Hammer's 5 gallon pico reef: almost 4 months! updates, new corals and bye bye clowns :(

[Lula_Mae]

Will you be buying different types of xenia, or one specific kind?

 

Also, I acree with you that soft corals are something special.

[HammerLover]

19 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

Will you be buying different types of xenia, or one specific kind?

 

Also, I acree with you that soft corals are something special.

IKR!! Softies are the best corals plus they arent as demanding. ive always found their polyps to be relaxing and way too pretty

 

Ive never seen the pulsing type for so long so Im stuck with the non pulsing type. Its around 3-4 heads I think so it should fill the tank nicely especially if the ricordeas will arrive next week

[Weetabix7]

2 hours ago, HammerLover said:

Sooo Im gonna buy 3 more stalks of xenia tomorrow. I just really really really really really love soft corals so much!

I dont know why some people get crazy over designer zoa frags/palys and several hard to keep sps corals

I dont know, its just me lol. I always love soft corals and some LPS over sps.

 

So the xenia will be bought tomorrow, plus I'll do a 30-35% wc  and scrub the glass and rocks since the diatoms are really annoying me. Next week I pooled some funds from my allowance so I can buy 5 heads of sweet and pretty ricordea yumas!

Once I get ahold of some peacock shrimps Im sure they will enjoy these heavenly beds of rics haha.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sounds great to me!!!

Good luck with school and your studies. 

What are your eventual career goals?

[HammerLover]

Just now, Weetabix7 said:

 

Sounds great to me!!!

Good luck with school and your studies. 

What are your eventual career goals?

Im taking up BS Geology actually, and perhaps plan to move and settle in Canada if the odds are in favor

Life here in the Philippines is quite enjoyable actually, but living in another country feels like a new adventure haha. As a geologists I want to do mostly soil testing stuff, since other field works like explorations and mapping can be quite time consuming (Which steals time for my reefing). Geology is quite a nice career that is not that popular, that's why its quite in demand. Hopefully I'll find a quite a nice job when I graduate and build my ultimate dream reef tank!

 

 

[Lula_Mae]

Bummer about the pulsing xenia!  But there are plenty of other varieties to choose from as well.

[HammerLover]

5 hours ago, Lula_Mae said:

Bummer about the pulsing xenia!  But there are plenty of other varieties to choose from as well.

Yeah. If I ever found the pulsing variety Im still gonna fit it somewhere in this tiny tank haha 

 

so excited! Will get the xenia later

[HammerLover]

My excitement faded when I once again went to the LFS just a few minutes ago 

 

none of the xenia was left! Somebody mustve bought the last few strands remaining. Feeling disappointed I went around the store and I found something... Its a small clove polyp colony detached from a larger parent one. Its kind of bleached too but some of the polyps still had some blue green and brown tinge in it so I know there is still hope, plus I got it for free again! 

 

I also bought a small frag of weird looking implosion palys instead, I cant describe why its weird but it doesnt look like your typical green imp paly (it has weird lines in its polyp, Ill post pics when its open).

 

The small rock also had around 20 heads of VDM palys so its quite a good deal.

 

im gonna cancel my plans with the ricordeas since they are quite pricey suddenly! Maybe I'll be a head or two only. I found a small rock of pokerchips zoa and Im so so diggin it! Hopefully if its availabe next week, I will add it in the tank. Im going to start a small zoa garden in a portion of the tank.

 

 

[HammerLover]

Ok so I chatted the owner of the LFS and he said that there are still xenia for sale but they are in quite bad shape. If hopefully they are still quite alive I may revive them hopefully in my pico. 

 

Wish me luck next week! I hope I will do get that xenia!

[Weetabix7]

3 hours ago, HammerLover said:

Ok so I chatted the owner of the LFS and he said that there are still xenia for sale but they are in quite bad shape. If hopefully they are still quite alive I may revive them hopefully in my pico. 

 

Wish me luck next week! I hope I will do get that xenia!

 

Do you have lugol's iodine available there?

If so, I'd get the Xenia and do lugol's iodine dips for a few days and see if you can revive it.

[HammerLover]

21 hours ago, Weetabix7 said:

 

Do you have lugol's iodine available there?

