Diver's Paradise - The Original

[Felicia]

Nice pictures. Do you have a wrasse for those FW? I have mine in my fuge, got a springers damsel and a blue velvet nudi to deal with it. The nudi might have perished but the damsel won't peck at the FW, readily eats them if they are in the water column though.

 

Anyway you have me SERIOUSLY thinking of making a bread mask for my cat today.

I don't really have the room for another fish, so I figured the nudibranch would be the better way to go. Its hit or miss with wrasses anyway, but blue velvets (if they live) only eat flatworms and nothing else, so you know they will eat them.

 

Do it!

 

Is the closeup of the blue/green SPS a birdsnest? It's so pretty!!!!! My slimer from you is taking it's sweet time with growing. It's starting to sprout new sticks from the base though.

 

Can't wait to see you tomorrow.

 

 

Agree, with Gena, the blue/green is extremely beautiful. You guys should have someone take a pic of you together tomorrow having fun, while we in NC can only dream of the wonderful things you'll see!

Thank you! See below for photos

 

Woa i deserve a

for being so behind in this thread I missed this tank, it kinda fell off the radar for a bit, 'Thanks Ponies!'

 

 

You and Gena have some of the nicest, natural looking z/p patches in your tanks! I cant wait till mine grow out that lush and colorful.

I've missed this tank too! I need to pay more attention to it now that the seahorses are all settled in. Getting new stuff for it finally is exciting!

 

Thanks, Zia! None of those in that photo are expensive zoas. Just common colorful ones that filled in nicely. I really love how they look all filled in Your tank is going to look sick once all your high end zoas turn into colonies and grow together.

 

Didn't know you were hiding this piece of meat in there. Ive wanted a scoly for the longest and yet to pull the trigger on one,hmmm

I've had that scoly for just about 2 years now. It was a frag actually. A very brave LFS out here was really good at fragging them and I bought that warpaint scoly when it was just half a circle. Its a full circle now and does well for me. Saved me a ton of money to buy it as a frag. Its funny because a lot of people don't notice it, but its front and center in the tank. Its right in front of that big rock full of zoa colonies.

 

Wait who's Kevin? I thought i was your favorite

Kevin is Randi's squamosa. I was unaware you were a clam or I would have put you in the running for "my favorite clam on NR."

 

Ehhh good things never come fast! This will be such a cool earned achievement once it does come out, cant wait to get my signed issue from the one and only herself

Yep, I can be patient! It just would have been nice to be in the issue that is all over at RAP today. Oh well! I will let you all know as soon as the one with my tank comes out! I'll send anyone who wants one a signed copy

 

This reminds me of my newest inbound piece of fluff.

 

To funny! Again, i can't believe what a good kitty she is to allow all this nonsense

Now Lily's part of the four food groups,lol Wonder if my kitty prefers white or wheat, might have to make a bread stop stop later.

Your duo of kittens is going to be cuteness overload! I think yours needs a tiny piece of bread since he's such a little guy Oh, and Lily has always been a food group all along! She's the very top of the pyramid where they put sweet things!

 

Wow!! This tank not only looks great but you've had a explosion of SPS growth since the last FTS! A little neglect goes a long way with this tank,lol

 

Again your grown in z/ps are killa. But now your jus showing out with all those haut Blond Eye B and Rastas looking all flashy like that

This tank seems to do best when I just leave it be for a while. I've got a couple SPS corals that grow like weeds no matter how long I ignore the tank. If I didn't frag the slimer and the sour apple birdsnest, they'd both be like 4 times bigger or more now!

 

The rock with the rastas and blondies is mostly high end zoas. I am just waiting patiently for all of them to fill that rock in like the other zoa rock. Its slower going since they were all 1 polyp frags to start with. When I buy $30/polyp zoas, I will only buy 1 polyp. My new CARs will be going on that rock.

 

Dang that's right today is the big day Hope you had a safe trip down there and you gals and guys are having the time of your life!! Since your there all day, both days buy lot's of raffle tickets and win win a ton of those awesome prizes!

I had so much fun today! I've got a whole day still ahead of me! Too much corals shopping. It was so nice to see Gena again and to get to meet Ben (Illuiix)! I didn't buy raffle tickets because I wanted to spend the money on corals instead. There are so many people here that the odds of winning a raffle are so low. I'd rather not gamble my coral money!

[Illuiix]

Well,

Wow, I can tell it used to be frag since it's missing the bottom half skeleton. And to see that you grew the other half in a just a few months is quite remarkable. My lfs was selling this really nice scoly but it was cut in half... I didn't buy it because I thought it would take forever to grow it. Now I just think it's true except your tank is super established and mature to grow frags into colonies for not long.

