Just checked out the Fish N' Frags website and MAN, I'm glad and sad that we don't have a store like that around here. Glad because my wife would make me sleep outside after shopping there and sad because they have some of the most amazing Acans for sale. I may actually give them a call just to see what their shipping rates are like. Some of the Acans they have on there now are just jaw dropping.

Updated FTS looks great Randy. I can see what you mean about a lack of space for the Chalice. Looks like you are getting pretty close to capacity on both the rock and definitely the sand bed.

Have any of the frags I sent you started to color up?

Love the new FTS ... and the idea of fusing the Leng Sy and Idaho Grape together ... that would look awesome! I forgot the RC ToTM that fused, I believe, the same exact montis, but the final result was absolutely beautiful! Trying to get my hands on a piece of that Jedi Mind Trick Monti ... cool little piece ... Kinda running out of room on the rocks in the 120 already ... frags grow too quickly. lol.

THANKS, Clavius!


Yours aint too shabby either. Looks like it's coming along nicely.


Hey Nick, FNF has the best deals on eBay if you can find his stuff up for auction. Truly unique/rare stuff!


Hahaha. I'll keep that in mind. For now, they're being grown in the frag tank, but just waiting to be unleashed in the new tank. lol. Where you located? Maybe we can trade/donate sometime.


Stay tuned. I'll let you know


I work from home. But let me put it this way: I GOT MORE TIME THAN MONEY!

I'm happy to share the wealth, especially if we trade again in the future Looking at the FNF site, it looks like I gave you his Red Bug Monti and Sunset Acan. FYI, I also have the Speckled Rainbow Acan (which is sold out) and his Nuclear Green Acan. I dunno, it looks like I still have a 1" square of space on the sandbed. haha. YES, the Superman is already coming back. I'm thinking about growing out the Superman on the intake of my overflow. That would be wicked if it could eventually cover the whole thing.


Good to know that it will work! Leng Sy comin right up. I got a Faux Jedi Mind Trick from Dan - basically the SAME THING but with no lineage. It started as a half finger-nail sized frag and is now about 3/4" but looking sharp with a blue outer glow. Don't tease me with all the S P A C E you have in your 120G!@#!@

Found the other one on FNF, Adam. It's the "Splatterhouse" Acan. There's your lineage for 3 of the pieces I sent you

Randy - Did you get my PM about the stand?

I did, thanks! And that is very reasonable. I'll definitely pick it up if I go with an ADA for my next tank.

Well I picked up a piece of Purple Rim Efflo ... Not the $500 or anything special ... but it's definitely a beauty ... the guy working there was nice enough to frag me a piece from the main colony ... Hey ... this will be part of the LE DCG line ... ... It's got a gorgeous purple rim and green polyps. I will have to get some pictures of it!

"DCG" almost sounds like Dolce & Gabana. That's money. I'm gonna need that piece for my larger tank!

this thread is my new bible, that is the most gorgeous tank ive seen all night!

Welcome to NR, oct0. Thanks for the compliment, but check out the featured tanks on this site too. All of them will blow your mind.

I'm a Mile High, Purp...don't know if you'd want anything from my tank...my livestock list isn't as nearly intriguing as your's, although I'm trying to get it there...but I'm up for any donation/trade.

Alright, noob question of the week...how do you fuse two monti caps together (i.e. Leng Sy & Idaho Grape)?

Thanks for letting me know which frags I now have from FNF Randy. I might have to start keeping my eye on their website as well as Ebay now I know the quality of their frags and coral.

I'm slowin my trading activity for a while until I am able to setup a 2nd tank. Simply NO ROOM left! I'll let you know if I someday become a philanthropist of coral I have never fused monticaps. I would assume to glue the Leng Sy slightly above or directly on the surface of the Grape, and allow them to fuse over time.

Right on. Warning! They're a bit pricey!@#!

Speaking of pricey, I believe I need to replace my ballast. I'm running an Aqua Medic External Magnetic at the moment, and my bulb hasn't been firing up on time over the past 3 days. It has to be switched off and on before it works. Looking at the IceCap 250W electronic ballast. I'm reading it may actually save me some energy and fire the bulb BRIGHTER. The more things I buy for THIS tank, the further my NEW tank gets from reality. HECK, I might as well buy an MP10 while I'm at it!

*The Lumatek Digital ballast looks like it has even more flexibility and more light output.

OK I SWEAR, THIS IS THE LAST PIECE BEING ADDED TO THE TANK (at least until the MARS swap on the 12th ) Just had to do it, and I plan on relocating my setosa frags to make room in the display. Fully encrusted IceFire Echinata

It's not in the tank yet, but it looks fantastic in this iPhone pic. I'll be picking it up next week.

