I think you meant Adam


Those are some of the best deals Randy. Like I was telling DCG, it's always when you are strapped for cash that ALL of the best deals seem to pop up at once. Plus, it's always best to know that you are getting something from someone that you trust. When PodRod (Karen) still had her tank up and running, it was great knowing that what I was getting from her was pest-free as well as the real deal.


Not sure if you poke your head around R2R any but there are plenty o' folks on there that have the real deal and would probably be willing to chip you off a piece. Probably some of the most well-known and reputable reefers over there...not to slight things here, but there is A LOT of high-end coral collecting, trading, and selling going on over there.



Haha...I think the majority of us reefers understand this perfectly Glad to hear that your ballast issues will be taken care of though....messing with a piece of equipment for 1.5 hours is never a ton of fun.

Whoa, I actually thought that message was from Scott. Multiple avatars confused me. The same applies to you, except for the Cuban cigars. I'll have to reply to the real Scott later then. hehe

I agree, R2R does have some of the most reputable collectors out there. Poking around the Chalice Showcase thread was quite an experience. I realize I need COLONIES of good stuff, before it will be a worthwhile trade for any of them.

You know I do think Favias have incredible potential to gain value. They seem like a cross between Chalices and Acans, and the colors are simply amazing. IMO Dendros and Rhizos, although they're pricey, appeal to a certain niche of reefer. But who expected chalices to take off like they did! I think the chalice craze might hold out at least for a little while longer, considering .25" eyes are still sold at a premium, and they grow incredibly slow.


Here's the real Scotty. I did see that piece on YR.com. I can't honestly say that I have to have that one though. I gotta go see it in person. For how much is Mr. Lee selling his IceFire frags? As I said earlier, bring over some Cubans.

that can be arraged the cubans i mean i have a few Cohiba No.3 and about 4. San Cristóbal de La Habana Mercaderes and quite a few cuban seed Montecristo No. 4. Yeah lets set something up there buddy boy. what size ballast do you need and what is the connection type? i might have somethng to get you through until you get your new ballast

NICE. My replacement ballast won't be here till Friday. 250W DE Aqua Medic Oceanlight Pendant. Don't know the connection type? Maybe I can run a Sunpod over it for just a couple of days? If I can manage to kick start the light like I have for the past 3 days, I'll be okay - but it's getting tougher to do it each time. Your koralias are still running in my frag tank. Once I get an MP10, I can give em back to you (unless you need them sooner).

I forgot you had them I don't care you can keep them I don't need them if i remember they don't even have the mag mounts on it anyway. I have a extra Sunlight Supply 250 watt ballast

I SHOULD HAVE TALKED TO YOU FIRST!

to be honest its not a very good ballast it get hot and its noisy but it works

I think I'll be alright until Friday anyhow. Thanks for the offer, my man.

Yeah ... if you stop buying corals this will be possible today Just kidding ... LoL ... funny thing about vortech ... some guy on our local reef site is trying to convince everyone there is a conspiracy that because of his defective MP-40 ... all of them have problems and that Ecotech knows this but still sells their products.
Total BS ... but thought I would share

The main reason why I want a Vortech is bc of its small footprint, which I can mount on the SIDE of my tank. Leaves space on the back glass for me to grow stags from. If it works too, that would be a BONUS! LOL

Picture taking mood, again.

I can't stop looking at these new Aussie Acans. The violet rim & the fuchsia inner rings just move me.


Took this of the Stunner before I moved it the the frag bin.


Probably the nicest SPS frag I got from the BAR swap. Purple Valida. It colored up almost instantly.


Tri-Color Valida starting to show some flava. Also got this from the BAR swap several weeks back. I'll use this for a comparison photo later.


ORA Cali Tort from Adam.

Nice additions. Though honestly, if there is one person who needs a bigger tank, it's you!

OMG!!!! CALI TORT!!!
ill take that off your hands for 80.
JK but do you know where i could get one of those guys?

Hey randy i am clearing off my frag rack and i thought i read that your setosa wasn't doing good. so if you want i have another pretty good frag of it and i was wondering if you want it

OOOOOOO Purrtttttyyyyyyy.

Looks like the Cali Tort is settling in nicely Randy. Starting to show some really nice color. Mine took a bit to encrust but it actually grows pretty fast for a Tort.

That new Aussie Acan is amazing...I would be pretty moved if it were in my tank as well. My goal over the next 6 months is to put together a nice little Acan garden in my tank

In about a year, it should be an inch long and I'll trade you something for it. Just enjoy it in my tank for the time being. LOL


I'm workin it!


