Ultra Super Rare or Sucker City!?!

[Phil D]

To get that name this coral would have to be originated from very close to Lord Howe Island and could not be from further away than New Caledonia, New Zealand which is too cold, or Norfolk Island.
But this does not matter anyway because wherever it would be originated from, it still falls under the CITES regulations for the import into the U.S. and all persons having had any direct contact with these corals are potential candidates for free "bed & breakfast" in the sunny land of OZ, happy New-year!

 

[M68]

If you look at this map, you will notice that this coral doesn't just come from Australian water. This isn't even taking into account that it might be mis-identified.

Edit: I was looking at the cites website, and Rhizotrochus Typus is listed as an appendix-II specimen, which doesn't need an import permit. Interestingly enough, cites says that this coral doesn't even come from Australian waters. Don't know if they are right though.

 

[FragMaster]

Its a deep water anemone,and they are NOT rare at all, people CHOOSE not to collec them because the water temperature tokeep them healthy has to be BELOW 70 degrees. Sort of like certain species of seahorses, this makes then unatractive to potential buyers and collectors for whole salers/retailers period.
RARE!! LOL!!! yeah about as rare as a nusiance orange ball anemone!!! LOL!!!
Ebay kills me some times!!!

I have recently seenthese croals up for sale on SEVERAL websites, not just ebay and guess what? THEY ALL SAY RARE and prices range from $1500 to $50 for the SAME CORAL!!! LOL!!!
Crooks if you ask me.


AND THEY ARE FOUND IN MANY MANY AREAS Not just in Aussy land. If the name bares a resemblance than perhaps it has been labeled so as a selling point by the seller to serve as an example of rarity?

 

[Phil D]

I do have to apologise for a small misunderstanding as the coral mentioned (rhizotrocus) is indeed not a hard coral, but when I opened this URL: http://cgi.ebay.com/Ultra-super-rare-Rh ... dZViewItem, the first thing I saw was this: Rare Live Coral Acanthastrea Lordhowensis- 200+ polyps, and that is a hard coral, most probably from Lord Howe Island, and fully protected by CITES all over the world.
Now I know this is another auction, but I beleive these corals were collected without the proper authorisation, and imported into the U.S. without the right paperwork, and if anybody has any doubt about this, why don't we ask the appropriate Government Department to decide???
Coral propagation is the right way to go, and broodstock has to come from somewhere, and even here there are provisions in the law for this situation. Stealing a rare coral from it's country of origin is certainly not the best way to promote the good name of the reef-keeping hobby, and anybody buying these corals is as guilty as the person who collected them !

 

[eukaryote]

Acanthastrea lordhowensis has a wider range than just Australian waters, and is rather common in the trade anyway.

 

[Anonymous]

Its nice to know that's where the Lordhowensis got it's name, and all this time I thought it was just some dungeon & dragon playing goober who happened to name it

 

[FragMaster]

Phil While I apreciate your enthusiasm for the protection of all coral species, I think your intel. info. is truely flawed. LOL!!!

 

[gregx]

Id rather buy a plastic coral than pay that price.

 

[Phil D]

I apologise for my ignorance and strong reaction created by a very confusing coral name which was suggesting a limited and precise range.
Here is a link supplied to me by another fellow Australian hobbyist:
http://whelk.aims.gov.au/coralsearch/ht ... ages/4.htm
So these are quite common, but wherever they come from, how can you get CITES papers for them??? :?

 

[FragMaster]

Well since they are not and endangered species ( and due to the fact that ALOT of the acan lords sold today are captive grown coral) I see no reason to have anything other than a collectors liscense and proof of where they were collected for any one but the whole saler / retailer, not the end buyer for home aquaria.
For instance, In florida all you need is a fishing liscense tocollect for hobby use, and a comercial fishermans liscense to collect for whole sale/ retail.
Much is the same for Figi, and such in most cases.

Not to worry though guy! It is refreshing actualy to see that people out there havent lost site of the fact that there are individuals thatare still raping reefs around the world and would like to make it known and the culprits acountable for it!

 

[Phil D]

I guess you guys are the lucky ones, because hobby licenses do not exist here, and even commercial operators are not allowed to export any native corals, soft or stonies, dead or alive, and if they did they would get absolutely crucified for it.
I kow this as 9 years ago I had the first officially approved coral farm in Australia, but I had to sell it for peanuts after 3 years, because the local prices wre not good enough and an export licence would have had to be approved by Parliament :lol:
Now the relevant Authorities have just introduced a new Management Plan which is going to put most collectors out of business, and maybe in a few years time coral farming may become viable in this country, but at 66 that's not one of my priorities anymore!

