Who are the SPS Veterans?
- Thread starter invincible569
- Start date
Steve Tyree
Premium Member
Kevinpo,
Very nice. Looks like a 'Violet Monster'. I have seen a few of those before. Need to think about that one for awhile to see if I can remember what we used to call those back in the mid to late 1990's. Awesome that you have kept it alive all these years. Perhaps we can work out a trade sometime in the future.
invincible569,
Also, you might want to see if 'Twinspot' has any stony corals that he has kept alive in captivity for 10 or more years. Those would be valuable to farm especially if he can document that he actually acquired the original 10 or more years ago with a picture.
In the very late 1980's and very early 1990's, stony corals from Hawaii where legally coming in attached to rock.
Very nice. Looks like a 'Violet Monster'. I have seen a few of those before. Need to think about that one for awhile to see if I can remember what we used to call those back in the mid to late 1990's. Awesome that you have kept it alive all these years. Perhaps we can work out a trade sometime in the future.
invincible569,
Also, you might want to see if 'Twinspot' has any stony corals that he has kept alive in captivity for 10 or more years. Those would be valuable to farm especially if he can document that he actually acquired the original 10 or more years ago with a picture.
In the very late 1980's and very early 1990's, stony corals from Hawaii where legally coming in attached to rock.
Flatlander
Premium Member
kevinpo said:Jerel,
My oldest son turned 30 last Nov. so maybe I just feel like a veteran(that and the gray hair from the other 4 kids)
Kevin
:eek2: Ohhhhhhh, I never knew that Kevin. Another OFR like us, just a bit younger.
invincible569
New member
Steve Tyree said:
I will give it a shot. knowing him, he could of already of traded them in if it took up too much space. we will see.. he's been real busy lately.
mborn
New member
I set up my first saltwater invertebrate tank in 1979 when air-stone driven under gravel filters were state of the art. I acquired my first coral in 1982, a goniopora sp.. Back then, in the US, ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œreef tanksââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ didnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t quite exist yet and I didnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t have a good understanding of what a coral actually was. Lighting for photosynthetic marine invertebrates didnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t exist in the aquarium trade. At that time I was using a fresh water plant grow light. I remember it gave off a pinkish light. Needless to say the coral only lasted maybe 4 months. Itââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s sort of ironic that even today goniopora are still considered very difficult. I never had one since. I set up my first proper ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œreeftankââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ in 1994 when I was living in Los Angeles and acquired my first acro in 1995. When I first saw it in one of the many aquarium shops I frequented, I couldnââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t believe it. I had only seen pictures of them in books. From that point on I was addicted to sps corals.
When ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œThe Reef Aquarium vol. I ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ by Sprung / Delbeek came out it really had a huge influence on me. In 1994 I was still using a trickle filter and an air-stone driven counter current protein skimmer. When I first got a copy of the book I threw out the bio-balls got a protein skimmer with a venturie valve and started dosing kalkwasser. Also after the book came out more aquarium shops in LA started getting sps corals very regularly especially when everyone saw the picture of Steve Tyreeââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s acro tank. Also that book gave very clear proven techniques on how to grow sps corals (techniques that werenââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t commonly known back then). Thatââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s when the demand for sps corals started to increase past just a hand full of advanced hobbyists and it became profitable for the aquarium shops to acquire larger numbers of them. I cut my sps teeth on wild colonies. From 1995 to 1997 all the sps corals I acquired (mainly acros) were wild colonies. Back then I used the standard Berlin method and it worked very well for me.
I remember when the RTN catastrophe hit in 1996 that Steve mentioned in the previous posts. It was all the buzz in some of the better local aquarium shops. Every time I bought a coral they would tell me to quarantine it or I could get a disease that could wipe out my whole sps collection. I never did though, and it never effected my tank. I think I was able to stay clear of that particular pathogen because I was buying wild colonies and not getting aqua cultured frags from an infected tank. Also I never added any of the bag water from the new coral to my tank and usually rinsed the colonies in fresh salt water before I placed them in my tank. In late 1997 I did buy a few mounted Steve Tyree acro frags from a local aquarium shop and those were the first aqua cultured sps corals I ever had.