That's a nice piece but BOTH frags you gave me are doing exceptionally well now. I guess the larger piece just needed some time to adjust.


Works for ME, Adam. I should be able to scoop up a few more myself. Next trade ACANS.

So I tried for 2hrs this morning to fire up the halide. NO LUCK. And I know it's not burnt out cuz it still spits out a little flame - just not enough to fire the whole bulb. That Lumatek ballast can't get here fast enough. I figure it should arrive before noon tomorrow. For the time being, I have the display lit by the 150W Phoenix 14K, which I relocated from the frag tank. And I gotta tell ya, the difference between 150Ws and 250Ws is HUGE. The light intensity looks maaaaybe 25-30% of what I get from my 250W. And this temporary light is 6" closer to the water surface. No wonder corals color up so much faster in my display. Hmmm. Perhaps it's time to try some high powered LEDs over the frag tank. Yet another cause for delay in getting the NEW setup.

(hope I can figure out how to re-wire the ballast tomorrow)

***
I also setup a R2R account this morning. Couldn't resist after browsing the livestock trading section. Thanks for the tip, Adam.

Well after all the effort and complaints, the 250W decides to fire up on its own! 3hrs passed the scheduled time, however. I did learn one thing though. Although the 150W Phoenix 14K is a WELL RESPECTED bulb, I don't know that it puts out enough PAR to get the growth and maybe even the color I'm hoping for. Now with that said, I'll be switching to the 250W Phoenix 14K bc I do like the cool blue it casts onto the corals. LOL. I think it just needs a bit more intensity.

How much would you charge for a sunset monti frag? I might be interested in a piece about 3/4 inches big. Thx in advance.

Hi Octo. Local (to me) or shipped?

Chatted w/ Mark Poletti for a bit today. Incredibly down to earth guy with a GODLY TANK.

did you talk to him or pm him? I have know mark for a few years now he's a great guy most of the time but he gets a little greedy when theres coral in the balance but we all do i guess. Anyway you should meet up with him he's got a great tank but from personal experince don't think that you will get a great deal from him but he always has great stuff if you willing to pay

mark is a great guy. hes a goldmine of reef knowledge. i got a frag of the war peace coral from him last weekend

Talkin more trade than anything. He wouldn't trade his Orange Immolation for anything I have. Go figure, he has EVERYTHING I have. Didn't even know it was him at first. Anyhow, cool dude and I'd like to peep his tank one time since he's local.


I bet. That's a nice piece. You go to his spot? Ping me next time you head out. I'd like to see that tank.

i didn't go to his spot this time. i met up w/ him at exotic. photos don't do his tank justice. the depth of it and color is just unreal. he keeps only premium stuff in his tank.

Wow. Gorgeous tank and livestock!

Thanks Tigah. Your tank makes me want to upgrade - my tank AND my camera

***
Speakin of which, I've been chattin with Sam about the new Oceanic Illuminata. It's a 57G rimless. Just need to figure out which reflector will light a 36" x 18" footprint, with one halide bulb. I know for sure I don't want 2x halides, burning 500Ws of power. Not ready for T5s just yet. And I'm not too confident/knowledgeable with LEDs penetrating 21" deep.

***
Still no ballast. UPS routed the package incorrectly at the facility, but they still claim to deliver on time. Tank is dark at the moment.

Let me know how you feel about the Lumtek ballast! Granted, anything will be better than what you have right now, but still. I think your best bet is the Lumenbright pendant for lighting a 36X18 footprint. You'll probably still get shadows though because one halide is really stretched by 36 inches. That would be an awesome upgrade though. Reaaaally awesome.

Will do. I'll see if I can snap a pic of the light intensity before and after the ballast change. Funny, I was looking at the Lumenmax pendant, but you hit the nail directly on the head. SHADOWS. There would be also be dark spots at the far left and right sides of the tank. If I went with a 36" x 18", I'd have to concentrate my SPS in the center and place chalices, acans, favias and zoas on either side. It could work, but a 24" x 24" would be ideal. I may buy the new reflector before making a decision on the tank, so I could see for myself how far the lighting will reach.

I was thinking about upgrading my 150 watt Sunpod to a Lumen Bright 3 Pendant and power that boy with a 250 watt Lumantek Ballast...let me know how you like your ballast.

...did you get the 240v Lumantek Ballast or the 120v ballast?

Sounds like a plan. But would you run a 150W bulb on a 250W ballast? Got the dual voltage one.

