How rare is this?

[Western_reefer]

Have you ever seen any clams over there?

 

[Lewy]

Have you ever seen any clams over there?

Unfortunately no.:sad2:

But they can be found to the East of us.

 

[Western_reefer]

Ah, that sucks. Wish I lived near you tho. lol

 

[jfw60]

Wow

Wow

:bigeyes:

That is a Feather Starfish.

What astonishes me having looked at these images, is what these creatures are exposed to in wild in terms of temp extremes, turbid water, and desiccation to say the least. I have flat babied some of my aquarium keeps over the years to no avail only to find years later that the missing ingredients were as follows; broiling Australian sun, complete exposure to the air, and fetid water,lol. Amazing you need your own site!:thumbsup:

 

[Fretfreak13]

I just read this ENTIRE thread, this is so cool! Do you do this as a hobby, or is this your profession? I would LOVE to get into collecting like this when I get out of High School! =O *whipes drool*

 

[Lewy]

Nah just a hobby.

 

[Matias Ilhabela]

how the legislation to collect corals and anemones to take you to your reef?
here in Brazil is forbidden to take any kind of coral, hermit crabs is prohibited by an industry dumping poison in the water can collect for your reef can not

 

[phil47952]

Lewy

Lewy

Lewy,

Thanks a bunch for this wonderful tread. I rode a U.S. Navy Destroyer down to your beautiful country in 1957 and we spent 1 night in Darwin. I'd loce another visit just to see your coast again.

Phil

 

[L8 2 RISE]

Awesome thread!! Can't wait for more!

Thanks for the correct ID. :thumbsup:

Now that you mention it. It doesn't curl up into a ball like the brittle stars.

I think you're now thinking of a basket star A brittle star looks like: http://www.aquaticsworlduk.com/images/T/brittlestar-01.jpg.

 

[Lewy]

:eek1: Looks like I am worng again. I'll take a pic next time.

 

[Lewy]

Lewy,

Thanks a bunch for this wonderful tread. I rode a U.S. Navy Destroyer down to your beautiful country in 1957 and we spent 1 night in Darwin. I'd loce another visit just to see your coast again.

Phil

Hi Phil,

I think that you will find that Darwin has changed quite a bit since your last visit. But the old "Stokes Hill wharf" that you docked on is still there.

 

[r2nj]

Just spent 2 hours going through this entire thread. This is better than a good book. I'm a permenant follower of this thread. Keep it coming. The pics are incredible!!! :thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

 

[graveyardworm]

I think its time to drop a couple PH's into the sand bed, then drain the water, crank the MH's up, and dump 5 gallon buckets of aged salt water back in. Then repeat again tomorrow. It is absolutely amazing the abuse the critters can withstand in the wild, but if my alkalinity fluctuates, or my temperature bounces around more than a few degrees all is lost.

 

[harv1324]

I agree with all the others, thanks for sharing and giving us a new perspective.

 

[sjfishguy]

This deserves Thread of the month. this is awesome, thanks for sharing

 

[Fireworm]

Just amazing... please keep the pics coming

 

[jubelale]

It might say something for fluctuations in params not being such a bad thing but actually might be strengthening those tidal species. :spin2::spin1:

 

[acrodave]

i think what you all are not seeing is that alot of the corals have areas that die off from being left out. its just that the growth rate of wild corals is a lot faster in the ocean and it heals and grows back. also the light source is millions miles away not 24in

 

[jfw60]

tide chaser

tide chaser

Hi Phil,

I think that you will find that Darwin has changed quite a bit since your last visit. But the old "Stokes Hill wharf" that you docked on is still there.

Found a photo blog of man in Singapore who goes on collecting trips much like yourself and some of the pictures he has are interesting as well. http://tidechaser.blogspot.com/2007_07_01_archive.html

 

[Ohmsford]

Absolutely amazing and a real eye opener. What I find most intruiging is that despite the turbid water conditions, I haven't seen a spec of nuisance algae in any of the photos. I suspect that the water quality there must be really good, hence, really low phosphates. The mud must be rich in minerals but not decayed organics. Can't wait to see more.