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