So this is the 3rd day in a row that I had to restart my ballast in order to get my bulb to fire up. Need a new ballast, need a new MP10, need another tank...

... I just need to make MO MONEY.

Where did you get this guy? Nice pick-up by the way...I've been trying to find a frag locally for a while now but to no avail...

SOOOOOOO Purdy!!! That piece is amazing!!! Beautiful collector's coral! Man ... so jealous!!!

Local frag farmer. Hang tight, and I'll frag you a piece of mine


Thank you, sir. Unfortunately its fame will be short lived. 6mos maybe, before it suffers the same fate as the legendary Setosa. Enjoy the moment, IceFire.

oh snap! nice piece randy! when am i gonna get the grand tour of the chalice palace?

Watch the Sunset coming in through the horizon.


LITERALLY.


This could be the making of something beautiful or the beginning of something disasterous. And there is nothing I can do but watch...

OMg Randy that siet purdy! Nice find.

Is it because you'll find something you'll enjoy more quickly? You really need a bigger thank. Seriously. Too much incredible stuff and not enough room. I wish I had that problem. Anyways, let me know which ballast you pick up and how you like it. I run an AM 250 as well over my tank and while the ballast works well, it is a bit noisy and I'd like to get better ballast and keep it as a back up. Check out the Sunlight supply ones too. Reef geek has a good sale of 100 bucks for the 250 HQI blueline ballast. Realllly tempted.

What type of monti is that?

Conceptual design is almost finished. And then there's the building permit and city inspections. We should be releasing our first phase of palace suites by November, barring any financial/construction setbacks. For now, I can have my lovely assistant show you some nice chalice acquisitions from Bali

LOL. Nah, it's just cuz the fads come and go so quickly with coral. Problem with me is that I want them when they're really expensive. Then before I know it, they're growing like weeds in everyone's tanks and nobody wants em anymore. Why can't women be more like LE corals? They just sit there looking pretty, getting everyone's attention; never say nuthin to embarrass you; you can cut em in half and share them with your friends; and after you get bored, you can swap em for new ones! Just gettin a little carried away today cuz gmail servers are down.

I'll definitely checkout the sunlight and blueline. Got no choice but to buy something SOON. Everything dies without light (except for the coco worm).




It's a Sunset

hehe i'll wait til the grand opening then

That is a AWESOMENESS coral.
so when can i get a frag of it?

We can wait a few centuries ... before he can cut it

AHAHAHAH. maybe.......maybe....

That's a 3/4" frag to start with and I have to frag it at some point. We'll see how fast it grows and more importantly, if I can hold that intense color. Oh, The pressure. You guys got me excited. Need to pick it up ASAP. I'm thinkin I might not want to dip this, and just hold it in QT for a few days instead.

I second the idea of keeping it in a holding tank instead.

wait wait wait...you dont have it yet?!?!?!?!?!?!

That Echinata is awesome!

No I don't, but it's not too far from me. I'll pick it up in a couple of weeks. In the meantime, it will grow. Just not in my tank. lol

BAHAHAHAHAHA. NICE. how did you win/get/take it? was it like a criaglist type of thing?

The IceFire must be a hard-to-find piece, huh? I got it from a guy who is friends with Mike Paletta. Raises coral from his home. Maybe I can pick up another piece for you? Just ask, my friend

Mike Paletta?!!?? Pick up for me??!?!?!

Well first of all, i needa know the price and second of all...

YOUR THE BESTEST PERSON ON NR!!!!

LMAO. I'll try to pick up 2 and you can decide after I post em. We'll PM on price. Consider it held for you, AS LONG AS I GET EM! Deal isn't done until the coral is IN THE TANK. hehe.

LOL. alrighty then. thanks man! your going to the next NCRC swap right?

I'm always up for a good swap. The guys I met at the last NCRC were cool peeps. When is it?

i belive its on October 10th. it will be at Aquatic Collection in Hayward. im sure there will be a better turnout this time due to the fact the NCRC's Base is in San Jose. hope to see you there!

Oh yeah and PM me a price for that coral. ITS SOOOO NICE.

Hey John at YR has Karl Unarce whole colony also nate your best bet closet to you if randy can't get anymore hit james lee at A Reef Aquascene in Hayward, CA he's the originator of the Ice Fire. I have one growing out at a buddies tank but i haven't got around to buying it from him. Also Randy buddy we really need to meet up and trade some stuff I'll bring the beer and a cigars you have the poker chips and your wallet ready LOL

Oh thanks scotty. hey are you a part or the NorCalReefClub?

