Oh man, that is special!!
When the Aussie shipments come in here, they are almost always completely bleached out and basically white with some subtle coloration. It requires lots of blue light to get an idea of what they will look like long term.
I thought they would be more saturated coming directly off the reef and in fact they are but still quite pale.
Is that what they look like in the wild, or does the cutting and shipping actually cause them to pale out?
That piece you just posted would be my golden ticket all by itself! If I came across that, I'd weep like a little baby!! I might be weeping a little just looking at it.
I am extremely excited to see that piece in 6 weeks, in your tank, Andrew.
And looking forward to living vicariously through you as you use up the rest of that golden ticket on other acros.
Now, just to rub salt into my wounds, (and when I say rub, I really mean grind it in with a hardened Aussie boot heel) tell me, how much does a simple, lowly quiet little piece of coral like that cost over at Deer Park?
It's the prettiest A. microclados i have ever laid eyes on Matt. That crazy pastel look is what happens when a fresh collected acro blows off the majority of zoa due to collection stresses, it's nothing like the pale condition the stuff you mentioned is in though mate. Acros in the washed out pale condition you are dealing with requires low light for a few weeks to regain some form of light protection prior to placing in a higher light permanent spot.
The pieces that arrive at Deer Park aquarium from Sustainable Reefs have been off the reef less than a week and kept in conditions that aren't far removed from the ocean. Natural sunlight and NSW makes a big difference to how well an acro holds up after collection imo and the PE within minutes of being taken out of the bag at the shop can't be ignored as a sign of tip top condition.
That's why i cut it up and placed the two bits right under the 400W radiums in high light the day after i got it - the PAR reading where they are is: ' bloody high '
There is more yellow already than when i got it so i'm confident i won't kill either piece going the super quick acclimation route
Dave would charge between $45- to $60- for such a piece i think Matt.
Been following for a while, awesome tank! Have a question: what are the silver fish with black stripes on their tales?
No idea mate but i found out they grow over a foot long apparently, i asked Dave why he sold them to me and he just laughed - actually everyone in the shop had a giggle over that.
They will be coming out...............
Wow, the display of the new shipment is so colorful. I wish I lived right next to Deer Park.
I read that as ' i wish i could steal biggles acros before he got a chance to see them '.................. i bet you'd be a Thursday night acro thief regular too wouldn't ya Bernie ! :mad2:
Andrew, I've just caught up with your thread. Sorry you've had some problems, we've all been there. This hobby can be tough sometimes. You've certainly bounced back though. The latest video is amazing and your corals still have the best colors out there. You've got so many gems especially that last one and the purple gold one. I might be upgrading tanks and if I do, I will be taking a lot from this thread to my new build. Thanks for the inspiration, and Happy Holidays to you
Thanks a lot buddy, hope you and your loved ones have a great Xmas and new year AND stay safe, the world isn't the place it was when i was a kid........
A new display sounds awesome, you already know how much i love your current SPS reef so any upgrade will be eagerly followed by me and a whole lot of other acro nuts :thumbsup:
Your right Andrew I bloody well hate that acro it makes me physically want to be sick .
Sick that I live so far away for the acro porn capital of the world. Bloody Aussies and their Great Barrier Reef . How can us poomies compete with the likes of that.
You poms are the bloody ones who sent us here mate............... that'll teach you bastards..............:wave:
Andrew, you spin a good yarn. It was like I was at Deer Park Aquarium watching you open the golden ticket. You picked out a gorgeous coral. Hopefully your tank will continue recovering. it amazes me how raising your salt level by .003 led to all of this. I believe you, but it shows how hard SPS reef keeping is. Thanks for sharing, its always good to hear from you. By the way, whats the chances of you getting another Mandarin, or a pistol shrimp and goby?
Marty
Hey Marty, i think it was because the acros were already stressed from me dropping the phos too fast that the 1.0230 raised to 1.0260 in 12 hours kinda put the boot into a lot of them. I want at least three red line cleaner shrimp and a mandarin.
I HATE any fish that spits sand Marty............... and any shrimp that's mates with them...........
Picture's like this make me welcome global warming with open arms. Great California reef, here we come! WOOOO!!! <sprays cans in the air>
/s
Might be waiting a while mate
Ha, ha second photo, second piece, to the right front row is now in my tank.
There were two of those mauve tipped pearl skins when i was there mate, very beautiful pieces. It can be hard to choose acros sometimes at Dave's as i'm sure you know. :beer:
