Aussie Chalices

[FaviaFreak]

Would it be safe to assume that the majority of these Aussie Chalice's are low light lovers? or do you notice that the pinks and reds like higher light and the blue's and greens prefer the low light?

 

[Hypertek99]

I think they are lower light corals. I have most of mine in low light and they colored up better.

 

[reefboy]

I have a few that like medium to high and a couple that like low but for the most part they like Med lighting with med to high flow.

 

[grknyer]

:snicker: Kev just drop me off all your chalice frags and I will conduct the experiment for you!!!

 

[Saltysteele]

you know, i read somewhere (don't know where, as i read at a lot of places :p ) that the aussie corals are all more low light, and the indy corals are from more shallow waters with higher intensity light.

would this be a matter of acclimation to the different lights? or would this be a matter of a coral not being able to tolerate the opposite extreme of lighting no matter how long acclimated?

 

[oceaninabox]

I was talking to an aussie diver last week and he told me that the most exotic looking chalices typically he sees in the darker parts of caves, cracks, and caverns in the ocean. He told me he was surprised that we blast them with so much light.

 

[FaviaFreak]

I was talking to an aussie diver last week and he told me that the most exotic looking chalices typically he sees in the darker parts of caves, cracks, and caverns in the ocean. He told me he was surprised that we blast them with so much light.

this is what I was thinking, I've had some favia's that barely got hit with any light at all and they were the most colorful corals in my tank...

Perry, this is good info becasue the new chalices coming in seem to be mainly Aussie and we are programed as reefers by keeping Indo and Non Indo corals for how many years? so we assume the Aussie stuff has the same care requirements, which in reality it's not, even if it's diffused light it's prolly too much, they prolly just need a flicker to color up real nice

we should have a sticky explaining the difference between Non-Indo and Aussie corals, such as where on the reef they are collected, a lot of you guys/gals that talk with these diver/collectors know firsthand what the collection practices are as far as depth collected and amount of light they're collected from...I have heard JenDub explain several times that diver/collcetors of Aussie Acans can hardly see their hands in front of their faces becasue the water is so filthy and nutrient rich...would make for interesting conversation while at the same time being a very useful guide for hobbyist housing these kind of corals....just my 2 cents

 

[FaviaFreak]

:snicker: Kev just drop me off all your chalice frags and I will conduct the experiment for you!!!

sure Harry, we can do like that "Wife Swap" TV show...I'll give you my chalices for a few weeks and you give me yours and in the end we just cut off big frags of one anothers corals to keep

 

[Saltysteele]

in the end we just cut off big frags of one anothers corals to keep

:waaaht: they do that on that show? kind of gruesome! :waaaht:

 

[FaviaFreak]

:waaaht: they do that on that show? kind of gruesome! :waaaht:

yeah, you have to buy the DVD and get the bonus footage for that :D

 

[bluegrass]

I think it all depends. I've spoken with a few aussie suppliers that say they find chalices in all different lighting conditions as you would expect and that the lower light ones are the "uglier" ones, but always with the possibility that they could morph into something really nice. Likewise, this could be said with most other species--not just chalices. I had a bad experience with a lot of aussie lobos that would have been happier in total shade seemingly than any light at all. I liked one comment the other day somewhere on this forum that they'd rather wait to see what has survived in someone else's captive hands before pouncing on recently collected chalices. I think it was one of those entertaining LE threads. :)

 

[reefboy]

I think it all depends. I've spoken with a few aussie suppliers that say they find chalices in all different lighting conditions as you would expect and that the lower light ones are the "uglier" ones, but always with the possibility that they could morph into something really nice. Likewise, this could be said with most other species--not just chalices. I had a bad experience with a lot of aussie lobos that would have been happier in total shade seemingly than any light at all. I liked one comment the other day somewhere on this forum that they'd rather wait to see what has survived in someone else's captive hands before pouncing on recently collected chalices. I think it was one of those entertaining LE threads. :)

This is what I'm finding as well

 

[droblack]

I've only dove the Caribbean, but the closest thing to a chalice we have here IMO is the mycetophyllia, which looks alot like a chalice with thick ridges. We always find them in nooks and crannies and in crevices. While they may receive bright light for an hour or two, most of them are partially or completely shaded the rest of the day. It is my belief that such an approach would be best for chalices in a reef tank, bright light for only a brief period(s) each day, and then diffuse light the rest of the day. Would love to have a moving light system that mimicked the movements of the earth and sun. That is what the corals are accustomed to, even the acros and montis, they just are on top and get bright light much of the day from different angles.