

As with many corals, the best metallic caulastreas come from Sulawessi!

Beautiful red palys are one of my favorites!

A basket of gorgeous Bali brains! The best ones come from not Bali, not Lombok, not Sumbawa, not West or East Java, not even Sulawessi, but you gotta go more east to Flores!

This brownish paly colony is actually red, and sometimes called "people eaters"!

Nice pink palys are always wanted!

Pink zoanthids are harder to find (believe it or not)!

Unusual zoanthid color morphs are always nice to see. This one has sky blue centers with bright green skirts!

Some donuts and trachys ready for export!

Sometimes we must pack the corals early in the morning. We usually spend the night organizing and preparing for the shipment.

A 150 watt double ended 14k metal halide pendant is rigged up at night. This is the only way I can actually see the true colors of the corals!

A basket of fungias ready for export!

Very unusal Acanthastrea lordhowensis. The heads are big as my thumbnail!

Conclusion

Ok guys that is it for today. I'll post more cool coral pictures in a few days. Don't forget to check out the "comparison shopping tool" at thereeftank.com!

Cheers,
Eddie

Cool Corals!

Hello everyone. So let's continue on to some more "cherry" corals from previous shipments!

Ultra lime green trachyphyllia anyone?

Another cool trachy! This one even sports purple stripes - wow!

Very nice orange fungia/cycloseris. The yellow-green polyps are striking!

Unusual lime green fungias are not that common. This one must glow under actinics - very nice!

Don't let the brownish color fool you, it actually has shades of green, just can't see it without halides. The brown can turn quickly into green in no time under some 20k's!

A single large head of Acanthastrea Echinata? Perhaps unusual lobophyllia with acan colors? You decide, but one thing for sure, it is extremely rare!

I always run into corals that are not easy to identify. This unusual acan lobo looking thing even has pinkish centers!

Very neat looking echinophyllia chalice! This pink-green peach eyed gem is believe it or not, not very common. I find the orange or red eyed ones more common.

Sizzling Acanthastrea maxima - beautiful!

Full solid colored favia/montastrea closed brains are not so many. One out of fifty pieces will have this color morph. Most are the "Christmas" green and red colors.

Ah yes, the famous Bali Acropora solitaryensis!

Acanthastrea echinata! Unfortunately, this crazy piece was chopped in half. But at least you can see the amazing colors!

Indonesian Acanthastrea lordhowensis are not as good looking as the Australian ones, but pieces like this are still high in demand!

Check out this cute little true Indo Scolymia vitiensis! Truly a collector's piece!

This is also a Scolymia vitiensis from Indonesia. I have only seen these pieces from Makassar, Sulawessi. There is a green morph of this as well but one thing for sure, it will bleach quickly when handled roughly. Sometimes I run into orange-green ones that are off the hook!

Another echinophyllia that has tremendous potential!

Ah yes, can't have a post of cool corals without cynarina donuts. Multicolor pieces like this are hit or miss. Most of time, weather determines if the fishermen can get green ones, or ones like this!

Many beautiful donuts are damaged during collection and transport. Notice the teeth ready to break through the tissue. This one is still ok, but once the teeth breaks through, it takes a long time to heal. Actually, you can't see the damage when the coral fully opens but still I avoid exporting any damaged ones. This is why it is important to hand pick the pieces, otherwise the suppliers/fishermen will send you damaged ones. To them, it is all the same. The fact is out of fifty pieces that come in, only half will be in good shape. Sadly, this is the facts and I go way out of my way to get the best pieces for my customers!

Very cool looking deepwater lobophyllia! The orange is just amazing under actinics!

A large deepwater Blastomussa wellsi colony! The colors are unreal!

Typical high grade two tone blastos are always high in demand!

Only three heads, but definitely "cherry" colors!

Unusual pink-purple Ricordia yumas anyone?

A neat little multicolor hell fire anemone!

Another deepwater lobo. This one even has pinkish centers - way cool!

Conclusion

Ok guys that is it for today. I'll post more cool coral pictures in the coming days!

Cheers,
Eddie

The Reef Tank Forum!

Hello everyone. For today I'd to introduce an online reef hobby forum called "The Reef Tank" to my audience. I have been contacted by Ava, the blog moderator, to do a guest post on their forum (thank you Ava). I am delighted and have written a journey on an aquaculture hunt in Northern Bali. It is a compressed version and Ava will be posting in different parts. After the last post is uploaded, I will redo the journey on my blog with three times the photos and info. So please keep posted. For now, you can check out this link for the first part of the journey.

And now, let's continue on with coral pictures!

So this odd not so beautiful coral at first appears to be a favid, but a closer look reveals that it is indeed a chalice type. Very strange and with the red centers, has tons of potential of turning into an awesome piece!

Totally weird monster single head with a small daughter! This strange colored Blastomussa wellsi is truly unique!

Gorgeous large metallic Blastomussa colony!

Solid one colored metallic red cynarina donuts are not common!

Echino - oxy type of chalices sometimes come in with multiple colored eyes!

Beautiful solid orange - red chalice with same colored eyes!

Super nice orange - green fungias like this are not common. One out of fifty pieces will have this color morph!

Beautiful trachyphyllia brains are on top of my list. This one is unique in that the bottom has started to flaten out and soon it will be a "wellsophyllia", the Bali brain. Actually the wellso and the trachy is the same coral, at least taxonomically. The US Fish and Wildlife officers are still uncertain on the true identity of this coral, thus causing all kinds of problems for the exporters and the importers.

Another cute little echino chalice!

Beautiful green and red favias like this reminds me of Christmas!

Very cool red goniopora with purple centers!

Ok so this is a very strange coral. It superficially resembles a favid but a closer look and you can tell it is a chalice - or at least plates out like one! The colors are always metallic pink to red and has small yellow to green eyes. If you know what this coral is, please send me an e-mail at joylucktp2000@yahoo.com and let me know. Oh yah, it is very rare!

Ok guys, this is the biggest rose anemone I have ever seen. Closed up, it is over 14 inches across!

Here is a close up shot. Check out the amazing color!

Can you say "alien eye"? or better yet "eyes"! This strange looking coral is an echinomorpha - a very rare species indeed! Kind of looks like the coral Australians call Acan bowerbanki.

An unusual purple with bluish centered Acanthastrea maxima!

A large single headed Acanthastrea Echinata! Note the small daughter heads forming on the outer rim - way cool!

So here is one of the rare unidentified acan lobo species. Resembles a lobophyllia but has acanthastrea colors and form!

Conclusion

Ok guys, that is it for today. I will be posting more pictures in a few days.

Also, I would like to thank Ava again from "The Reef Tank" in giving me an opportunity to do a post on their forum!

Cheers,
Eddie