Kelly That is what I was thinking you guys would say. I guess I will now know what to tell the rest of the members who requested it.

Coral farming stock 2/13/06 Hi My name is Gerardo Ramos I started a business called Marine Reef Habitat, We specialize in the maintenance of coral reef tank's and just started the operation of a all glass Green house for the growth of coral's. <An adventure, for sure> I am on the process of installing the culture tank's and I need help finding healthy experiment <? Specimens?> to propagate, since the local store prices are astronomically in the stars <Stores?> and in poor health conditions I need a expert supplier, Please if you can help me with any guidance or connection's to a dealer of good parent coral's at whole sale prices. It would be grateful. Thank you. Gerardo Ramos www.marinereefhabitat.com< http://www.marinereefhabitat.com/> <I'd contact the folks at Pacific Aquafarms and Sea Dwelling Creatures re good-sized specimens of health to frag. They can be found on the Net, buyer's guides in the trade... Bob Fenner>

SPS frags 3/8/03 Would it be possible if someone on your end could post for me? I am in desperate NEED of any Acropora/Montipora - SPS frags and no one around here seems to carry them (just entire colonies for $80 or so) and all i really need are a few tiny frags. I'd love to be above to trade but don't have anything to trade yet. I'm looking for anything in the pink, purple, blue family of colors... 1-3" frags would be awesome. I live in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida and would be willing to travel 40 min.s or so if anyone is local to me. thanks, Steve <do contact Rocky Herman at Coralfragz.com He is a coral farmer in the Tampa area and he is connected with three aquarium societies in Florida where there are many members you could network with. Also, there are forums for this sort of trade/post on most of the big message boards for you to get interactive replies to a post you might make. Try reefcentral.com, Reefland.com, reefs.org, thesea.org... and our wetwebfotos.com Any of the previous outlets will likely put you in touch with someone nearby. Best regards, Anthony

Special Invitation to Join frags.org - The Internet Frag Network Dear Bob: I am writing to introduce a new website called frags.org -- a community for reefers to buy, sell, and trade propagated coral fragments. The site is completely free and provided as a community service. It is located at http://www.frags.org You are one of the first 10 Members to be invited into the community. I believe we share a common and strong interest -- the need for increased coral propagation in order to save the world's reefs. You clearly understand this need as a well-regarded advocate in the hobby. We need your participation to make this free community a success. Our goal is that you will join frags.org along with your peers by adding your frags. This will enable everyone to take full advantage of this unique service. --------------------------------------------- Why You Should Use frags.org --------------------------------------------- frags.org offers a number of benefits to commercial and individual coral propagators. The three biggest benefits are: (1) increased awareness and distribution for your frags, (2) an easy way to publish and maintain your frag inventory, and (3) free image hosting for your frag pictures. The site acts as a new sales or trading distribution channel for you, in addition to your website or other Internet efforts. We have plans to heavily market the site through the other online reefing communities to create awareness with thousands of qualified hobbyists in coming months. Publishing and maintaining your frag inventory on the Internet is finally simple. With frags.org, you can easily add and modify frag listings. If you choose, you can even link from your website to your frags.org Member Profile and display your available frags to your own website's visitors. Since our publishing tools are web-based, you no longer have to use complex website authoring software to maintain webpages of your inventory. Additionally, frags.org provides free image hosting for your frag pictures. frags.org does not handle any transactions for you. Your email and/or phone information is provided to any Member interested in your frags. Members can also directly access your website from frags.org. We have built a feedback system that ensures the top propagators receive the highest level of visibility at the site. In the near future, we will release capabilities to help you such as waiting lists, featured fragments, and more. More information on our many features can be found at http://www.frags.org -------------------------------------------------------------- Why frags.org's Success Depends on You -------------------------------------------------------------- frags.org's success depends on recognized advocates of coral propagation to add their frag inventories to the community. If you take a moment to browse frags.org, you will see the site is powerful yet easy to use. Once a critical mass of inventory is available, it will it be easy for Members to search and locate their desired frags in various ways -- by coral type, Genus, Species, common name, color, location, feedback rating, and more. Thank you for your time. If you have any questions (or need help adding your frags), please do not hesitate to email me. We truly hope to see your frags on frags.org! Join now at http://www.frags.org Warmest regards, Kris Duggan frags.org Member ReefCentral and reefs.org Username - BerlinMethod.com [email protected] http://www.frags.org <Thank you for the notice. Will post on WWM. Bob Fenner> Re: Special Invitation to Join frags.org - The Internet Frag Network Hi Bob: Great! Here are some graphics if you would like to use them: http://www.frags.org/images/banner1.gif http://www.frags.org/images/button2.jpg http://www.frags.org/images/button2b.jpg Please let me know if you have any feedback on the site! Thanks, Kris frags.org <Thank you, Bob Fenner>

