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

Happy New Year!

Hello everyone. Well, 2008 is about to come to a close. It has been a rough year for the fish business. Unfortunately, 2009 is not going to get any better, probably worse.

So I've finished up tying up most loose ends, and now I have time to post. The following are some corals that I exported in the past months.

Gorgeous red gigantea carpets are highly desired - only if we could figure out how to keep them long term!

Check out this beauty! A deepwater red/green mouthed fungia/cycloseris! This one is an exceptional piece, even among the red fungias.

As usual, cynarina donuts are highly desired. This baby rocks!

A small cynarina desheysiana donut. When they are small, they resemble the cynarina lacrymalis - the red cateye. Confusion between these two species has caused quite a bit of turmoil from the fish and wildlife!

Very cool lobophyllia with five heads!

Unusual color morphs of lobophyllias can be stunning! Unfortunately, this morph looses color very fast and looks grey if not handled properly.

A cute little mettalic green heliofungia. Bright green with purple tips are not that common!

A branching deepwater lobophyllia! I'm starting to see frags of these online.

Very cool looking blatomussa wellsi. The green on this colony is exceptionally green! Normally even two tone morphs with red or orange skirts, the green is duller in color.

A fabulous duo of Ricordia yumas!

Another one of a kind yuma!

One of my favorite carpet anemones - the elusive mertens. The normal colors are dull yellow to green, but definitely the easiest to keep of the carpet anemones!

Very strange and cool looking Acan max - totally resembling a scolymia!

This yuma looks like candy!

Guess what this is? If you said Acanthastrea rotundoflora, you are going to Disneyland! This one is especially unusual in that normal rotunds are all orange with a green rim. Some lucky reefers probably have frags of this already!


This fungia is not red, but does sport some unusual markings. The white stripes are actually clear and the white streaks you are seeing is the skeleton - way cool!

"Peach" blato anyone?!

Another cool blastomussa piece. This is the typical green/red skirt morph. Sometimes we get lucky and find one that is blue centered!

Conclusion

Ok guys, that is it for today. I will be posting again in a few days. Everyone have a very safe and happy new year!!

Cheers,
Eddie