[Felicia]

Yep, its a pretty nice looking piece for only $40. I can't complain. It had some tissue recession on that right side ages ago, but its all nice and puffy now. It just kind of shifted left and never covered over the old skeleton. Its my goofy, flopped over scoly and I love it. Its been with me for 2 years now.

[Illuiix]

Nice. Great stuff. I actually bought a green/orange scoly today that has a very similar pattern to your warpaint.

[Felicia]

Ok, so here's a list of what I bought today at RAP:

1) Squamosa Clam

2) 2 Blue Velvet Nudibranchs (everyone pray that they survive long enough to eat all my annoying red planaria!)

3) 2 bags of AlgaGen Tisbe Pods (one bag for each tank to restock the pod population)

4) Bright pink NPS gorgonian

5) Miami Vice-type zoas

6) Dragon's Breath Macro

7) Candy Apple Reds (CARs)

 

Now I've got some photos to share!

 

 

My new pink NPS gorgonian. Hopefully I don't kill it! Its not a species I've seen and so its always a risk since I don't know how hardy it will be. It was just too pretty to resist.

http://s289.photobucket.com/user/alatarie/media/IMG_4836.jpg.html'>

 

A seahorse with the pink NPS gorgonian that I purchased.

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I found more seahorses at the Phil Your Aquarium booth.

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Some of the display tanks.

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AlgaGen has these new live culture dispensers for LFS's. Cool idea!

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Mobile public aquarium

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One booth was selling pre-bagged fish. Their table was just a pile of bags of fish. Kind of ridiculous!

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Two of my friends from the Bay Area Reefers talking to Frankie from Tanked.

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Cool ray!

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Soooo many clams!

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Candy Time!

$500 Scoly

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$250 Acan

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$1000 mushroom! For those of us on a budget, the baby to the right was only $800.

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More $800 mushrooms!

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Drool...

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Me and my friends from the Bay Area Reefers with Brett and Wayde of ATM/Tanked

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Gena and I with our Marine Depot T-shirts

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Nice. Great stuff. I actually bought a green/orange scoly today that has a very similar pattern to your warpaint.

Nice! I was eyeing a solid orange one for only $30 today. It was tiny and not super bright but still a cool little scoly.

[Illuiix]

I see. I think I know which one you're talking about. Is it the only with just 2 very thin purple strips? I recall seeing an orange one, baby size (1") with that.

[Felicia]

I see. I think I know which one you're talking about. Is it the only with just 2 very thin purple strips? I recall seeing an orange one, baby size (1") with that.

It didn't have any purple at all, just a completely solid orange. I forget the name of the vendor, but the booth was in like the second row from the right side of the building and all the way at the very back.

[Illuiix]

It didn't have any purple at all, just a completely solid orange. I forget the name of the vendor, but the booth was in like the second row from the right side of the building and all the way at the very back.

 

Yeah it does have 2 single thin purple strips. I know which one. I remember it was at the way back right side. The vendor had 3 tanks and that tank was right by the wall. The only other orange scoly I saw was a solid oj one but not small (2" big) at another vendor I think lol.

[Felicia]

Yeah it does have 2 single thin purple strips. I know which one. I remember it was at the way back right side. The vendor had 3 tanks and that tank was right by the wall. The only other orange scoly I saw was a solid one but not small (2" big) at another vendor I think lol.

Oh! Yep, that was it! I missed the two thin purple stripes. Maybe tomorrow if its still there, I'll consider buying it. Can't really beat $30 for a scoly even though it wasn't very colorful.

[Illuiix]

Well the orange part is exceptionally bright lol. But up to you. Buy whatever you think looks good.

 

Oh, and also could you take pictures of any scoly I missed over there?? I heard from a few vendors, that they'll be getting more scolys in tomorrow. lol

[FlowerMama]

Wow, I don't know much about gorgonians but I know for sure I haven't seen one w/ that kind texture. Love that picture w/ you two holding your shirts. I think I would be so disoriented, like I had ADHD if I was at a place like that, looking at so many things and probably being pulled to see this and that and many OMG!!! Look at this!!!!!. Looks like a blast.

[gena]

Wow, I don't know much about gorgonians but I know for sure I haven't seen one w/ that kind texture. Love that picture w/ you two holding your shirts. I think I would be so disoriented, like I had ADHD if I was at a place like that, looking at so many things and probably being pulled to see this and that and many OMG!!! Look at this!!!!!. Looks like a blast.

