- Diving with CORALations??

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Diving with CORALations??

Author: Vicki moore (---.dhcp.jcsn.tn.charter.com)
Date: 05-13-08 23:44

I propagate my own corals and am very interested in the coral preservation project on Culebra. I have emailed CORALations and asked if there was any chance that I might dive with them, but got no answer. I will be diving several times while on Culebra. I would like to photograph their project to show at our local reef club meeting, which will be in my home in Oct. Does anyone know if diving with this group is a possibility? I know part of their project is at Soldado. Does anyone know where else I might view it?

Vicki in Tennessee

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Re: Diving with CORALations??

Author: Jeannie G3 (---.asm.bellsouth.net)
Date: 05-14-08 09:06

These are their numbers, sometimes it's better to call than to E-mail: 787-556-6234 / Fax 530-618-4605
1-877-77-CORAL 1-877-77(2-6725)
You can also try the US Fish and Wildlife post at the nature preserve in Culebra, they might be able to pass your message on to them:
787-742-0115. Happy travels! J

supergarcia3

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Re: Diving with CORALations??

Author: Doug (---.dsl.stlsmo.swbell.net)
Date: 05-19-08 16:47

Also, the director was stateside a couple weeks ago, so it is possible you just missed her. Try the phone approach. I'm unaware of any "tours" being done by them, but often, volunteer workers are needed and used.

You may be interested to know that the University of Missouri Marine Biology Dept. is doing similar work in southeast Asia, according to a recent NBC story I saw. It's probably Google-able.

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Re: Diving with CORALations??

Author: Trent (63.225.219.---)
Date: 05-19-08 17:42

Vicki, how do you propagate coral? and what do you do with it? I'm no biologist, but it sounds intriguing.

18 days and counting! Trent.

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Re: Diving with CORALations??

Author: Vicki moore (---.dhcp.jcsn.tn.charter.com)
Date: 05-19-08 23:52

Trent, I have 4 reef tanks, one of which is a "frag tank". I am an active member of our local reef club and have been for 3 years. I buy corals from other members or order corals, frag them into smaller pieces, super glue gel them onto live rock rubble or frag plugs and allow them to grow out in my frag tank. I go to 2 frag swaps a year and have my own table where I sell the frags I have raised. I have many types of SPS corals, LPS, Zoanthids, Leathers, Xenia, Green Star Polyps, Palys, feather dusters. I also have 1 pair of clown fish who have taken to my frog spawn just like it was an anemonae, a Royal Gramma, a Blue Spotted Watchman Goby paired up with a tiger pistol shrimp. These two are great fun to watch>Mugs and Bulldozer. You need to read about the symbiotic relationship between pistol shrimp and watchman goby. It is fascinating. I have a 38 gal tank with a 15 gal sump, a 20 gal frag tank plumbed to a 10 gal sump. Both of these are lit with 250 W Metal Halide lighting. I have a 12 gallon nano cube in my dining room downstairs. In it a clown and a pixie hawkfish as well as assorted mushroom corals, palys, etc. My most challenging tank is my 3 gallon picotope I keep on my kitchen counter. It is a challenge to keep the water just right. A tiny bit of evaporation and you go way up on your specific gravity. I just put more powerful lights on it tonight, so that should help my corals, etc in it. I keep 3 sexy anemonae shrimp in there along with a rock anemonae. This is my passion, much to my husband's dismay!! He hates my tanks (too much work). I love diving so much that this is a little part of what fascinates me about the underwater world. I am heading to Florida mid June for a conference and will go a couple of days early and dive out of Tarpon Springs with Narcosis(LOL to divers) for a couple of days of diving. Then on to Culebra for a week and Vieques for a week. We will dive on both islands.

Vicki in Tennessee

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Re: Diving with CORALations??

Author: MJ (---.prtc.net)
Date: 05-20-08 06:59

Wow! Who knew? That is fascinating, Vicki! fyi, Mary Ann told me she has emailed you twice, but doesn't know if you got it? This is worse than hooking up a blind date ;)

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Re: Diving with CORALations??

Author: Trent (63.225.219.---)
Date: 05-20-08 10:57

I need to start up another tank. When I was first married, I had quite an impressive (my opinion) 50 gal. tank with live coral. I admit, I didn't know much about the care aspect at the time, and it was so much work but I really enjoyed the interaction. It was then that I learned that snails smoke (spawning actually), Mandarin Fish are moody and temperamental, and coral are filled with the ugliest (yet facinating) orange worms that would extend outward to feed then disappear again. Any idea what those things were?
I really wanted to build a swimming pool/100,000 gal aquarium, but couldn't get that one past my wife and kids. I will search the Arizona area for reef clubs. Thanks for the incentive, Vicki!

17 Days and counting! Trent.

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Re: Diving with CORALations??