Fragging at IMAC 4/1/04 This message concerns all of you, so please take a moment to read this. At the IMAC conference this year has been planned a frag swap. IMAC's theme for this year is, "Aquaculture, Responsible Collecting and Captive Breeding: The Right Way to Go!" <RMF would wager most anything that the destruction to the environment to make, transport all goods... generate electricity... is FAR more destructive than simple wild-collection and transport of natural stocks...> They want to promote this as the biggest frag swap, and also promote conservation, in captive breeding, or in this case, fragging. The original plan was for attendees to double bag their frags, bring them to the conference, place them in a heated tank, have the chance for one water change on Saturday, trade on Sunday, and go home with their frags. This presents many problems, but I will list a short few of them here. First, you bag a frag on Thursday, and come home with a new one on Monday, at best a 4 day time span. Second, a single water change, with new dissimilar water. Third, already sensitive frags, purging and sliming inside the bags, contaminating themselves, and possibly others in a water change. Then, temperature variations, lighting, stress, new fragile frags, leaking bags, and the list goes on... FRAG was asked to step in and "host" or oversee the swap. I thought this might be an opportunity to educate people on the right was to frag and trade, but the conditions made me very nervous. So, we devised 2 plans for those who are attending. One, they could purchase a Minibow aquarium and heater, and keep the frags with them in their rooms until Sunday's swap (water provided). This would allow them to have more control of their frags, less worry of someone else keeping track of them, and the ability to have (albeit weak) lighting, filtration and water movement. Two, those who do not wish to purchase a Minibow, could put their bags in heated and lit aquariums, would sign them in, and would have the ability to do a water change each day. Both of these solutions still have much room for catastrophe, BUT I felt both were a great step closer to the survival of frags than the initial plan. However, after speaking with a wise and savvy veteran in the propagating field, his feeling is that these both are still much too risky. So, I am now asking for opinions, ideas, or some brainstorming from the rest of you, if you feel you could give me some valuable input. If your input is, this is doomed, I still need to know that. I believe that the latest greatest idea is that we use some large aquariums with heavy water movement, ozonation and a ton of carbon. (I believe I added the idea of strong protein skimming, though I am not sure if it would help in this case.) I appreciate Everyone's time! And I hope that we can come up with something, as I would like to avoid the death of dozens or hundreds of frags... John McCann FRAGexchange.com

Coral propagation Hello Bob, I'm an aquarist from England who's just discovered your website 'WetWebMedia'. I'm heavily involved in new projects in coral propagation and hopefully breeding marines commercially soon. <Ah, very good. Are you familiar with the company, Tropical Marine Centre in the UK? They could use input from you...> I'm helping to set up a coral propagation working group here in Britain and we're trying to compile scientific reports and suitable papers published on propagation in captivity. However, published work in Europe is quite few and far between (apart from magazine articles), so we are trying to tap into work carried out in the US, Australia and Asia. <Yes, what little scientific and anecdotal writing is hard to access. Do you have the works of Sven Fossa and Alf Nilsen ("The Modern Coral Reef Aquarium"?), anyone on staff who can read German (as there are many worthwhile works only in this language)?> Could you help me with this atoll?? Do you know of the right person to talk to or an accessible CD-Rom I could search etc..?? <Will send your note, request off to friends/associates in the interest who will refer you further> I've got another question too. In a small article on Genicanthus angels you said something about having a fully established 'Refugium' sump to provide food.....what is this?? <Ah, a refugium is a specialty sort of sump tied in with a main/display system that has as central features some sort of substrate (typically "live rock") lighting, probably live macro-algae and a dearth of predators... to facilitate the growth, reproduction of live food organisms particularly... more about this under the term "refugium" on the www.wetwebmedia.com site> I've never heard the refugium term before, and how does it provide food? <Mostly by not having eaters of same there> I hope you'll be able to help me on these things, especially in my search for papers and contacts in the US. Thanks and the website is fantastic! Best regards, Dave Nettleton ( London ) <Be chatting further my friend. Bob Fenner>

