Carnation Close-Ups

[FastFish720]

http://www.discoveryaquatics.com/tc/IMG_1635.JPG

http://www.discoveryaquatics.com/tc/IMG_1636.JPG

http://www.discoveryaquatics.com/tc/IMG_1640.JPG

http://www.discoveryaquatics.com/tc/IMG_1641.JPG

[stingray]

Jake, I'm assuming these are your pics? Do you have prices?

Jim

[danreefs]

WoW i like pick 1

[coralreefer]

Very nice. I just wish I had the system to keep them alive! They are some of the most beautiful corals out there.

[REEFSTOCK]

Got to keep my shades on for those shots! :cool:

[FastFish720]

Off topic note:
$49.99 first 3, $54.99 last one, it's larger.

Please note you will need to feed these corals, otherwise their expected life is about 6 months to 1 year. I have had them for at least 2 weeks.

Back on topic:
I put of these into my 20 gallon and it really adds a lot of life to the tank. Nothing has been photoshopped on these corals, #1 was just the coolest part of that carnation. One thing I've noticed is they seem to expand better with less light. I'm really not sure why this affects them.

Thanks for all the nice comments.

[gotmyowntank]

I wish Bkoppes would let me have them :mad:

[FastFish720]

well tell that bkoppes fellow to come get the AoGs and maybe he'll end up leaving with..... (dang carnation doesn't rhyme with AoG).

[mattb]

You need to feed them daily with a good live pytho culture. Either that or have a really mature system and stir the detritus daily (marine snow).... I'd love to set up a system to keep these, I do not have the patience to feed daily though. I should try to culture some phyto....(I'd rather nag Chad for it).

[condiman]

If I remember right to that they prefer to be hung upside down incaves.

[wes]

You need to feed them daily with a good live pytho culture. Either that or have a really mature system and stir the detritus daily (marine snow).... I'd love to set up a system to keep these, I do not have the patience to feed daily though. I should try to culture some phyto....(I'd rather nag Chad for it).

there's a guy who comes into our shop who does some maintenance around town and he's got one tank with a MASSIVE carnation colony, and it keeps multiplying. It's in a big, somewhat dirty tank and has been around for 5+ years. Just saying, it's possible, but very very unlikely without a very large, very mature system.

[mattb]

I know its possible... there are quite a few Japanese tanks that have kept them long term, it's good to hear that there is some success, but at the same time, I wonder why they collect these if they are so challenging to keep.....

[REEFSTOCK]

demand.

[FastFish720]

Like Fritz said, there is a demand for them, so they collect them. One thing I've noticed that greatly affects their survival rate is the type structure they are affixed to. Some come on live rock and some come on sponges. The ones that come on live rock seem to do considerably better because the sponges seem to die and somehow infect the carnation.

There are also scerlnephtheas which are fairly new to the trade. They look like carnations, but are soft to the touch and GARF has had some success growing them.

Truthfully, some of things that we couldn't keep 5 years ago, we are now able to keep with great success. It's just that we've learned a lot more about the creature and how to care for it. There is still a lot more to be learned about many organisms. Something like a carnation does take dedication, but you do feel rewarded from the challenge.

[mattb]

Demand can be a shady word in the hobby.... Goniopora continues to top the CITIES list, there's obviously demand for it, but should there be? It seems that G. lobata and G stokesi are the two most commonly imported species, yet they have the worst survivability of the Goniopora species in captivity. Yes, there have been some to keep them alive, but I would wager that those are the minority, not majority of keepers of that species. The misinformed buy them, and the pet stores order them to fulfill demand. It's the same with Dendronepthea, aka Carnations.

This is precisely the conflict of interest that exists in the hobby...

Most of the Japanese set ups that I've seen pictures of keeping them (and NPS in general) are culturing phyto and have significant dosing systems that appear automated. IMHO, it's very doable for the aquarist who knows what they are getting themselves into. But for the majority of aquarists, it's probably not the best idea.

[coralreefer]

Demand can be a shady word in the hobby.... Goniopora continues to top the CITIES list, there's obviously demand for it, but should there be? It seems that G. lobata and G stokesi are the two most commonly imported species, yet they have the worst survivability of the Goniopora species in captivity. Yes, there have been some to keep them alive, but I would wager that those are the minority, not majority of keepers of that species. The misinformed buy them, and the pet stores order them to fulfill demand. It's the same with Dendronepthea, aka Carnations.
I agree. The same thing happens with elegance corals as well.

[GoingPostal]

Sweet coral, too bad they usually only open up at night. Some people have had luck with them but no real set way to keep them alive yet, everybody's doing something different. I think they do better with zooplankton that phyto though from what I've read. I feed my tank a lot but don't know if it's enough. My pet store got one in after the supplier told her it was easy and great for a shaded part of the tank, never opened up at all, just shrank away.

[REEFSTOCK]

Demand can be a shady word in the hobby....



I want to be clear. I believe in discouraging that demand. For the guy like Freshfish who has a phyto farm or Tracy with his roti farm at home and has the knowledge base, sure order up. But on the shelf impulse buy signage... not my bag.