Eye Candy from Indonesia

[PacificEastAquaculture]

Every month I go to Indonesia and hand-pick corals. There is something different and exciting every time I go there and I've been going for several years. Even though I have been in the hobby since 1965, and Pacific East Aquaculture has been in business for 18 years, and I see thousands upon thousands of corals, I'm not so jaded to not still say WOW!

So, before I get inundated by questions and the occasional inevitable haters, these photos were taken in Indonesia, under cheapie Chinese LED, and the corals are not for sale at this time. Just teasers, just sharing the overall experience with you. Don't ask about prices or availability at this time. Some are sold to stores already, others will make there way to our site eventually and some corals never get shipped due to availability of permits. Again, just some teasers for now.

We sell retail and wholesale and I often am in Indonesia hand-picking for other stores.

FAQ (Yes, these are questions folks have asked)
Is it fun to go to Indonesia and hand-pick corals?
Yes, certainly!

Do you ever take anyone with you?
Nope.

It seems glamourous!
No, it's not! 25 hours of flying time in each direction, being on the ground there for 36-48 hours, often having "traveler's disease", worry about everything you eat or drink, battling jet lag due to 12 hour time difference, and hoping it's all worthwhile.

Why do you do it, are you crazy?
There are always risks and challenges, but it's always been very worthwhile so far. Some of the suppliers I visit ship to several wholesalers in the US and some ship exclusively to us, so the relationships are phenomenal. Working with others that share your passion is rewarding and rare. Am I crazy? Most definitely, ask anyone that has met me!

More pics to follow later.

 

[tnyr5]

It's no fun unless you can take it to an unhealthy level ^_^

 

[PacificEastAquaculture]

It's no fun unless you can take it to an unhealthy level ^_^

By that standard it's a whole lotta fun

 

[PacificEastAquaculture]

A medley of all colors of Carpet Anemones

At some locations there are no artificial lights and at others they have some LED. Getting decent pics on the run is not easy, even differentiating good corals from average ones can be a challenge--this is where those blue LED mini flashlights come in handy but you have to watch out for getting too blue and talking yourself into a coral that won't look like that under normal aquarium lighting.

Corals are selected and put into floating baskets to segregate them.

 

[PacificEastAquaculture]

Lots of time to catch up on movies I don't see otherwise, my personal flying movie theater

Some interesting Chalices

 

[Sterlingg]

Wow. Georgous

 

[PacificEastAquaculture]

Lots of crazy Chalices

 

[revhtree]

Oh wow this is so cool!

 

[PacificEastAquaculture]

 

[markstubb]

You fly through Doha? Very familiar with at that trip!

 

[Zack K]

Whoah *drooling*

 

[mnat]

That pectinia is absolutely amazing.

 

[Philly.b]

I would like these.

 

[Philly.b]

I want them soooo bad I double posted.

 

[PupChow]

It sounds like you need a guy to help hold up an external battery powered Radion and someone who could help record your trip, where do I sign up? LOL! Beautiful photos and fun write-up as always, thanks for sharing, hope some of these make it over to your store!

 

[Mark Gray]

Wow very nice I have never been to Indonesia, I got to Thailand often. Do you dive? One more Quentin do you have a shop in the states

 

[PacificEastAquaculture]

 

[PacificEastAquaculture]

 

[PacificEastAquaculture]

 

[PacificEastAquaculture]

Jakarta is a bustling city with insanely crazy traffic! People on motorcycles are everywhere and dangerously zip around cars, trucks, everything. Definitely white knuckle time whenever you try to get around this constantly expanding megalopolis of 30 million. Seems uncivilized that you can't safely drink the tap water or that food safety is not up to par with western standards. The first time I went there a few years ago and got sick, afterwards every local I spoke to told me they regularly get sick from food or water contamination and everyone had quaint home remedies or some type of pill they carry with them to deal with it.

Other than the utilitarian function of getting from my hotel to my suppliers' facilities, my focus is on the corals, these trips are not for tourism purposes--except coral peeping! Some of my favorites are this type of large polyp Blastomussa vivida.