Shipping some coral Hi Bob, it's me the 17 yr old who asked about careers. I recently started to propagate some of my soft corals and I was thinking of trying to sell some pieces. <Good project> Well I started to plan this out until I came to the part of what I should ship the corals in. I have Oxygen to prepare the corals for overnight but I can't seem to find a plastic bag to ship them in. Do you know of any company that I could purchase these bags like the ones from FFExpress) or do you have any other suggestions as to what I should ship corals in? <FedEx, UPS... in double bag with a liner of newspaper probably... if you can four mil polyethylene bags... for now, just buy them/trade for them with a local fish store. If you get to where you need hundreds, there are local suppliers (look under "plastic" in the local "Yellow Pages")> I need to make up some of that money I spent on setting up the tank and buying all the equipment and livestock. Thanks, Eric <Good luck my friend. Bob Fenner>

A favor please for Martin Moe Hi Bob, I saw this over on reefcentral and I thought that since the Q&A page is so popular, this would be a good place to post this, thanks for your help! <All right Mike... will post on WWM. Bob Fenner> Martin Moe Needs Your Help! see below for what you can do: little help? ?Ladies and Gentlemen of the captive reef, I need a little help. The Marine Ornamentals 2001 conference, sponsored by Sea Grant, is being held in Orlando, Florida on Nov. 27 to Dec. 1, 2001. The theme of the conference is Collection, Culture, and Conservation. http://www.ifas.ufl.edu/%7Econferweb/MO/ This is an international conference and it is unique in that it targets all facets of the marine life industry, the collectors, the breeders, the wholesalers and retailers, the scientists, the environmentalists, and, of course, the cornerstone of the industry, the hobbyists themselves. Bringing all of these varied interests together produces an extraordinary development of ideas and exchange of information that can only take place in such a cosmopolitan gathering. I am giving the keynote address for the section on Culture, not an easy task. I am trying, through a survey of scientists, commercial breeders, and hobbyists, to characterize and describe the current state of the culture of marine ornamental organisms. And I need a lot of hobbyists to provide information on their culture activities. The freshwater branch of the aquarium hobby has always had a lot of culture, the marine branch was basically without culture up to the late 80's. The eruption of reef tanks into the hobby at that time changed things dramatically. Now marine hobbyists can find culture in single tanks and small systems without establishing a planktonic food chain and spending countless hours culturing larvae. Many of us thrill at the abundant growth of photosynthetic invertebrates and often sell or give away excess organisms, and many have also ventured into fish and mobile invertebrate culture, which is becoming easier to do. I want to be able to report to the industry, the collectors, the environmentalists, equipment manufacturers, the breeders, the scientists, and to your fellow hobbyists, what hobbyists are doing in culture, their successes and failures, and how they think and feel about this aspect of the hobby. This will help greatly in developing a broad understanding of the hobby from the hobbyists point of view. So I have questionnaire that I would very much like for hobbyists engaged in the culture of marine organisms, at any level, to answer for me. It is only 10 questions and won't take much time. (Tell me if you culture as a commercial breeder or scientist and I will sent those questions.) If possible I would like to post the questionnaire on this board and have hobbyists email me the answers, but I don't know if that is allowed, so I would ask you to email me your email address if you would like to participate, and I will quickly email you the questions. (This email thing is really fantastic.) My email address is [email protected] (Note that there is an underline character between the first and last names and that this is often lost in that blue underline that usually goes under the address. I wish I knew that when I set it up.) Martin A. Moe, Jr. The questionnaire is located here http://www.reefcentral.com/vbulleti...&threadid=34715