In 1998 I moved to San Diego. I broke my tank down and traded in some of my colonies to a few local aquarium shops to help pay for some equipment I wanted to set up a better system in my new place and gave the rest to a couple of local friends who had reefs. It just seemed much easier than bagging everything up and putting it in the moving van with the rest of my crap and rushing down to S.D. to set everything up before it all died. I thought Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢d just buy some new corals once I was settled into my new place. Had I thought for 1 minute that in 2004 people would sign up on 2 and 3 year waiting lists or pay $200-300 dollars for a frag of an old colony like ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œpurple monsterââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â, I would have held on to my colorful original colonies like they were gold and just got rid of the browns and greens. Things were much different then.
When ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œThe Reef Aquarium vol. I ââ"šÂ¬Ã‚ by Sprung / Delbeek came out it really had a huge influence on me. In 1994 I was still using a trickle filter and an air-stone driven counter current protein skimmer. When I first got a copy of the book I threw out the bio-balls got a protein skimmer with a venturie valve and started dosing kalkwasser. Also after the book came out more aquarium shops in LA started getting sps corals very regularly especially when everyone saw the picture of Steve Tyreeââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s acro tank. Also that book gave very clear proven techniques on how to grow sps corals (techniques that werenââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢t commonly known back then). Thatââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢s when the demand for sps corals started to increase past just a hand full of advanced hobbyists and it became profitable for the aquarium shops to acquire larger numbers of them. I cut my sps teeth on wild colonies. From 1995 to 1997 all the sps corals I acquired (mainly acros) were wild colonies. Back then I used the standard Berlin method and it worked very well for me.
I remember when the RTN catastrophe hit in 1996 that Steve mentioned in the previous posts. It was all the buzz in some of the better local aquarium shops. Every time I bought a coral they would tell me to quarantine it or I could get a disease that could wipe out my whole sps collection. I never did though, and it never effected my tank. I think I was able to stay clear of that particular pathogen because I was buying wild colonies and not getting aqua cultured frags from an infected tank. Also I never added any of the bag water from the new coral to my tank and usually rinsed the colonies in fresh salt water before I placed them in my tank. In late 1997 I did buy a few mounted Steve Tyree acro frags from a local aquarium shop and those were the first aqua cultured sps corals I ever had.
In 1998 I moved to San Diego. I broke my tank down and traded in some of my colonies to a few local aquarium shops to help pay for some equipment I wanted to set up a better system in my new place and gave the rest to a couple of local friends who had reefs. It just seemed much easier than bagging everything up and putting it in the moving van with the rest of my crap and rushing down to S.D. to set everything up before it all died. I thought Iââ"šÂ¬Ã¢"žÂ¢d just buy some new corals once I was settled into my new place. Had I thought for 1 minute that in 2004 people would sign up on 2 and 3 year waiting lists or pay $200-300 dollars for a frag of an old colony like ââ"šÂ¬Ã…"œpurple monsterââ"šÂ¬Ã‚Â, I would have held on to my colorful original colonies like they were gold and just got rid of the browns and greens. Things were much different then.
Steve Tyree
Premium Member
mborn,
That must be you, Michael ? From San Diego. Hello. Did not know you had been keeping sps since the mid-1990's. Yes the Delbeek and Sprung book was very helpful.
Concerning RTN in 1996, it came in with wild colonies. Looks like you were either real lucky or your reefs were in top notch shape. My main losses occurred in the import holding tanks I had. In my farming tanks only the most recently arrived corals were affected. Never did have it wipe out my long term farming colonies. What eventually affected some of them was when I modified the system to prevent the RTN from spreading too far. Utilizing ozone drastically increased the light penetration of UV and that caused problems for some corals. There were many lessons learned back then.
That must be you, Michael ? From San Diego. Hello. Did not know you had been keeping sps since the mid-1990's. Yes the Delbeek and Sprung book was very helpful.