 

[FragMaster]

AHHHH.... Now I understand your frustration!
Pretty strick on you guys across the pond huh?
We have highly regulated limitations here as well, Itis just that mos tof the corals taken reproduce so rapidly AND there are HUGE amounts of coral that are many generations deep in aquaculture.
Not as many that are , and have been taken from the wild I am sure.
FOr the most part your more reputable shops will have quacukltured corals, such as dr. mac and son, dr.fosters and smith ( most of thiers are but not all) and a bunch of others, now this mainly applies to most softies and just about all hard corals. BUT there is still a huge list that are being taken fromthe wild such as dendro's sun polyps, certain gorgonians, not to mention legance , fox, hammers and gonioporas ( which REALY need to be left in the oceanthey NEVER live long in the home aquarium).
Most of your polyps rocks ( large polyp rocks) are going to be from the ocean and not aqua cultured to I am afraid. BUT they grow so fast in the ocean they dont realy put to strick guidlines on them.
Florida Ricordia are an example of a coral that has sparked tall tales and missinformation
BIG TIME!
It is NOT illegal to take ricordia from florida waters, it IS ilegal totake the rock that they are on. THats why most retailers who dont stock them will tell you they are either illegal to collect now, or that they are to costly to import (meaning that they wont get out of them what they have in them).
In Florida and alotof outer lying areas live rock is totaly protected save for 1 square inch per piece of coral taken.
Fire coral , true sea fans,and stoney corals are pretty much the only protected species in Florida and the caribbean.
Now there are ALOT of protected areas in and around the caribbean with AMAZING reef scapes that it is not only illegal to collect from but illegal to even TOUCH!
Such as the dry tortugas.
But Florida ricordia canbe found every where from docks, shore lines to the reef slopes, same for florida species zoanthus and gorgonians.

 

[jusreefin]

I am not too famliar with this coral but I trust the sellers word 100%. The issue of illegal coral imporation is an issue in itself! Acan Lords were first found in AU. and thus the name. 90% of them coming in today are from Indo or Solomon Islands. I have a hard time beiliving this is a cold water species as I know the seller does not have a cold water tank to house the animal in safely. If it is Mis ID then I would have to believe the seller bought it that way as well and is not ripping anyone off. Again I may be biased since I have dealt with this seller before.

Peace

 

[nanocat]

I just lost ALL respect for mane. What kind of jerk "tests" on a clownfish, then "disables" it and feeds it to the anemone again :roll:

He claims the clown was sick to begin with, so that makes it OK? All in the name of a fast buck huh

 

[jusreefin]

I just lost ALL respect for mane. What kind of jerk "tests" on a clownfish, then "disables" it and feeds it to the anemone again :roll:

He claims the clown was sick to begin with, so that makes it OK? All in the name of a fast buck huh

Think about that the next time your munching on a fish sandwich :lol:

 

[Anonymous]

In Japan, red ones go for $120 and white for $180. My local LFS often (but not always) has them. At least, that's what I assume these are.

 

[Anonymous]

I was going to post a reply, but then your 500,000 byte avatar movie slowed me down so much, I got bored.

Moving objects are not that uncommon on the modern internet. Upgrade either your computer or your internet connection.

 

[Anonymous]

>...In Japan, red ones go for $120 and white for $180.

Can you turn them from red to white by purposely "bleach" them with temperature shock or extra light?

 

[Anonymous]

>...In Japan, red ones go for $120 and white for $180.

Can you turn them from red to white by purposely "bleach" them with temperature shock or extra light?

I assume that would have no effect, if Matt's right in saying they're azooxanthellate. I guess these are just different color morphs.

 

[mane3215]

OK, so I have no time to sit here and quote each reply here, however this thread was brought to my attention and being that I am the seller of the coral on ebay I figured I would chime in.

The coral on ebay that sold for quite bit more then the non met reserve price is indeed a RHIZOTROCHUS TYPUS! This is NOT an anemone, this is NOT a deep water species, this is NOT illegally collected. Believe it or not I do not take my personal plane to rendezvous with my yatch off the coast of Australia with my nitrox tanks to illegally dive/collect coral to bring home and sell to the unknowing collector on ebay. Sorry I know that crushed some of you.

In all seriousness, I am a very serious collector of rare corals. For the one posting these are available all over the net for 50$ please feel free to find me one and I will paypal you 100.00 NOW in time for Christmas for your family.

I do believe these are stony corals as they are in a barnacle type shell. All these corals I have in my tank I have proper importation documentation on and all brought in through the proper channels. I would never harm anything in the wild to illegally do anything in this hobby. If its collected (as in legally for sale in the trade), I will buy it though as most any other hobbyist would.

I am always so sick of ppl trying to bash others who sell rare coral, I guess its a hint of jealousy, I don't know. People always feel the need to discuss the price, but truth be told those ppl would never buy a Ferrari either. They say even if they had the money they wouldn't. Well I will be the first to tell you, when you really and I mean REALLY have the money, you absolutely will. Its called not having to worry about the dimes you spend and enjoying what you want to enjoy. I spend more in coral on my tank then most spend on their cars. Its a hobby, I enjoy it, and I can afford it. I am sorry if others dis agree. There are many others out there like me as I am in constant contact with many of them.

So I apologize if my tone comes across harsh, but do realize this thread is here to bash on me and I do take offense to that. People talk blindly and thats just not a correct way to approach anything.

JS, thank you very much for the props man. At least one reefer knows what I'm about.


Nanocat, I'm sorry you feel that way. I don't know I guess you would feel better if I took a pic of me flushing him, or burying him? I hope you don't feed your animals any kind of live or previously live fish food of any type.


Have a great day and a Merry Christmas!