buying maricultured pieces- help and opinions

[codydemmel4]

So I am thinking about buying some maricultured pieces, actually from LA (Divers Den)

I am wondering how many of you have bought pieces from here and how they did. I bought one last week and it RTNed when eveyrthing else in my tank is doing great. I did get an account credit which is good and I was fine with.

So I am going to post a poll so we can get some opinions for myself and also other people who are wondering the same things.

So how many of you would buy maricultured pieces, if you do what are your suggestions? Frag them so if one RTNed youll still have some, leave them the whole and hope the whole colony makes it, do you dip them, leave them on the bottom of your tank for how long?
--One problem I see with fragging it up form the beginning is I assume that would get rid of the warranty which is actually pretty good at divers den at 14 days.


Please post your suggestions on people who have bought mariculture pieces and how they did in your tank.


My tank: 180 gallon, 8x80w sunpower (4 blue and 4 coral plus) Calc is 450, Alk is 7.5-8.5, salinity is 1.025, temp is 80, phosphate is 0.00-0.02 and nitrate is always 0.

 

[scar79]

I would cut the mini-colony from the base for pest-prevention. From there, you'll often get an accidental frag or two, but I would leave it intact otherwise. At first signs of RTN, chop it up and play the numbers game. You can always rejoin the frags in the same place to get back to colony-size faster.

One member here (I forget who) likes to split them in two mostly equal pieces, place them in two different areas of the tank, see which looks happier, and rejoins them as a whole. If you do end up losing one, you still have half a colony, and if both survive, you have a better understanding of that coral's needs.

 

[codydemmel4]

I would cut the mini-colony from the base for pest-prevention. From there, you'll often get an accidental frag or two, but I would leave it intact otherwise. At first signs of RTN, chop it up and play the numbers game. You can always rejoin the frags in the same place to get back to colony-size faster.

One member here (I forget who) likes to split them in two mostly equal pieces, place them in two different areas of the tank, see which looks happier, and rejoins them as a whole. If you do end up losing one, you still have half a colony, and if both survive, you have a better understanding of that coral's needs.

I appreciate the comment! Yeah i saw that too about splitting them in half and putting them in two seperate places and seeing which one does best and then putting them there. that does make a lot of sense, I just did not know if fragging them right when I got them if that would be too much stress

 

[reefmutt]

I've purchased many mariculture corals. I always cut away the base and very closely inspect any non living tissue remaining for eggs. Then, I dip in Bayer or Melafix marine.
Ideally, I leave no non living tissue with the coral.
I have always understood that mariculture corals are grown on racks in fairly shallow waters near to shore and therefore all receive the same lighting intensity- generally pretty high..
I usually put them in my tank where I want to and see how they do and go from there.
The cutting in two idea is a pretty good one, though.

 

[codydemmel4]

I've purchased many mariculture corals. I always cut away the base and very closely inspect any non living tissue remaining for eggs. Then, I dip in Bayer or Melafix marine.
Ideally, I leave no non living tissue with the coral.
I have always understood that mariculture corals are grown on racks in fairly shallow waters near to shore and therefore all receive the same lighting intensity- generally pretty high..
I usually put them in my tank where I want to and see how they do and go from there.
The cutting in two idea is a pretty good one, though.

Around how much do you cut off on the base, right against it or do you go up half an inch?

Thanks for all of that!

 

[reefmutt]

I try to remove 100% of the plug because they usually stink like diesel fuel or some other noxious chemical.
I also do it because I find the plugs look unnatural when glued onto the reef.
Usually once you've chipped away all of the plug, your left with the original skeleton of the growing frag..
I'm sure there are several mari farms and they probably all do things a bit differently.. I've seen cement plugs, oddly smelling plugs and sometimes plugs that consist of two materials- a green or off white epoxy type material right at the base, surrounded by cement or something..
Basically, the way I look at all that stuff is that it is foreign and doesn't belong on the tank, so I try to get rid of all of it..

 

[biecacka]

Once removed from the plug are you gluing them into final position in your tank? Or do you use epoxy on them?

Corey.

 

[codydemmel4]

I try to remove 100% of the plug because they usually stink like diesel fuel or some other noxious chemical.
I also do it because I find the plugs look unnatural when glued onto the reef.
Usually once you've chipped away all of the plug, your left with the original skeleton of the growing frag..
I'm sure there are several mari farms and they probably all do things a bit differently.. I've seen cement plugs, oddly smelling plugs and sometimes plugs that consist of two materials- a green or off white epoxy type material right at the base, surrounded by cement or something..
Basically, the way I look at all that stuff is that it is foreign and doesn't belong on the tank, so I try to get rid of all of it..

Yes this makes a lot of sense. What about the ones that seem to be encrusting on the base? Do you still frag them off? I feel like that would really stress the coral and you would probably cut it into a couple pieces by doing that but again you could put them on different plugs and different spots in your tank to see which looks best.