Alright, here's a pic I just snapped using drab manual settings for the camera. No photoshop of course. Hoping the camera doesn't automatically adjust for light intensity, because I plan on taking another pic tomorrow with the same default settings AFTER THE NEW BALLAST IS INSTALLED.

Notice the chalices on mag racks. I raise them up to the surface at night, so I can feed em without putting my hands in the water. Also, keeps fish from stealing their food.

BTW, if all goes as planned I should be picking up 2 IceFire frags next Thursday.

No...would that even be possible, running a 150watt bulb on a 250watt housing & ballast? I'm thinking about the 250w 14k Phoenix or 250w 20k Radium...how do you like your 14k SPS Blue Life bulb?

I don't think so. You mentioned upgrading and didn't say anything about the bulb, so I thought you were going to use your existing one. So you'll be switching out to an entirely new lighting setup then. Right on.

I'd personally rate the SPS Blue Life higher than any bulb I've used so far. But due to its high price, I may try out a Radium 20K. Not that it's any cheaper, but I want to know I'm getting the biggest bang for my buck if I'm spending $80+/bulb. Might even try to Phoenix 14K @ $55 each! I did see Radium 20k pics and it was love at first sight.

UPS made an error at the sorting facility, so I won't be getting my new ballast until WED. In the meantime, I'm lighting the tank w/ a Phoenix 14K 150W. Here's a pic. It's definitely on the bluer side, which my camera cannot capture too well. Compared to the one I snapped yesterday w/ the 250W 14k, it's clearly not as intense.

BTW, I removed one of the leathers on the upper right to make room for another acro. Pretty soon all softies (except zoas/palys and a few spotlight shrooms) will be removed from this tank.

all i gotta say is. WOW.

Ha, thanks Nate.

***
Somewhat liking the Phoenix blue, so I took some random top view pics. Looks like the brown out bonus frags I got from the BAR swap are slowly starting to add color:














Happy Labor Day.

I HAVE AN ADDICTION. And NR is probably not the best place for me to discuss it, as it may only make matters worse. When I first got into this hobby about 2.5-3 yrs ago, my primary goal was to maintain aquatic life in captivity. I was never interested in buying costly pieces, only the ones that were challenging, like SPS. I was content in trying to keep colorful corals colorful. That satisfied me. Now that I think I may have gotten the hang of reef keeping, I've kicked things up a notch to acquiring coral that's not only hard to keep but also HARD TO FIND. This is what concerns me, cuz I can get a little carried way at times.

Same thing happened to me when I used to collect cards and comic books. I wanted the rare stuff, like Amazing Spider-man #1 or Uncanny X-Men #1. Before I knew it, I had spent tens of thousands. [Later sold them for tens of thousands too but that's besides the point]. Point being, I see it happening again but with CORALS and I don't expect to get my money back this time around. I never thought I would spend so much cash on corals and enjoy doing it. Take this weekend for instance. Family came over and I had tons of time to seek out chalices. Thought it would be fun to acquire pieces directly from the source colonies. Here's what I came up with:

Oregon Mummy Eye
BPC Flamethrower
Orange Immolation
Golden Galaxy
Flying Saucer

At some point within the next few days, weeks, months, these will end up in my little nano. There's very little room in here, but I'll be getting a new tank soon - which is a good thing. The tank will give me much more space - which is a scary thing. So to get back to my key point in having an addiction. I do have an addiction to corals, and I admit that. But I don't necessarily want to break it This is truly stress free therapy for my overly consumed mind, and well worth the time, effort and money. Plus, I'll have nicer corals to share with my friends on NR

Oh, also made a quick zoa/paly trade on R2R. Some KO Nightmares, Nightmares, and Rainbows for 3 Everlasting Gobstopper polyps. I do believe I'll always appreciate zoas (and chalices), no matter which direction the fads take me.

OMG ... you need help ... lol

Sweet pieces ... you know you want more!!!

talk to poletti. he's the source

I'll quit buying corals next Labor Day. Definitely Labor Day.


That's where it's comin from. How's the chalice collection amassing on your end? We're supposed to team up and trade aren't we? BTW, the orange bam bams have been partially closed for a few days. Had some pink panthers that did that too for whatever reason, but have since come back. And the Faux Jedi Mind Trick, which I do believe is the real thing, has a nice blue ring around its edges now.

sorry to hear about the bam bams. i have a small colony (10 polyps) from which i can probably chop off a few for you in time for the oct swap.

chalice collection? it's moving but it's slowed down a little. i got a few known mummy eyes (original, emerald), the pumpkin patch is growing steadily through spot feeding, bj isn't growing, nor is the 4 color or orange sherbet, ... other than that i've just got a bunch of unknown pieces. the collection is growing though, i think i got around 15 or so. trading would be good - i need to clear some room. i gotta find me a BGM locally that's healed. how's yours doing?

yeah the jedi i got you looks the same as the real deal to me too. i guess poletti will never agree but it's much nicer than those bland looking impersonators you see everywhere. mine is a good grower but it gets fed a lot (as do my other corals).

