Caribbean corals?

[SteveC]

I'm trying to do the biotope thing. Maybe it's not worth the effort but I want to at least try. So what I'm wondering is, where can I get some Caribbean corals besides ricordea and various gorgonians? I do not want any illegal stuff; I am interested in captive raised Caribbean corals or corals that have been legally and sustainably collected in that region.

 

Any suggestions?

[Satchmo]

Is the tank set up yet? If not, get your LR from www.gulf-view.com The rock alone would be a good start for a tank like that as it's loaded with Carribean hitchhikers. Brown open brains and red sponges are two things you see a lot of on that rock.

[SteveC]

Yeah, I got my rock from Gulf View and it's great. I got lots of sponges, cup corals, Caribbean star corals, a deep green fire coral that's really doing well, and some kind of octocoral I haven't positively identified yet. I also got some non-photosynthetic gorgonians that didn't survive the cycle. I did not get any open brains and I'm a little bummed about that! But overall I did pretty well.

 

Right now I'm just looking for other fun things I might add to that, keeping with the Caribbean theme. Ricordia looks cool (certainly lots of colors available), and maybe a purple gorgonian and/or some briareum would be nice, but I'd like to check out some LPS corals eventually. I'm not in any hurry, this is more of just a long-term planning kind of thing.

 

I don't suppose some other Caribbean tank owner is willing to part with an open brain? : If I can figure out how to frag fire coral (is that even possible with hydrocorals?) I'll trade ya!

[BlackSumbel]

Try getting in contact with someone who lives along the coast, and kindly ask them to collect broken peices from the beach after storms. Many people do this just for the fun of it (you have shell collecters and coral skeleton collecters alike).

Alot of people will be willing to bag up live bits and send them your way for double the shipping, or what have you. It's a nice way to keep the broken peices from simply dying on the shore, and it also provides a natural way of fragging corals.

 

I've done this myself with shells and corals in the past when I collected the specimens... for non-aquarium use.

 

Side note, I'm planning a trip to the Gulf coast later this year. I hope to take many pictures, and possibly make a few nice finds.

 

-Sumbel

[technoshaman]

Steve, 2 places I found surfing around that seem to have a few oddities fromthat area. Looks more like Florida coast stuff but wouldbe close. The one page has atrocious spelling but seems to have everything under the sun you can pull out of the water.

 

http://www.caribbeancreatures.com/

 

http://www.floridapets.com/

 

Biotopes are cool. Keep us posted on your progress.