It's a stunning gorgonian. So delicate looking. It's going to look perfect in the seahorse tank!!!!

 

Yes...ADHD is a very good way to describe the mood at that place. There is so much to see.

[RollaJase]

Your tank is looking great Felicia, looks like you got some great pieces at RAP . So cool that you got to meet the guys from Tanked! I watched the first 2 seasons and loved it haha.

[Felicia]

Well the orange part is exceptionally bright lol. But up to you. Buy whatever you think looks good.

 

Oh, and also could you take pictures of any scoly I missed over there?? I heard from a few vendors, that they'll be getting more scolys in tomorrow. lol

I took some scoly photos for you! They're below. Not sure if they were new ones though since I wasn't paying that much attention. I ended up buying the orange scoly I was eyeing for $25. Not sure it was the one you were thinking of since I still can't really see any purple lines. Its kind of a mottled orange/peach color. I believe its a scolymia vitiensis and its about an inch and a half in diameter.

 

Wow, I don't know much about gorgonians but I know for sure I haven't seen one w/ that kind texture. Love that picture w/ you two holding your shirts. I think I would be so disoriented, like I had ADHD if I was at a place like that, looking at so many things and probably being pulled to see this and that and many OMG!!! Look at this!!!!!. Looks like a blast.

Thanks! Yep, it was definitely overwhelming, but fun!

 

It's a stunning gorgonian. So delicate looking. It's going to look perfect in the seahorse tank!!!!

 

Yes...ADHD is a very good way to describe the mood at that place. There is so much to see.

I like it a lot! I sure hope it does well. I am not positive what it is, so it may be some species that's super hard to care for or something. We'll see. It wasn't too expensive, so I figured it was worth the gamble. I'm currently trying to figure out what it is, so I have a better idea how to care for it.

 

 

I got home from RAP at about 1 am last night and spent until 2:30 am getting everything acclimated, dipped, and placed in my tanks. I was most concerned about the nudibranch, but it was still alive and kicking when I got home and it survived acclimation. After adding it to the tank it went right to town eating flatworms. I originally was going to get two of them because they are notoriously difficult to keep alive in a bag and to acclimate to your tank, but the vendor accidentally sold one of the two I had on hold with them. Luckily they still had one of them for me and I'm happy it survived the long day in a bag. I haven't seen it at all today, but its tiny and could be hiding anywhere. I hope its still alive and eating away at flatworms. It sure was being active and eating when I added it last night, so I'm optimistic.

 

All my other purchases survived the long drive back to Berkeley and are doing well so far. The final list of what I purchased is:

1) Blue Velvet Nudibranch

2) Squamosa Clam

3) Orange Scoly

4) CARs

5) Pink Hallucination polyp

6) Vice-type zoas

7) Dragon's Breath Macro - seahorse tank

8) Pink Sea Fan - seahorse tank

9) Two bags of AlgaGen Tisbe Pods - one bag for each tank

 

Here are a few quick photos of my purchases:

 

Pink Hallucination

 

Scoly - its a much brighter orange in person.

 

Squamosa - from the top down its orange-ish with a blue rim

 

CARs

 

Pink Sea Fan

 

So interestingly enough, I don't think the sea fan is a gorgonian. I think its another black coral like the spiral wire. If you look at the bottom of the stalk (where it attaches to the rock) in the last photo, it has some flesh missing and a black skeleton is exposed. Gorgonians don't have hard skeletons and I believe only the black coral family has black skeletons. There are several different species of black corals besides the spiral wires, and several of them are sea fans that look a lot like the one I purchased. The vendor I bought this from was clueless, and I knew it was a risk buying something when I didn't know what it was, but it was a reasonable price and I felt like taking a gamble. When I say the vendor was clueless, their specials at RAP were package deals on a 3 gallon cube tank that included either a clownfish or an H. Erectus seahorse. Don't even get me started on clownfish and seahorses in a tiny 3 gallon cube! Anyways, now that I think its a black coral, I'm pretty excited to try to keep this thing alive. My spiral wire is doing well do far, so hopefully this sea fan will do well for me too. Unfortunately, they're very uncommon so there is little to no information on their care that I can find, so its trial and error. Wish me luck!

 

Ok, so now for some photos from the second day at RAP.

 

RAP's clownfish ballon

 

Scolys for Illuiix

This is the one I bought. Its color came out odd under the really blue lights the vendor was using.