If so, I'd get the Xenia and do lugol's iodine dips for a few days and see if you can revive it.

Unfortunately I cant get the xenia due to a recent event

[HammerLover]

Unfortunately there was a recent raid just yesterday in cartimar. The store where I was buying frags got raided too even though they sell responsibly and they culture their own frags. That LFS also had 2 display tanks (110 and 250 gals) and even both tanks were stripped off of coral even those that are thriving there for years and has encrusted the glass.

 

soo basically all coral selling shops in the entire philippines was afraid with this recent raid so all LFS that had corals will close, hopefully temporarily.

 

a few minutes before the raid I managed to grabbed the cloves and small zoa rock that I bought. I didnt know it was the last coral I will buy in cartimar

 

 

[HammerLover]

Here's the recent FTS

The torch was moved at the side and Ive got alot of bleached palys for free again from a crappy LFS. The older corals I rescued is now having a light green tinge, so its coloring nicely

 

i moved the torch since the sexy is irritating it. Now the sexy should find the xenia lol 

[HammerLover]

The new clove polyps. It still not quite open after being pissed with my dips

[HammerLover]

The xenia had shorter stalks but quite robust and longer tentacles. It clearly enjoyed the nitrates lol.

[HammerLover]

The rescued coral frags. Its a ton of bleached random palys

[Weetabix7]

Oh no, that's pretty wild about the raid!!!! 

 

SO glad you were able to get a bunch of rescued stuff, and that you have Xenia and some other corals in your tank to work with. 

 

You know, if you are able to get those corals back to health and growing, you might be able to frag them and sell them to other locals, or maybe trade them for stuff, since all the local stores have been raided and at least temporarily shut down. 

[HammerLover]

52 minutes ago, Weetabix7 said:

Oh no, that's pretty wild about the raid!!!! 

 

SO glad you were able to get a bunch of rescued stuff, and that you have Xenia and some other corals in your tank to work with. 

 

You know, if you are able to get those corals back to health and growing, you might be able to frag them and sell them to other locals, or maybe trade them for stuff, since all the local stores have been raided and at least temporarily shut down. 

Yeah Its good I managed to have a couple of stuff before the raid... Now all my plans are ruined  even the future sps frags and soft coral garden...

 

hopefully they will lift the ban soon...  

 

Its absurd that seahorses still are for sale while all the aquacultured corals are confiscated. Plus our country is one of the top exporters of corals worldwide aside from indonesia

[natalia_la_loca]

That really is unfortunate. How does this law work? Are they going after illegally harvested coral, or all coral held in captivity? Or are they just not differentiating between the two?

[Lula_Mae]

Oh dang, that sucks!  I'm guessing there's not much remuneration for the legit ones who got raided, either.

[Rain24]

Although I'm sorry that your access to coral has been temporarily cut off, I'm all for them tightening coral harvesting in the Philippines. Years ago I accidentally came across someone just chipping corals off the reef in Boracay and it really made me sad. Hopefully they have a better coastal management program going on over there now.

 

Of course now I'm wondering what they're doing with all the corals they've raided. They better not just be tossing them out! Do you know what they do with it? I have a hard time believing that someone over there is fragging and repopulating the reefs, but I can always hope.

[HammerLover]

9 hours ago, natalia_la_loca said:

That really is unfortunate. How does this law work? Are they going after illegally harvested coral, or all coral held in captivity? Or are they just not differentiating between the two?

I think the law about it is pretty unclear. Basically they use the term that owning "semi precious" and "precious" coral is against the law. Might need to reread and research what's the scope of such standard to corals  

 

what bums me is they even confiscated the imported paly/zoa frags that have been grown and fragged for years. 

47 minutes ago, Lula_Mae said:

Oh dang, that sucks!  I'm guessing there's not much remuneration for the legit ones who got raided, either.

Yeah. I chatted with local reefers and we all agreed that we need to trade or sell stuff so we can continue... Luckily someone will give me some green rics and candy canes next week.

6 minutes ago, Rain24 said:

Although I'm sorry that your access to coral has been temporarily cut off, I'm all for them tightening coral harvesting in the Philippines. Years ago I accidentally came across someone just chipping corals off the reef in Boracay and it really made me sad. Hopefully they have a better coastal management program going on over there now.

