|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 10/21/2009 9:58:28 PM
Posts: 13,
Visits: 36
|
|
Hi Anthony,
I have appreciated all of the information you have given to greenhouse coral propagation it has helped me immensely in my greenhouse build. A little background on my system and history:
My greenhouse is 25' X 50ft with close to 12,000 gallons of water that is used for coral propagation. THere are 10 different systems with variables such as deep sand bed, no sand bed, aragonite sand, silica sand, counter current skimmers, becket skimmers, maxi mod flow, air driven flow, closed loop gyres. Along with many system variables tested we have tried mono culture and polyculture. As of now we have narrowed what is working best for our systems and growth is at an all time high.
A couple questions that I hoped could be addressed
I have been having a lot of trouble selling "bread and butter" corals to local shops as well as to the large wholesalers in California. I am able to offer lots of anthelia in quantities as large as 200 2" discs with consistency, candy canes in similar quantities 3-5 heads, and zoonathids as well. When contacting these places I have found little to no interest in any of these corals or any other bread and butter corals addressed in our conversations. Is there someone else I should be talking to?
Since the demand is not what I had anticipated I have branched out into many other varieties of coral and anemone to target the smaller markets of LFS. I am selling corals with success to the LFS but it is really not the target market I was hoping. Are there online stores or wholesalers that would be interested in what I am selling? I have probably 10-12 different types of corals that could produce 25-50 marketable corals a month.
I appreciate your time and what you have done for the hobby.
Bennett
|
|
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 10/21/2009 9:58:28 PM
Posts: 13,
Visits: 36
|
|
Here is a link to some of the corals we are growing to give you an idea of what we have and where our efforts have resided. These were taken a few months ago so we have more pics that need to be taken and uploaded. Again, thanks for your time.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/saltygreenthumbs/page2/
|
|
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 4:39:00 PM
Posts: 183,
Visits: 2,643
|
|
| Hey Bennet Nice looking set up. Are you having a hard time selling them because the economy is slow or they dont want what you are growing? I would think those toadstools, candy canes, frogspawns & hammers would always sell. Can you tell me what combination of setups are maximizing your growth & what didnt work well. Thanks Craig
|
|
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 10/21/2009 9:58:28 PM
Posts: 13,
Visits: 36
|
|
Craig,
First off thanks for the reply. As what I can gather from different sources the corals that we are growing are the issue. That being said I am wondering if I am just missing the boat and there is another avenue to look into.
Here's kind of the BS answer to your question on what works. All of our systems, and all systems in general, are insanely dynamic and each one is different based on need..... a fact I love and hate. That being said we are learning constantly and I would never say there is one clear cut way that works but if you would like to give me some specifics on things that I have done I can give you a more specific answer. I hope that will work. Also if I don't get back to you on this shoot me a PM since they will go to my email if I forget to check this site.
I need, among other things, is to put out the techniques that we have tried with our rational that have worked and haven't worked for us under the circumstances that we are in.
|
|
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 4:39:00 PM
Posts: 183,
Visits: 2,643
|
|
| Hi Bennet, How does the airlifts work for SPS? I am sure they would be ok for softies & LPS, just not sure about SPS. How did your PH & growth hold up in the tanks with no aragonite? Thanks for sharing Craig
|
|
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: Yesterday @ 4:39:00 PM
Posts: 183,
Visits: 2,643
|
|
Also what do you keep for fish in your culture tanks & what do you feed your corals & how often.
Thanks again
Craig
|
|
|
|
|
Group: Moderators
Last Login: 11/19/2009 1:09:50 PM
Posts: 4,172,
Visits: 2,691
|
|
Cheers, Bennett
You are on the right track for staple income with bread and butter specimens. The problem here is your species selection. Things like Anthelia, Yellow Polyps, Candy corals, large polyp zoanthids, for example... all ship very well from the wild. There is no economic incentive to pay the same or higher for your specimens when they have a familiar option from older channels.
You need to send them bread and butter species that ship well domestically as cultured but ship poorly from the wild. Most Xenia, Cespitularia and Green Finger leather top the list. Colored soft corals in general sell well (versus common brown ones that ship far batter from the wild).
Let's continue the dialogue here... what else is on your mind?
.Anthony Calfo
|
|
|
|
|
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 10/21/2009 9:58:28 PM
Posts: 13,
Visits: 36
|
|
Anthony,
Thanks for the reply. That does make sense on the types of corals that we are growing and the hardiness of their shipping. One thing that we have been struggling with however has been the xenia growth. I have had aquariums in the past that have taken off with xenia, however lately in my "coral career" I have not had the success with this coral. I have tried dosing iodine, skimmers, no skimmers, lots of fish, no fish, keeping temps under 78, deep sand beds of different kinds, and different lighting regimes. Along those same lines when talking with a particular California wholesaler they were not interested in xenia anyway and I gave up on it. Have you found the market saturated with this coral or is it still worth persuing ?
Another coral that has been more of a challenge than expected has been the leather corals. Growth on these seems to be slower than what I would have expected. The fastest way I have found has been to cut the heads off of an approx 2" leather and mount the cap onto a plug. THe cap portion of the coral seems to heal and attach relatively quickly 1-2 weeks. The stalk though takes some time time to "repolyp".... months. It seems that I have heard some people having fairly quick growth on these corals. If leathers are growing as slowly as what I have been experiencing they probably are not worth the time.
As always, I appreciate you taking the time to help
Bennett
|
|
|
|
|
Group: Moderators
Last Login: 11/19/2009 1:09:50 PM
Posts: 4,172,
Visits: 2,691
|
|
No worries, my friend... these are two fairly easy problems to address.
As for Xenia saleability: yes, they are still very salable throughout most of the country. The big cities with strong reef clubs are not great places to shop them, but the rest of the US has the problem with getting direct flights (smaller US towns) and as such the Xenia ships poorly to them. Wild specimens often don't make the extra connections from LA to get to them so soon after wild collection.
As for species selection, hedge your bets with specimens like Silver-Tipped Xenia and various pom-poms. These seem to sell better.
Lighting is not crucial with most Xenia (though moderate at least is best)... but pH and Alkalinity are CRUCIAL! If your pH consistently falls below 8.3 at night and/or your Alk falls below 10dKH (ballparking here) you will likely have long term problems with Xenia. Some people luck out without these params, but most folks find Xenia suffers otherwise here.
Leathers... also an easy one. The optimal fragging technique is to surgically (very sharp knife... no serrated cuts. A freshly sharpened fisherman's fillet knife works well) cut the established med/lg leather specimen into cubes like diced ham! This will result in hundreds of "pincushion" (trade slang) leathers that are salable in 2-3 months or less.
The key to fast growth with leathers is very bright and very warm (6500K or less) high PAR light. Leathers dont eat organismally much in aquaria. They are light monsters. Interestingly, they seem to grow better with Xenia in the tank. One of the rare examples of safe co-culture of cnidarians in coral farming endeavors.
.Anthony Calfo
|
|
|
|