jedimasterben Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Beautiful pics, man! Those sun corals are so damned invasive, the bitches are EVERYWHERE in the atlantic now! 2 Quote Link to comment
hypostatic Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 Yeah, they should just collect from the Atlantic now lol. DO you know if it's made it all the way up to Florida? Beautiful pics, man! Those sun corals are so damned invasive, the bitches are EVERYWHERE in the atlantic now! Also, has anyone considered introducing the sundial snails and nudibranches that predate (exclusively?) on them for control? Quote Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Yeah, they should just collect from the Atlantic now lol. DO you know if it's made it all the way up to Florida? Every harbor in West Palm Beach is covered in them. Also, has anyone considered introducing the sundial snails and nudibranches that predate (exclusively?) on them for control? Introducing another non-native species isn't exactly recommended lol Quote Link to comment
hypostatic Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 Every harbor in West Palm Beach is covered in them. Introducing another non-native species isn't exactly recommended lol Well, that's how many terrestrial invasives are controlled effectively: http://www.fws.gov/invasives/staffTrainingModule/methods/biological/impacts.html But you know, it only works if the organism EXCLUSIVELY feeds on the thing you're trying to get rid of. Like, I know there's been good work done with parasitic wasps, because they are so specialized and only go for one species. Quote Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Makes sense, called sun corals, like sun. Why are sun corals expensive if they're everywhere??? And thank you so much for sharing your trip.. So wonderful to see how large/expansive the corals get in the ocean. 1 Quote Link to comment
hypostatic Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 Well, they're called sun corals cuz they're yellow lol. And they're so expensive cuz 1) people will pay that much money for them, and 2) I think most of them come from the pacific. I think there might be like, a ban on carribean corals -- you don't really see any of them. 1 Quote Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 2) I think most of them come from the pacific. I think there might be like, a ban on carribean corals -- you don't really see any of them. T. coccinea is not a Caribbean coral, but it is illegal to harvest any non-native species save for particular ones that the ban is released from (like lionfish). This is what I was told by an FWC officer on the subject of their collection. 1 Quote Link to comment
tess&ellie Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Looked like a great snorkeling experience 1 Quote Link to comment
hypostatic Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 T. coccinea is not a Caribbean coral, but it is illegal to harvest any non-native species save for particular ones that the ban is released from (like lionfish). This is what I was told by an FWC officer on the subject of their collection. Oops, yeah, I meant a ban on corals FROM the Caribbean. Weird that you can't collect introduced species though Looked like a great snorkeling experience Yep! and it was all done by jut swimming from the beach! 1 Quote Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted January 10, 2015 Share Posted January 10, 2015 Oops, yeah, I meant a ban on corals FROM the Caribbean. Weird that you can't collect introduced species though Yeah, it is weird. The guy I talked to was really cool about it, he said that he had actually been one of the guys trying to decide what to do, and that they were going to bring it up at a future meeting if the ban could be released on it. That has been like a year and a half, and I haven't seen anything about it, but maybe I'm just looking in the wrong places lol Quote Link to comment
hypostatic Posted January 10, 2015 Author Share Posted January 10, 2015 I'd imagine it probably has something to do with safety precautions so you can't bring in Caribbean and say it's Pacific or vice-versa Quote Link to comment
Mirya Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 Love the vacation photos! Thank you for sharing. Someone needs to identify this fish, cause that is just crazy: In regards to the sun corals, it is thought that they got to the Atlantic as larval stowaways in the ballast water of ships passing through the Panama Canal. They were first noted in the Caribbean in the mid 1940s and have been spreading since. I think part of the issue with collecting them for sale is that it is illegal to collect Caribbean live rock, unless it is cultured live rock. However, sun corals will encrust on sunken ships and other structures. In fact, commercial divers are hired to scrape encrusting organisms off of oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. Normally the stuff they scrape off just falls to the bottom of the ocean. You'd think the divers could make a neat side business of selling what they scrape off to the aquarium industry. I think released a sun coral predator into the Atlantic would be dicey. No matter how much we might think it might prey exclusively on sun coral, it could potentially be a disaster if it finds something Atlantic that is tasty. 2 Quote Link to comment
FlowerMama Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 Thanks for the history on that. Quote Link to comment
ninjamyst Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 wait, all those were SNORKELING photos? How did you get sooo close to some of the critters???? 1 Quote Link to comment
jedimasterben Posted January 11, 2015 Share Posted January 11, 2015 In regards to the sun corals, it is thought that they got to the Atlantic as larval stowaways in the ballast water of ships passing through the Panama Canal. They were first noted in the Caribbean in the mid 1940s and have been spreading since. I think part of the issue with collecting them for sale is that it is illegal to collect Caribbean live rock, unless it is cultured live rock. However, sun corals will encrust on sunken ships and other structures. In fact, commercial divers are hired to scrape encrusting organisms off of oil rigs in the Gulf of Mexico. Normally the stuff they scrape off just falls to the bottom of the ocean. You'd think the divers could make a neat side business of selling what they scrape off to the aquarium industry. I think released a sun coral predator into the Atlantic would be dicey. No matter how much we might think it might prey exclusively on sun coral, it could potentially be a disaster if it finds something Atlantic that is tasty. I wouldn't doubt that that is how they originally came over. I think the first recorded sighting of the species in the Caribbean was in 1972. They didn't always have rules on ballast water treatment, and sun coral planulae will settle literally anywhere. The dominant species of coral on oil rigs in the gulf is surprisingly Tubastrea micrantha, the black sun coral. Bishes grow like weeds there yet still usually suffer and die in captivity! go figure lol 1 Quote Link to comment