Author: Vicki moore (---.dhcp.jcsn.tn.charter.com)
Date: 05-20-08 23:39

Hi MJ, yes I got the emails and called today and left a message with my cell #. I will try again tomorrow. Trent, probably what you were seeing coming out of the live rock was bristle worms, which are normally healthy for your tank. You spoke of Mandarin Fish. These are truly beautiful fish but require a huge pod population (as in a large healthy refugium) or they will die of starvation. I have never had one. I have a refugium on 3 of my tanks, but am afraid they would not supply enough pods to feed a Mandarin. I have a female clown in my largest tank that is extremely territorial. When I feed my Sun Coral (truly beautiful) every couple of days (baby brine shrimp or mysis shrimp), she literally attacks me. She goes for the webs on my fingers, especially between my thumb and index finger and will bring blood. I will not tell you what I have named her!! I have tried thumping her in the nose, etc, all to no avail. Reef tanks take a lot of commitment and time and $$. I would have never been able to do this when I had kids at home, but it is perfect for an empty nester. I feel like a chemist at times, with all the testing I have to do. I am jealous of your going to PR in 17 days. July 19 seems so far away. You must write a trip report!!

Vicki in Tennessee

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Re: Diving with CORALations??

Author: Doug (---.dsl.stlsmo.swbell.net)
Date: 05-21-08 08:52

Vicki,

This is the longest I have ever gone without having set the date for my next visit to Culebra. I left on January 6, and there is no 'next' time in sight. I swear that will soon change...:-(
Feel better, now? ;-)

Doug

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Re: Diving with CORALations??

Author: Mort (---.tampabay.res.rr.com)
Date: 05-21-08 19:41

Vicki, that's really cool! Who will take care of your tanks when you're in the Caribbean?

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Re: Diving with CORALations??

Author: richard (---.hsd1.dc.comcast.net)
Date: 05-22-08 04:22

Vicki: deeply cool.

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Re: Diving with CORALations??

Author: Vicki moore (---.dhcp.jcsn.tn.charter.com)
Date: 05-23-08 00:51

Thanks Mort and Richard. I have a friend, actually a guy my son grew up with, who has a reef tank. He comes by daily to check on and take care of things. I have taught him how to handle my tanks and what to do in case of power failure, overflowing tank, etc. He will feed my sun coral, top off the water in the tanks, feed the fish, clean the algae off the glass. Test the water to nitrates, nitrites, ammonia, ph, calcium, alkalinity, etc. He will know what to do in case anything is out of whack. My lights are on timers. He also waters our flowers, lawn, dogs, etc. I pay him well and he really enjoys all my tanks. It is true peace of mind to know he can handle things. He has my cell # for emergencies. His cousin helped out the first summer I had tanks. I got a panicked call from him. The siphon was broken on the overflow. Here I was sitting on a picnic table by the pool in Florida telling Evan how to start the siphon again. I am sure those around me were wondering what the heck I was talking about!!

Vicki in Tennessee

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Re: Diving with CORALations??

Author: Trent (63.225.219.---)
Date: 05-23-08 11:44

Vicki, I went online to find a local reef club. I found a few forums which may lead me to something. Although, I was a little reluctant to click on "Arizona Reefers" for fear of a visit from the DEA, but it did spur me on to look up the origin of the term "reefer". My search came up with nothing regarding how it became a slang word. Anyone?
Anyway, yes I have kids at home, but I think it might be good for them to develop a hobby like this. They both have a similar fascination of marine life, and even though they are not quite old enough to dive, this might get them to appreciate the delicate nature of a reef before they get into the water and interact with the environment. Well see. It is a commitment, especially, like you said, when you leave town. We have a hard enough time finding someone to care for our dogs.

14 days and counting! Trent.

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Re: Diving with CORALations??

Author: Vicki moore (---.dhcp.jcsn.tn.charter.com)
Date: 05-24-08 00:27

Trent, checkout Reefcentral.com. Click on forums. Pretty far down on that page is a tab for local reef clubs. You can check on Arizona clubs and find the closest to you. I was into Genealogy when my kids were growing up and they hated it. My son, however, is the one who got me into this addiction of mine. My daughter thinks I am crazy. I would have never had time for my kids and my tanks, although we did have a 55 and 70 gal with discus and african reflake Cyclids when the kids were small. But nothing saltwater. My daughter has no interest in diving. My son tried at 13 but has small eustachian tubes. We had his tonsils and adenoids out, but he still can't dive without his ears killing him. He did great in the class part and the pool as well, but could not go to the bottom at the deep end of the pool. I am hopeful that I can get my 25 yo daughter to snorkel with me on Culebra and Vieques. We snorkeled at Luis Pena when we were in PR in 2006. It was so funny. She would see something and get excited and point to it and start yelling at me through her snorkel. We would surface and she would ask me what it was she had been pointing to. When I told her on occasion that I had no idea she would say "You have all your stupid tanks and you should know what that is!!"

Vicki in Tennessee

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