 

Of course now I'm wondering what they're doing with all the corals they've raided. They better not just be tossing them out! Do you know what they do with it? I have a hard time believing that someone over there is fragging and repopulating the reefs, but I can always hope.

Yeah, there are several irresponsible LFS here actually (majority if them, actually lol). However I hate the news headline that they flashed in the newspapers and news yesterday. The raid said they gathered "endangered" corals and "protected" species. Like heck!! I didnt know that zoas, palys and other common staple corals in the reefing hobby are endangered!!

 

our local group known as PMRAS promotes responsible keeping. Official members can have aquacultured frags and trade with other reefers. Every coral will be registered and the progress of the coral will be logged. One of the first coral there is a tiny nub of gsp with about 4-5 tiny heads. After all the years it has become a huge huge mat of green polyps in a large reef tank and it has been fragged for alot of times already. Same goes with other registered zoas, sps and lps whether they are local or imported.

[HammerLover]

Also @Rain24, the corals confiscated... I suspect they will just be wasted... The NBI (local version of FBI) didnt have a proper holding facility for any coral or living saltwater animal, and it may take awhile before BFAR (this department handles issues in resources regarding the seas and other bodies of water) will have the corals and set them in a coral nursery in Batangas before bringing them back to the reef.

 

with intense heat today in summer, I doubt the corals will make it, especially if they didnt pack it properly. The police simply bagged the corals and left, without proper insulation or something to protect these corals from heat waves ( Im monitoring my xenia since its the most sensitive to heat, so far its good). Hopefully the corals confiscated wont be wasted... But I doubt it... These officials know nothing about the corals they confiscated

[Rain24]

That is SO frustrating! I had attended a lecture over here years ago about protecting the diversity of species found in the Philippines (although these were mostly terrestrial species) and knowing how the governing body functions over there and the under-trained police that perform the raids, who knows if these confiscated corals even survive. Maybe your reef club could ask about how they are handled after a raid and make suggestions.

[HammerLover]

8 hours ago, Rain24 said:

That is SO frustrating! I had attended a lecture over here years ago about protecting the diversity of species found in the Philippines (although these were mostly terrestrial species) and knowing how the governing body functions over there and the under-trained police that perform the raids, who knows if these confiscated corals even survive. Maybe your reef club could ask about how they are handled after a raid and make suggestions.

 I think the Officials of PMRAS are gonna try to do something hopefully... They did asked the officials from BFAR but still... No negative feedback. Many local reefers had grown frags and returned them to the sea actually... 

 

knowing the story of many raids in cartimar, I believe everything will be back soon. The problem with our country is that they raid only once in a while and never do any follow ups.

 

here's what happened around 1980s in cartimar:

-Stalls selling corals were raided. Reptiles, tarantulas and other exotic pets are also confiscated... However, a few days after the raid most coral stores started selling corals again. Heck, one of the stores even sold an endangered species of sea turtle. 

 

That experience was from a reefer who personally witnessed the raid during the 1980s. Our country is just, IDK absurd when it comes to proper implementation of protecting species...

[HammerLover]

Ok just a few quick updates guys. Pics will come this weekend. I am really burned out with Integral Calculus and physics this summer. Its just week 2 (from 7 weeks) and there are lots of lessons and formulas jammed all inside my head and I cant process them 

 

sooo regarding the pico... The xenia just melted. Like heck!!! IDK its like a fallen tree and it completely detached on the rock it was encrusting

 

my clove polyps were still in the progress of opening and healing since it was fairly bleached when I got it

 

the green torch is the one that's really doing well. Its tentacles are getting longer and longer due to the strong current... I may need to move it soon somewhere though

 

the bleached palys are coloring up nicely, and my bleached implosions are growing back their nice skirts too

 

i also had new corals!  

I got the rics from someone and I have around 4 heads. I think 3 are yellow and 1 is green. So excited to add them!

 

and to add, I'll be going to Batangas next weekend! I may grab a couple of macros there for my tank. I remember Picking up a couple of dragon's breath algae washed up on the beach so Im definitely looking forward next week!

 

the sad news, majority of coral selling LFS had closed. They may open back... Sadly I think a year or so from now. Its good I had friends from my local fb group that I can trade/buy frags from...