 

 

 

 

 

Vendor Display Tanks

 

 

 

 

 

Interesting spotlight fixture by MaxSpect

Clams

 

Angler

 

Worldwide Corals bought these 3 chalices during RAP for $8000. My photos do not do them justice!

 

Tube Anemone

 

I found more seahorses! These are HUGE H. Reidi's.

 

 

 

And finally for some cuteness, this is my friend's 9.5 week old kitten. He traveled with us down to LA.

 

 

Your tank is looking great Felicia, looks like you got some great pieces at RAP . So cool that you got to meet the guys from Tanked! I watched the first 2 seasons and loved it haha.

 

Thank you! I love Tanked! I know so many people in the hobby hate it, but I realize its a TV show and they can't show all the details and information. Its for entertainment and not education. I just like seeing the crazy tanks they come up with.

[gena]

Very interesting about your new "gorgonian" black coral!!!! I hope it does really well for you!!!!! It's soooo pretty. Looks great in your tank too.

 

I ended up going to Vivid yesterday. I needed Oyster Feast and Phytofeast and they carry it. I didn't buy any coral. Nothing interested me. They didn't have any CARs...probably took them all down to RAP.

 

Glad you made it home safely and everyone survived the bag time!!!!!

 

We should do this again next year. I had a blast.

 

BTW...is that seahorse pregnant?

[Felicia]

Very interesting about your new "gorgonian" black coral!!!! I hope it does really well for you!!!!! It's soooo pretty. Looks great in your tank too.

 

I ended up going to Vivid yesterday. I needed Oyster Feast and Phytofeast and they carry it. I didn't buy any coral. Nothing interested me. They didn't have any CARs...probably took them all down to RAP.

 

Glad you made it home safely and everyone survived the bag time!!!!!

 

We should do this again next year. I had a blast.

 

BTW...is that seahorse pregnant?

Thanks, Gena! I sure wasn't expecting to end up with a different species of black coral, but I'm pretty sure that's what it is.

 

I'll send you a frag of CARs when mine grow some more polyps. My frag has two nice big polyps on it, so hopefully it will grow quickly. Maybe I can trade you for some Vivid Rainbows?

 

We should definitely do this again next year. As long as my schedule allows, I'm definitely planning to attend next year. I bought the SCMAS membership which gets me in free next year.

 

I am not positive about the seahorse. I don't have any males, so I'm not positive what they look like when they're pregnant. I'm thinking its pregnant, though.

[Felicia]

Here's a better photo of the new squamosa.

http://s289.photobucket.com/user/alatarie/media/IMG_4956.jpg.html'>

 

Also, I wanted to update you guys on my maxima. I moved it up onto the rocks right before I went out of town for the weekend, so I was a bit worried it would move and fall back onto the sand. When I got home it was in the exact spot I placed it in and it has attached its foot! Obviously its happy and likes the spot its in, which is great because that's really the only spot I have for it.

 

You can see its foot attached to the rocks.

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[gena]

Thanks, Gena! I sure wasn't expecting to end up with a different species of black coral, but I'm pretty sure that's what it is.

 

I'll send you a frag of CARs when mine grow some more polyps. My frag has two nice big polyps on it, so hopefully it will grow quickly. Maybe I can trade you for some Vivid Rainbows?

 

We should definitely do this again next year. As long as my schedule allows, I'm definitely planning to attend next year. I bought the SCMAS membership which gets me in free next year.

 

I am not positive about the seahorse. I don't have any males, so I'm not positive what they look like when they're pregnant. I'm thinking its pregnant, though.

That's right! I forgot you bought the membership! Yay. I hope you can do it next year!!!!

 

If I don't get ADHD and buy some beforehand, I'll definitely trade with you. Or, I can just give you rainbows if I don't need the CARs by then.

Your squammy is a pretty one. I really like the colors!!!!

[Felicia]

That's right! I forgot you bought the membership! Yay. I hope you can do it next year!!!!

 

If I don't get ADHD and buy some beforehand, I'll definitely trade with you. Or, I can just give you rainbows if I don't need the CARs by then.

Your squammy is a pretty one. I really like the colors!!!!

Sounds like a plan. I know you're looking for some, so my offer was if you don't find any by the time mine can be fragged

 

I like the squammy too! It looks a bit more orange in person that it did in my photo, which is why I liked it. Its orange with a touch of blue along the edge, so its Florida Gator colored

[Mr. Microscope]

Fun pics! Thanks for sharing!

[Felicia]

Fun pics! Thanks for sharing!