Yeap actually me and randy went to the last one in the same car are you looking for anything in particular?

welllllll. a couple of things... oregon tort and borealis.
wow too bad i didnt go to the last swap. i woulda meet you two AWESOMENESS guys.

I can get you a borealis frag but to be honest your better off buying a Oregon tort straight from a ora dealer because of there slow growth and there larger than average frag size. I'll see you there man

Here I go not checking NR for the evening and I miss 2 whole pages and a new addition!!!

First off, GREAT new addition with the Icefire. Looks very similar to my piece and I'm loving mine. Yours appears to have grown from a smaller frag that is now fully encrusted where as mine was snapped from a large colony thus is already has 4-5 branches but still needs to encrust. Mine seems to be holding and gaining color by the week and is really starting to lay down some base now. I'm getting ready to post an updated pic of it in my thread later today. It's been a pretty slow grower but I've only had it for about a month so it's hard to tell what it's going to do.

It's great knowing that you are getting the real thing...I had a couple of opportunities to buy the Icefire in the past but I could just tell that it wasn't the real deal from the pictures and the way that they person couldn't give me lineage. When it comes to these corals, you HAVE to know the lineage, otherwise you're just dropping cash on a coral that you never know if it is from the original.

Since they grow so slow, for most people at least, I just don't see the market getting saturated with them. Plus, with the higher end SPS, they are usually slower growers and the ones that are harder to keep are the ones that hold their price.

Besides that, I'm really digging the picture of the Sunset breaching through the Idaho Grape Cap. That is just a perfect picture of what occurs naturally on a reef. I see the Sunset eventually taking over the Cap but I think it will look awesome if you have a mix of a Idaho/Sunset overlapping with pieces of the Cap shooting out here and there.

I hear ya on trying to keep up with the various crazes. You can tell from the corals that I buy...I am JUST getting started with Acans now that the craze has settled down and the prices are starting to get a little more reasonable. The nicest ones still fetch a hefty price, and I'm sure that the same will hold true for Chalice, but I just see SO MANY chalice frags for sale now on here, R2R, and RC that I just can't see them holding their price for much longer.

I envision Favia, Dendros, and Rhizos being the next BIG thing Like I was telling Dave (DFason), it's interesting how these things are so cyclical as they almost change seasonally.

Question for ya - how in the world are you going to be able to hold out not going to pick up the Icefire frag...I would be banging down the door

Quite rare Randy ... A lot of people are dying to find this piece ... It blows the Hawkins Echinata (which I do love) out of the water. In the right conditions this piece is absolutely jawdropping! Mike Paletta eh? Ask for an FTS I make him an offer for the tank ... ... ... ... ... ... in my dreams ... but ask for an FTS so some people over here on the east coast can get in on it ... .... ... don't be so selfish!

Looking for this one on top of the Icefire

http://www.reeffarmers.com/limitedacroporalovelli.htm

What's up, Scott. It's been a while. The IceFire opportunity sorta fell in my lap one day. I don't think the person selling it to me would risk his reputation by selling me a fake one. I've bought too much from him over the years. We shall see what it looks like once I pick it up. Haven't felt like drivin towards the East Bay just to get it, but now I'm feeling like I should do it sooner than later. I suppose we can always get it directly from the source if I miss the boat (for a hefty premium no doubt). Or it might be interesting to pick up a 3/4" 3rd generation frag for way less than $100, AND snap up a 1/2" for $200 from the original colony, and see if they look different. Joke.

I do see the value in true lineage though, which is why I'm SERIOUSLY contemplating bidding on the next reef farmers auction for the Oregon Mummy Eye. Recently I've come to a revelation, and this is my personal judgment of course: Chalices are nice but there are only a FEW great ones. I could spend all of my money on acquiring as many chalices as possible OR I could spend all of my money on no more than 10 of em. LOL. I think I'm goin with the latter bc I enjoy keeping nano tanks (for now )

I agree with you, that the sunset will eventually consume the Idaho Grape and possibly the entire tank at some point. But I'll be cutting chunks out of the rock before I let that happen. It'll be cool to see what it looks like as the sunset flows through it.

Yeah, come on over one of these days and bring some Cubans. We're due for a big trade. You'll like how some of your pieces have grown in here.


Sweet. Let me see what I can dig up for you on the acro lovelli.

Took me TEN TIMES to fire up my halide this morning. TEN TIMES in 1.5hrs! If I had a 9-5 job, I would have had to call in sick. Finally it's up, just when I was about to move my frag light over the cube. I'm ordering the Lumtek ballast TODAY. To be delivered to my stealth postnet address, so my wife doesn't freak. I can already hear her saying, "Oh you got new reef stuff. How much was that?" $100. "$100? or $1,000?"

It's not worth having to explain. LOL