How to get "sticks from the sea"??

[Cassian]

ok, so all the time we hear about this amazing new acro that was brought in as an ugly brown stick from the ocean and it turned into something like WD or HW in our tanks. Just wondering, is there anyway for individuals to purchase brown/ low color sticks straight from the ocean? It would be awfully fun to see how they color up in our tanks and see what they turn into.

 

[Hemmdog]

Saltwaterfish.com lol

 

[James M]

I know my local lfs gets brown acros when asked for

 

[ndrwater]

Sure. But not necessarily directly from the ocean. Many a seasoned reefer has purchased a brown Coral because it had something interesting about it just to see what happens.
Next time you are at the LFS or club or swap, take a chance on a cheap brown frag. You never know what may happen..

 

[Cassian]

Saltwaterfish.com lol

lol, yeah

 

[Cassian]

Sure. But not necessarily directly from the ocean. Many a seasoned reefer has purchased a brown Coral because it had something interesting about it just to see what happens.
Next time you are at the LFS or club or swap, take a chance on a cheap brown frag. You never know what may happen..

ah I see, I guess even ones in tanks can change color depending on what condition it is in? (sorry if thats a stupid question, im relatively new to SPS)

 

[sfin52]

Walk along shore pick up stick throw into the sea and retrieve or have a puppy retrieve. Now you got sticks from the sea.

My guess is that your talking to about sps and wild vs tank raised. I agree with above. Go to your lfs and buy some brown sticks. You may be able to find a gem. Lighting does play a huge role on what the coral will look like as well.

 

[Cassian]

Walk along shore pick up stick throw into the sea and retrieve or have a puppy retrieve. Now you got sticks from the sea.

My guess is that your talking to about sps and wild vs tank raised. I agree with above. Go to your lfs and buy some brown sticks. You may be able to find a gem. Lighting does play a huge role on what the coral will look like as well.

LOL!

yes I meant sps wild vs tank raised. I will have to look next time I go to the LFS!

 

[ndrwater]

ah I see, I guess even ones in tanks can change color depending on what condition it is in? (sorry if thats a stupid question, im relatively new to SPS)

It really is interesting. I have had well established corals completely change color due to different lighting. I have also had them completely change growth patterns.
I have an wild Aussie smooth skin a acro that under Halide T5 was mint green. After changing to LED, the color shifted to almost baby blue. The most interesting part about it is that the oldest part if the colony is still mint green with all the new growth from the last couple years is blue.

 

[Bryson.bobby]

Walk along shore pick up stick throw into the sea and retrieve or have a puppy retrieve. Now you got sticks from the sea.

Sounds about right

 

[Cassian]

It really is interesting. I have had well established corals completely change color due to different lighting. I have also had them completely change growth patterns.
I have an wild Aussie smooth skin a acro that under Halide T5 was mint green. After changing to LED, the color shifted to almost baby blue. The most interesting part about it is that the oldest part if the colony is still mint green with all the new growth from the last couple years is blue.

wow that is very interesting! Its amazing to me how corals can do that

 

[Tonysi]

Livestockusa.org

 

[Cassian]

Livestockusa.org

thanks!

 

[saltyhog]

I always look for cheap $20 acro frags at my LFS. I've got some great bargains that way.

Color can vary so much....sometimes for no apparent reason. A friend and I have shared the same acro (origninally from his tank) for several years. We have almost identical lighting (LED) but the color is a deep purple in his tank and a vivid blue in my tank.

 

[Graffiti Spot]

Livestockusa.org

+1 This is the best guy to go to if you cant get any wild acros. I would not bother ordering from a local store and just get him to order for you. Just know that you will likely only get one piece that’s very nice and the rest will be average pieces, still nice though and the best way to collect if you have the setup that can house and grow wild stuff. Once you get a box of wilds for a normal price, its Hard to pay some of the obscure prices you see thrown out there for frags. If you can’t afford a box go in on it with a friend or two. More people should be doing this and it was done a lot more often years ago. But there was a much larger variety of corals out then as well.

 

[Stigigemla]

I strongly believe that all corals picked in the sea has some other colors than brown. But after collecting transported in a little plastic bag with bad water and then hold by an exporter in unsuficcient light and a new period of transport in the little plastic bag before coming to an importer with low light again. At last it comes to a tank, slowly adapts to new water conditions (values light and circulation) and regains color.

 

[jda]

You can get transhipped wild stuff from Australia and maybe a few other places. Here is what to expect... a few/one that are good... a few turds... a few that die (probably your favorite and sometimes up to 50%)... most will just be kinda normal. Expect to buy between 20 and 30 pieces and the price to be well over $1000. You will have to pick up at a major airport - no FedEx or UPS.

They should look really good when you get them, but the colors will/might change. They are best to land under daylight, IME, since that is where they came from. I have not done this in a while, but landing under 6500k halides had best results and then they can slowly get changed over to other lighting. Some will die when you do this... part of the weed-out process. It can take 6 months to a year for the process to be complete if you do it part-time.

I land wild stuff in their own system and do NOT dip them for a long time. Too much stress on an already stressed individual. I dip them only after they start to grow, or if they show signs of big-time pests. Some pests will just die in captivity.

livestockusa is a good place to do this. Reliable and helpful. Their website is not easy to navigate, so just call them if you need to. They also can do mari pieces, but you will not get anything not already in the hobby.

If you just want to buy a few one-off pieces, then the acropora section on Divers Den can do this. You can bet that the ultra-sexy ones have been picked through already, but you can get some nice pieces.

If you do this, tally up the costs in frag tanks, lighting, time, losses, etc. and then you can see why a shop with overhead, family to feed, employees with families to feed, etc. all need to cash in for $500 a frag when they do hit the jackpot.

 

[Cassian]

You can get transhipped wild stuff from Australia and maybe a few other places. Here is what to expect... a few/one that are good... a few turds... a few that die (probably your favorite and sometimes up to 50%)... most will just be kinda normal. Expect to buy between 20 and 30 pieces and the price to be well over $1000. You will have to pick up at a major airport - no FedEx or UPS.

They should look really good when you get them, but the colors will/might change. They are best to land under daylight, IME, since that is where they came from. I have not done this in a while, but landing under 6500k halides had best results and then they can slowly get changed over to other lighting. Some will die when you do this... part of the weed-out process. It can take 6 months to a year for the process to be complete if you do it part-time.

I land wild stuff in their own system and do NOT dip them for a long time. Too much stress on an already stressed individual. I dip them only after they start to grow, or if they show signs of big-time pests. Some pests will just die in captivity.

livestockusa is a good place to do this. Reliable and helpful. Their website is not easy to navigate, so just call them if you need to. They also can do mari pieces, but you will not get anything not already in the hobby.

If you just want to buy a few one-off pieces, then the acropora section on Divers Den can do this. You can bet that the ultra-sexy ones have been picked through already, but you can get some nice pieces.

If you do this, tally up the costs in frag tanks, lighting, time, losses, etc. and then you can see why a shop with overhead, family to feed, employees with families to feed, etc. all need to cash in for $500 a frag when they do hit the jackpot.

good info, thanks!