You're welcome! Glad you enjoyed them

[Arkayology]

That new squamosa looks really good! I'm glad you had a good time at RAP. It was a hoot even though I didn't get much new coral.

[Illuiix]

Haha, thank you Felicia!! Most of the new scoly pictures you took on Sunday, I've seen already but it helps to know that there were a few new ones released on Sunday in the picture after your indo scoly pic. But I don't think the new ones are as great. Haha I've actually been eyeing that $250 bleeding apple you snapped a pic of...I'm also not surprised that it's left unsold and lowered to $225. That one has a perfect circle shape and pattern connects from the outer circle to the inner circle ( stripes).

 

Anyways, thanks again. Also, I believe that gorg is very similar to the blueberry gorg that I used to have in my previous tank. It has that black skeletal stalk just like it. Maybe yours is called the pink berry gorg? Haha.

 

Oh and the indo scoly, that's a great buy! I've seen those go for at least $50. And yours has a pink pattern over the orange which is great!

[Felicia]

That new squamosa looks really good! I'm glad you had a good time at RAP. It was a hoot even though I didn't get much new coral.

Thanks! I'm glad to hear you had a good time. Sorry you didn't get any nice SPS pieces. I noticed the selection wasn't that great, but luckily I was mostly shopping for other things. I will have to say that the selection of LPS and clams were definitely the best compared to the other coral categories. Tons of scolys, acans, chalices, etc. The zoa and paly selection was about what I expected, but the prices weren't any better than I can normally find at my local stores. I was really hoping for a better selection of some of the less common things that I don't find locally, like macro algaes, gorgonians, sponges, etc. I've decided the only way to get sponges and gorgonians without paying an arm and a leg for a tiny little frag is to order through KP Aquatics. One vendor wanted $90 for a 3" tall piece of a basic purple photosynthetic gorgonian that KPA sells a 6-8" tall colony of for $15.

 

Haha, thank you Felicia!! Most of the new scoly pictures you took on Sunday, I've seen already but it helps to know that there were a few new ones released on Sunday in the picture after your indo scoly pic. But I don't think the new ones are as great. Haha I've actually been eyeing that $250 bleeding apple you snapped a pic of...I'm also not surprised that it's left unsold and lowered to $225. That one has a perfect circle shape and pattern connects from the outer circle to the inner circle ( stripes). Anyways, thanks again. Also, I believe that gorg is very similar to the blueberry gorg that I used to have in my previous tank. It has that black skeletal stalk just like it. Maybe yours is called the pink berry gorg? Haha. Oh and the indo scoly, that's a great buy! I've seen those go for at least $50. And yours has a pink pattern over the orange which is great!

No problem! I wasn't really scoly shopping the first day, so I wasn't sure which ones were new. I did talk to one of the vendors the second day and he mentioned that the scolys weren't selling well at all and that they were going to drop prices. They weren't dropping them very much though and by the end of the day, most of the scolys were still there and got packed back up by the vendors.

 

Good to know that blueberry gorgonians have black skeletons. I didn't think anything besides the black corals had skeletons like that. It does look a lot like a blueberry gorgonian, just pink. Did the blueberry gorgonian do well for you? How did you care for it? This is great to know since I am clueless on this new pink gorgonian.

 

Glad to hear my scoly was a good price! I don't see that type/color at the local stores so I didn't know to expect for price. I just thought it was pretty and my friends bought 2 clams and a frogspawn from that same vendor, so we were able to make a deal to take $20 off the purchase. That meant the scoly I got was $25 instead of the $30 they were originally asking. For $25 I figured it was a good deal I really can't capture its color well in photos but its very pretty and looks good sitting next to my warpaint scoly, which is about the same size.

[Arkayology]

Thanks! I'm glad to hear you had a good time. Sorry you didn't get any nice SPS pieces. I noticed the selection wasn't that great, but luckily I was mostly shopping for other things. I will have to say that the selection of LPS and clams were definitely the best compared to the other coral categories. Tons of scolys, acans, chalices, etc. The zoa and paly selection was about what I expected, but the prices weren't any better than I can normally find at my local stores. I was really hoping for a better selection of some of the less common things that I don't find locally, like macro algaes, gorgonians, sponges, etc. I've decided the only way to get sponges and gorgonians without paying an arm and a leg for a tiny little frag is to order through KP Aquatics. One vendor wanted $90 for a 3" tall piece of a basic purple photosynthetic gorgonian that KPA sells a 6-8" tall colony of for $15.

Pacific East Aquaculture has some nice sponges.