Nah, don't even worry about it if you only got 10 of em. I got a feeling the ones I have will open up again anyway.

Very nice. I'll take the emerald, 4-color, and orange sherbet. Bag em up for the Oct swap The BGM I got is growing fast. It's on the daily mysis/brine diet. It's gotta be the smallest yet nicest piece in my tank at the moment. The green has become more intense and one of its eyes has gotten noticeably bigger. At this rate, I think it will double in size within the next 30 days. So BJ is a slow grower huh? I'm splitting mine in half for the Oct swap, in exchange for a piece of Tyree Pink Watermelon. Goin to the BAR swap?

doubt it. i don't have much room in my tank so i am fighting off adding anything i don't really want.

you're splitting up your bj for craig's tyree pink? that's a pretty good deal for both of you. i know he had one a while ago that he burned with kalk or something. he was pretty bummed.

the BGM is a very nice colored piece and a fast grower. i gotta get my hands on a 2-3 polyp piece and get that one going.

as far as trades for the oct NCRC swap are concerned, i'll post what i have in the swap thread that craig started on the site and see if anything sparks your interest. i don't suppose you're chopping that BGM? i don't think any of the chalices i listed are big enough to chop up but check out the stuff i am going to post.

oh, and i have the ORA blue chalice. that one's a fast grower. i can probably just give you a piece of that if you'd like

BTW: sack up and get a bigger tank (i hear an ELOS 120xl calling your name)

if you want it without getting it from poletti goe aqualife aquarium in rocklin its there chalice when it says that "The colony was originally acquired by Mark from a local reef store in Northern California" he means them mark unfortunately doesn't gives credit to those he buys from.
Anyway its in ther show tank in the middle about 16" from the bottom ask for kyle or Dane and make a request to frag the piece and they will cut you a frag. If you decide to go get one give me a ring and i will go down there with you

Craig, is that his name? Good to know. LOL. Yeah, I initially traded for one eye but another grew quickly, and the Pink Watermelon is a must have for me so hopefully it all works out.

My thoughts exactly on the MARS swap, but I think I'm goin anyway. Haha.

As far as the BGM, I've thought about slicing that thing 1000 times already, but it has made so much progress so far. It would be like starting over if I chopped it up now. I'll do it once it gets to 5 or 6 eyes though. If you can wait that long.

Sure I'll take a frag of the ORA blue. Let me think of somethin I can give you in exchange.

get a bigger tank.

Ha, you're funny. I was wondering which local reef store that originated from. Let's definitely take a trip to Aqualife. I wanna ask those guys if they remember selling a 4 eye miami hurricane frag to another guy before he sold his colony to me. I have a receipt from them so I know he got it there for sure. Just want to know where Aqualife got theirs.

I think I will buy from Poletti though. A deal's a deal. Comes as a combo with somethin else that's literally impossible to find, even from the originator. Multiple eyes on the healed frag he has. Plus, he was cool enough to let me know where I could grab a legit BPC Flamethrower.

That's the thing with all of the reputable reefers out there. If they get their hands on a nice piece and put their name on it, it's as good as gold. Their name or "brand" is actually worth more than the coral itself. Wish my name could carry that much weight. "That's a PurpleUP green star polyp. It's worth BANK."


I'm on it, Man. Thinkin about the 57G RImless Illuminata, which is cheaper than a Tropicorium Acid Trip frag.

I love the escalation in this tank. "I gotta have them all!" I'm surprised you didn't want an acid trip frag. Still, you should get a 24X24X18 tank. It'd have similar dimensions to your tank, lots of extra room and could still be lit by a single 250. I've been trying to build up the cash and the drive to build my own 24X24X18 cube, but unfortunately I have neither right now.

Quick hijack, reefdan! This AquaMedic unit you sold me rocks. I replaced the old bulb with a phoenix and it literally tripled the PAR! When I inspected the old bulb one of the clip things had a crack in it, I'm sure from the trip in the back of a van, so that might have been the problem, but seriously this thing is great.