Concerning RTN in 1996, it came in with wild colonies. Looks like you were either real lucky or your reefs were in top notch shape. My main losses occurred in the import holding tanks I had. In my farming tanks only the most recently arrived corals were affected. Never did have it wipe out my long term farming colonies. What eventually affected some of them was when I modified the system to prevent the RTN from spreading too far. Utilizing ozone drastically increased the light penetration of UV and that caused problems for some corals. There were many lessons learned back then.
mborn
New member
Hey Steve,
Yes it's me Michael. Yep, I've been keeping sps since my old LA days. When I think about it, it seems like a long time. I try not to think about it too much though. I want to hold onto my youth as long as I can. The Delbeek and Sprung book was very helpful but that picture of your tank in the "top aquariums from around the world" section was absolutely amazing. Dare I say, revolutionary. That immediately became my benchmark for the perfect tank. I'm sure it was for many reefers at that time too. Most reefers I knew started to focus exclusively on sps after seeing your tank. You were ahead of your time.
As far as the RTN of 1996, I'm sure it was blind luck that I didn't get hit. There wasn't much useful information, at least that I had access to. I pretty much just ignored the warnings and kept to my routine. Back then I was mostly in my own little world, reading aquarium magazine articles and books, experimenting a little and figuring things out for myself.
Yes it's me Michael. Yep, I've been keeping sps since my old LA days. When I think about it, it seems like a long time. I try not to think about it too much though. I want to hold onto my youth as long as I can. The Delbeek and Sprung book was very helpful but that picture of your tank in the "top aquariums from around the world" section was absolutely amazing. Dare I say, revolutionary. That immediately became my benchmark for the perfect tank. I'm sure it was for many reefers at that time too. Most reefers I knew started to focus exclusively on sps after seeing your tank. You were ahead of your time.
As far as the RTN of 1996, I'm sure it was blind luck that I didn't get hit. There wasn't much useful information, at least that I had access to. I pretty much just ignored the warnings and kept to my routine. Back then I was mostly in my own little world, reading aquarium magazine articles and books, experimenting a little and figuring things out for myself.
Greg Hiller
New member
I got started in SPS back about the time that Steve and company were reporting the RTN outbreaks. Back then a lot of us were on Compuserve's old Fishnet forum. Sprung, Delbeek, Richard Harker, Larry Jackson, Randy H-F, Tapio, Bob Stark, Ron S (got ****ed off and left after a while), and a bunch of others were on back then.
FWIW, I still have nearly all of the corals that I originally had back then. Some have been fragged back many times. One has grown from the base of the rock structure to the water line.
FWIW, I still have nearly all of the corals that I originally had back then. Some have been fragged back many times. One has grown from the base of the rock structure to the water line.
Old Yeller Tang
Premium Member
That LJ Acro is one of the hardiest out there!
invincible569
New member
CTM75 said:you bunch of old fogies..
Whats a fogie?
invincible569
New member
Aged Salt said:OFR
Ah. Just a nicer way of saying it
AquariaUSA
AquariaUSA
Back in the 90s I worked for a few different stores on the east coast...some in Maryland, some in the Carolinas. SPS were scarce, but they were seen at times (not sure what was imported, what was fragged off the reef). I believe the first acro I bought was in '94-95 and it was a beautiful brown Through several moves I lost the piece, and it took a few years before I had the time to set up another tank for hobbyuse. Over the years I have met many hobbyists and resellers that have kept them for 5+ years, but there are a few that have had them close, if not ten years or so. What were the first reactors used by you guys? I had a Knop reactor on an old 120 back in 1994-97 (receipt somewhere! will look).
Through several moves I lost the piece, and it took a few years before I had the time to set up another tank for hobbyuse. Over the years I have met many hobbyists and resellers that have kept them for 5+ years, but there are a few that have had them close, if not ten years or so. What were the first reactors used by you guys? I had a Knop reactor on an old 120 back in 1994-97 (receipt somewhere! will look).
