Great Frag Auction at Saturday's Meeting

[nauti1us]

Thanks to everyone that came out to 'The Saltwater Reef' on Saturday for the January meeting. Lots of new faces in 2007. I thought the aqua farming presentation by Tim Birthisel was informative and interesting, especially the video footage. Thanks to John Hamilton and Staff, who provided a nice spread of munchies and were great hosts.

Additionally, I want to say thank you to everyone that participated in the frag auction, especially John W. (Auctioneer) who really made the event exciting.

For those who bring corals for the auction please bring your corals in plastic bags that we commonly see when purchasing corals in the LFS. These are a heavier grade plastic then those found in sandwich bags. Folks were taking corals home in leaking broken bags. We lost a lot of water due to corals breaking the bags and making a real mess for those hard working club members trying to work for all of you to make a successful auction. Additionally, Label the outside of the bag with the coral name using a black Sharpie. Do this at home while the bag is dry.

Please take a little extra time packaging your corals properly before you come to the meeting; it'll make for a cleaner more productive auction. Most LFS's will donate or sell you a bunch of bags real cheap. Over the coming months I'm going to try and make improvements to ORCA's frag auction event, promising to make it easier and even more exciting.

Thanks again everyone and see you next month!

Regards,

Matt Kantz

Orlando Reef Caretakers Association
ORCA President
Email Saltcreep@cfl.rr.com
Web www.o-r-c-a.com

"ORCA is a non-profit organization of aquarists dedicated to the care and conservation of marine life kept in reef aquariums. Our primary objective is to educate other area reef keepers on the requirements of caring for reef inverts, fish and coral propagation"

 

[cschweitzer]

Maybe ORCA as a club could buy a couple of the large packs of those 2-3mil bags and some rubberbands and hand them out to people interested in bringing frags to the next meeting. Of course some people could take advantage of this, but I'm hoping that our members wouldn't...

Just a thought...take it with a grain of salt (is this the correct expression? I forget).

 

[seth16]

Yes, i loved the auction.....i always do, even tho i only ahve so much to bid on each item, i still got away with a couple cool things

 

[seth16]

My clownfish are great, they CONSTANLTY play with each other and swim around and i love them, their bright coors and energy make them a great addition to my tank.

 

[cschweitzer]

Yeah, I got my first pair of clowns a while back. Then I got my second and third and fourth pairs...they have quickly become the main reason I continue my reefs. I love the little buggers and once a pair begins to get along, it makes it all worth it. I'm now on the lookout for rarer clowns will attempt breeding them soon. They are not the best breeders or the best parents in the wild, but in captivity have the ability and opportunity(consistant food source, no predators, etc.) to be perfect parents and produce thousands of viable offspring every year. It's almost as if these types of fish are meant to be in a tank...

For example, in the wild a clarkii pair can produce over 1000 eggs in a clutch every 14 days for 5 years easily. This would be roughly 26 clutches per year, or 130 clutches over five years. A fully developed pair producing 1000 eggs per clutch could produce 130,000 eggs over a five year span. Out of these, if two eggs survive through metamorphasis and fully develop, that is an accomplishment. Granted, some pairs may produce 100 surviving offspring depending on location, predators, food sources, etc. That is still under .08% viable offspring. Compare that to an optimal 90%+ viability in best scenarios of tank breeding and you can understand the true value of ornamental fish breeding. Also take into account that there is recording that clownfish can live over 20 years reproducing for most of them. One day we will no longer need to take from our oceans to get a great fish...

 

[bluefintuna]

I'm glad you like the clowns Seth. Are they doing find together? I sold them seperated because they came from different tanks.

 

[Me No Nemo]

Matt, I can work something out on bags for you. I'll talk to you about it soon. Marcye

 

[Me No Nemo]

Sorry, double post.

 

[seth16]

Oh...my friend said that you said they came from the same tank......well, ill have to ask where he heard that then...lol...they are doing great, they loave it, and love each others company, they like swim around each other and never elave one anothers side, its so cool.... : )

 

[nauti1us]

That's awsome Marcye, thanks. BTW, I had to work late tonight so I never had a chance to see how the new clowns were doing. However, Mel told me that Momma was eating real good. So I'm much more optomistic than before. Thanks again fo all your support, as always. Matt

 

[ricanboy57]

Seth you need to post pics on the other thread of everything you got! ESPECIALLY that monster crab, lol. And craig were you the one that put Marcye's clown on hold? There is a clown she has that looks like a "Picaso Clown". Says it's on hold and I think I remember your name on it.

 

[seth16]

Really? i ddint hold for a clown, unless i have a slip personality, which is very likely...lol.....i posted the pics on the other thread, and yes, the moster crab is on there, he is boring tho, i wasnt expecting a circus show, but i mean, CMON...lol

 

[cschweitzer]

Yep...sorry bout that. Too good of a price to pass up. I'm still a little undecided, but I think I'll be bringing that jigsaw back and putting that pic with the other onyx...still trying to find that onyx a nice pair as it has not really wanted any part of the first two I put in with it. Maybe a larger one(like that pic) will bully the onyx around and form a nice pair. Just a wait and see game now.