hypostatic Posted January 11, 2015 Author Share Posted January 11, 2015 wait, all those were SNORKELING photos? How did you get sooo close to some of the critters???? SLOWLY lol. You also can't get good macros unless you're up close . What wa more difficult was getting a shot when waves were bobbing you up and down and crashing around you lol. On the sides of the cliff I had to hold onto something to keep the waves from splattering me on the walls. The dominant species of coral on oil rigs in the gulf is surprisingly Tubastrea micrantha, the black sun coral. Bishes grow like weeds there yet still usually suffer and die in captivity! go figure lol I think this happens cuz they need much more food than people usually give them. I think like at least every other day, or every day to keep them from starving. Interesting that something that doesn't even MOVE needs that much food. I think released a sun coral predator into the Atlantic would be dicey. No matter how much we might think it might prey exclusively on sun coral, it could potentially be a disaster if it finds something Atlantic that is tasty. Well, again, I'll state that this type of bio-control has worked perfectly well with many terrestrial species, but it needs to be a highly specific relationship. I believe nudis are generally highly specific, and usually only eat one species or genus. If that's the case, and there are no suns/dendros native to the Caribbean, then it should be a good bet. Although if there ARE Dendrophylliids native to the area it might be a good idea. Anyways, before anything like this is done, there is usually a thorough study done by scientists to try to find a suitable candidate/s for bio-control. I guess the sun corals haven't become SO problematic that scientists are scrambling to try to figure out what to do about it. 1 Quote Link to comment
hypostatic Posted January 14, 2015 Author Share Posted January 14, 2015 FROGS ARE HERE FROGS ARE HEREEEEEEE yis 11 Quote Link to comment
Slowtwitch Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 FROGS ARE HERE FROGS ARE HEREEEEEEE yis Beautiful creatures. My kids would go nuts for a vivarium with those guys in it. Do they sing? 1 Quote Link to comment
hypostatic Posted January 16, 2015 Author Share Posted January 16, 2015 Beautiful creatures. My kids would go nuts for a vivarium with those guys in it. Do they sing? So mantellas are seasonal, and their calls are more like cricket chirps If you want something that really sings I'd recommend leucs 2 Quote Link to comment
kimberbee Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Aww! That's so cute!! 1 Quote Link to comment
hypostatic Posted January 16, 2015 Author Share Posted January 16, 2015 Frogs are pretty great =D. They're interesting to watch, easy to care for, and sooooo pretty Aww! That's so cute!! 2 Quote Link to comment
markalot Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Hi Hypo, I have this old 46 gallon bowfront and I broke the brace while cleaning it. I was thinking of frogs but I'm really not sure what care they need, how often maintenance needs to be done, etc. You have any tips or an online guide that's good to look at? Trying to convince the wife who's always wanted some sort of terrarium like setup. 1 Quote Link to comment
metrokat Posted January 16, 2015 Share Posted January 16, 2015 Kermit the frog. ? He's cute. 1 Quote Link to comment
hypostatic Posted January 16, 2015 Author Share Posted January 16, 2015 Hi Hypo, I have this old 46 gallon bowfront and I broke the brace while cleaning it. I was thinking of frogs but I'm really not sure what care they need, how often maintenance needs to be done, etc. You have any tips or an online guide that's good to look at? Trying to convince the wife who's always wanted some sort of terrarium like setup. So compared to keeping corals, frogs are super super easy. The only maintenance you have to do is feeding them, and like cleaning the glass of condensation/algae. Actually, a lot of froggers are past reefers who picked up frogs on the side, and then switched over cuz they were so much easier and less of a hassle lol. The only real drawback to frogs is that they only eat live/moving food. So unless you can buy fruit flies every few weeks (still cheaper than coral foods lol), you have to make culture your own (again, still easier than culturing phyto or rotifers lol.) The biggest and most comprehensive compendium of dart frog information would be dendroboard.com, another forum that I'm also a part of. Josh's Frogs is also a good source: http://www.joshsfrogs.com/catalog/blog/category/poison-dart-frog-care/ And of course, if you have any questions just let me know . Also, I have some froglets that are getting a nice size if you're interested lol Kermit the frog. ? He's cute. Haha, dart frogs are the best 1 Quote Link to comment
Slowtwitch Posted January 17, 2015 Share Posted January 17, 2015 So compared to keeping corals, frogs are super super easy. The only maintenance you have to do is feeding them, and like cleaning the glass of condensation/algae. Actually, a lot of froggers are past reefers who picked up frogs on the side, and then switched over cuz they were so much easier and less of a hassle lol. The only real drawback to frogs is that they only eat live/moving food. So unless you can buy fruit flies every few weeks (still cheaper than coral foods lol), you have to make culture your own (again, still easier than culturing phyto or rotifers lol.) The biggest and most comprehensive compendium of dart frog information would be dendroboard.com, another forum that I'm also a part of. Josh's Frogs is also a good source: http://www.joshsfrogs.com/catalog/blog/category/poison-dart-frog-care/ And of course, if you have any questions just let me know . Also, I have some froglets that are getting a nice size if you're interested lol Haha, dart frogs are the best The video is great thanks for posting it. Are those your babies? How many kinds do you have? I love to sit outside and listen to the frogs sing in the spring. This would be a great way to have that all year. Just have to convince the wife to let me bring in another tank...lol...*sigh Quote Link to comment
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