Crustacean Parasite Hi Anthony. <cheers to you, John over in merry old England> I have just used INTERPET Anti-Crustacean formula in 1 of my tanks but the instructions are a little vague on a couple of points. It says to change the water 25% after treatment but not how long the treatment should last before I start this. <often times a single dose, with a reapplication perhaps necessary after the water change. I must admit that I am not intimately aware of the product as we see few Interpet products here in the USA. Please report the active ingredients if listed on the bottle. If not listed, then the color of the liquid (rose-potassium permanganate, blue-copper, etc> Also the suggest a formula of theirs' to lower ammonia as well after treatment - is this essential as well as changing water. How are you going in your attempts to publicize your book - have you had many takers yet? <yes, and thanks for asking! Here in America The Book of Coral Propagation is selling between 100 and 200 copies weekly. Not bad for a cold start just this past November. I have sent several cases to England and Australia as well. In fact, in the UK... PFK magazine will publish a review within weeks (March issue I believe)... wish me luck that our UK brethren appreciate it as much as our American aquarists> I hear it takes a long time to even get a coral tank up and running - I'm not sure I'd have the patience but good luck anyway. <actually quite simple and in many ways less work than freshwater...just a bit strict about timely minimal maintenance. Do ask for help when you are ready to make the salty plunge <smile>> Regards, John Nightingale <kindly, Anthony Calfo>

The Book of Coral Propagation, Volume 1 by Anthony Rosario Calfo Reef Gardening For Aquarists A 450 page(!) Comprehensive guide to Mariculture for reef aquarists... This new release covers each aspect of reef aquariology and coral farming in detail, including acquisition, care, culture, importing and exporting, and of course... propagation techniques. Unique chapters on dynamic display and farming techniques describe modern applications of reef invertebrate husbandry for aquarists with single displays, as well as industry professionals farming coral for resale or trade. Address of commercial applications includes a lengthy description of coral farming in greenhouse applications as well as general propagating advice in an extensive coral family overview for aquarists participating at all levels of this wonderful cottage industry. Pre-release price of $26.50 includes shipping in the continental USA (through November). Shipping begins first week of November 2001. For additional information, please e-mail [email protected] , visit our web-site at www.readingtrees.com or call 412-795-9461 xml:namespace prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:office" /> Giant Clams spawning at sunset'¦baby reef fish living to adulthood among the roots of red mangrove trees, Cassiopeia jellyfish growing from larvae under the warm rays of the sun, and corals littering the seafloor with daughter colonies'¦ do these events sound like marvels of the coral reef to you? Indeed'¦ they are some of the wonders that have occurred in the coral propagation facilities of author, Anthony Rosario Calfo. And they are just some of the exciting miracles of nature that have been repeated by aquarists worldwide as described here. This book is being written, for it is actively updated and revised, for the adventurers and admirers of the sea. Told in comfortable and concise language, this handbook reads more like a story with moments of humor, passages of instruction and dialogues of open wonder at the many unrevealed mysteries of the coral realm. This book is for curious minds interested in discovering some of the exciting techniques of coral propagation. It is tailored for hobbyists looking to safely control coral growing in aquaria, professional aquarists producing invertebrates for sale and trade, and thoughtful retailers interested in inspiring customers and staff to explore the many rewards of keeping coral reef invertebrates. suggested retail price $ 38.95 www.readingtrees.com U.S.A. Dealer Pricing Available MC VISA AMEX

Book post Bob, What happened... should I thank you or apologize to you<G>? <Hmm, don't know> I sent my very first e-mail on Thursday to some aquarists announcing the sale of my coral propagation book from a bulk list of "fish friend/fish-nerd" (same thing!) addresses that I had. On Friday I got an order from someone saying that they saw it on WWM! I was floored. Basically, I see that it made it onto your Question and Answers section and I'm wondering if I accidentally e-mailed it to you and you posted it for me or if it was a question posted by an aquarists that had I e-mailed. Either way, don't look a gift (sea)horse in the mouth, I suppose. Still... I'm curious (and a bit shocked?!!) at how fast word travels on the 'net. <Oh, John Dawe sent along the announcement, and I figured you could use the placement> And by the way, unrelated... the November Calendar pic of the school of triggers (from your daily pics last week, I think it was) was absolutely breath-taking! I pictured myself there looking up and marveled at what a moving and awesome sight that must have been. Do you recall where it was taken? <Yes... actually quite frightening... on the way to being whooshed out into the Indian Ocean by an outgoing current in a very large lagoon in the northern Maldives Islands...> I don't know if it was just a warm and fuzzy day for me... but I thought the sheer beauty of that magnificent view looking up at the spiral swarm of thousands of triggers could darn near bring a tear to my eye. Thanks for sharing the sweet daily photos... and let me know what happened with the post (but thanks either way!). Anthony <Oh, do post news of note that I think is pertinent, helpful... from there, folks cut/paste bits... quickly! Oh, Di may want to carry your book/s as well. Will cc her. Bob Fenner>