 

[reefmutt]

If I've cut away the encrusting edge, I know I've removed any potential aefw eggs. I always do it. Sometime frags breaks off. You can glue these to plugs, definitely.
I'm sure it's stressful but if the coral is in good shape, it should be ok.
I'd rather be safe and really try to create the best chances of not bringing in any pests.

 

[Scorpius]

Quarantine for 6-8 weeks. Sorry, but I'm a big believer in this. It's not worth ruining the main display with pests.

 

[reef80]

How soon can one detect pest like AEFW? I've qt for like 6 weeks already and no signs of anything. I find some mari are hardier then others also but it seems so hit and miss. I also heard that aussies are hardier then Indo or others but more difficult to get colors back but never try them yet...

 

[Reefnub]

I cut the base off completely and apply a huge amount of thick glue to the colony. I carefully inspect every angle for dead spots or potential eggs. Of course I wouldn't even buy it if there was a dead spot or signs of AEFW. I also dip in bayer and then I put it in a frag tank for a week before introducing to DT.

So cut off base and dip in bayer, then glue up colony on new rock or plug
Go in frag tank for 1 week
Dip 1-2x and add a bit more glue to base or new healed growth.
Add to DT

Eggs can only be grown on base or dead spots, so if you glue up those spots or frag it and dip then you're generally safe.

 

[codydemmel4]

If I've cut away the encrusting edge, I know I've removed any potential aefw eggs. I always do it. Sometime frags breaks off. You can glue these to plugs, definitely.
I'm sure it's stressful but if the coral is in good shape, it should be ok.
I'd rather be safe and really try to create the best chances of not bringing in any pests.

thanks again for this. I have coral RX dip, would you use bayer or this to get rid of hopefully any pests. also what is your procedure for dipping, dip them and them blasting them with tank water and then swish around in some more tank water or what do you normally do? Also do you only dip once or multiple times for the first couple weeks?

I appreciate everyones opinion on this

 

[codydemmel4]

I cut the base off completely and apply a huge amount of thick glue to the colony. I carefully inspect every angle for dead spots or potential eggs. Of course I wouldn't even buy it if there was a dead spot or signs of AEFW. I also dip in bayer and then I put it in a frag tank for a week before introducing to DT.

So cut off base and dip in bayer, then glue up colony on new rock or plug
Go in frag tank for 1 week
Dip 1-2x and add a bit more glue to base or new healed growth.
Add to DT

Eggs can only be grown on base or dead spots, so if you glue up those spots or frag it and dip then you're generally safe.

Awesome thanks for this! Do you dip them like once a day or just like twice a week for maybe 2 weeks?

 

[reefmutt]

thanks again for this. I have coral RX dip, would you use bayer or this to get rid of hopefully any pests. also what is your procedure for dipping, dip them and them blasting them with tank water and then swish around in some more tank water or what do you normally do? Also do you only dip once or multiple times for the first couple weeks?

I appreciate everyones opinion on this

Personally, I only use Bayer, now. Before bayer came along, I used melafix or melafix marine but that was like 8 years ago.
I have not found anything that gets the pests off and leaves the coral alone better than bayer.
I usually dose 10ml bayer to 250 ml tank water, dip for 10-15 minutes, basting periodically. Then, a vigorous swish around in the dip water and into another clean tank water container. Another sit 5 minutes, another swish and then into the tank.
I would say that putting them into an observation (at) tank for a certain amount of time is probably a great idea but I never did it very often..
And look at me, I ended up with rage in my display.. so take my advice with a grain of salt.
I really think that if you are doing a few pieces and doing it in a controlled manner, the above method works very well.
It was when I received 30 pieces from a rescue mission and had to clip and dip them all in a small amount of time, some got past me..
Anyways, my peppermint shrimp have controlled them very well in the display.
If you do at them, a second dip a week or two later would be perfectly ok, I would think.

 

[Piper27]

Ime maricultured pieces are best to go right I to high light. Given that they were not kept and started to adapt to low light levels after arriving where they were to be sold. If I try and keep maricultures in lower light levels to aclimate, they loose color and take longer to adapt to the aquarium. Putting them right under a halide gets them growing quicker and keeps they colors better. I only buy wild and maricultures because they are more interesting to keep. I rarely loose a piece.
Purchasing these corals is best after you learn all the signs of stress they go through in certain situations how how to deal with each one. I have seen more pests buying from hobbiest, trusted and beginner, than I have buying wild and maricultures. One reason why I don't buy from hobbiest anymore. I like to keep the coral in observation before adding to my tank. I don't cut the bases because I do this but I have seen some nasty bases like said above and all come with crazy algaes and such.
There is a stigma in this hobby about maricultures and it needs to be changed because most claims are not true.