Who's bringing in wild colonies still?

[TexasTodd]

Seems like everything is frags and aquacultured /maracultured. Which is great, but I also like to look for new wild. I see Live Aquaria still does, who else? PM and I'll not post if don't want to post your secret "spot".
Thanks,

Todd

 

[BoomCorals]

I get wild stuff in every so often, looking for gems.

 

[TexasTodd]

Thanks for the reply. I'll keep checking your site.
Todd

 

[29bonsaireef]

Unique Corals gets in a lot of wild/mariculture corals. Anything Mariculture is still wild imo, grown in the ocean. There's a store in Orlando that gets in lots of really nice mari pieces, but I'm not sure if they have them listed online. Your best bet would be contacting some wholesalers in Bali and just ordering a box of wild colonies, if you don't have the space try and find another local reefer thats willing to split. I've done this in the past and got some awesome pieces.

 

[gcarroll]

https://vividaquariums.com/collections/wysiwyg-sps-colonies

 

[BoomCorals]

https://vividaquariums.com/collections/wysiwyg-sps-colonies

Yep good stuff, vivid usually has some sps colonies in regularly. Bought a few back in the day before I started the business.

 

[Neil Fox]

You can buy boxes of corals (15 to 25 per) direct from these guys. You need to pick them up at the airport as they are transshipped. Make sure you quarantine but pretty cool stuff. http://www.livestockusa.org/CORALSBOX.html

 

[cpschult]

You can buy boxes of corals (15 to 25 per) direct from these guys. You need to pick them up at the airport as they are transshipped. Make sure you quarantine but pretty cool stuff. http://www.livestockusa.org/CORALSBOX.html

I find it weird only 8 mentions of that website on R2R website.

 

[jda]

Anything that you get from Divers Den, Vivid, etc. will be picked through already. If you can handle a whole box, then getting a whole box right from the diver is better. I was able to pick out what types of corals I wanted... and they waited a week to make sure that I got some of them.

Livestock usa does whole boxes of stuff... they are not really retail. They are not WYSIWYG... they are a semi-wholesaler that will sell to anybody. I get rock from them all of the time... it is cheap and quality pacific stuff when they have it in stock (no fiji shutdown).

Just know that most of these are going to 1). die, 2). just be OK, 3). be blah. If you get one star in the box, then you are doing well. These will test your ability to reef, especially at first. I would be at the top of your game with near-NSW parameters and the best lights if you want to do this... these are not yet filtered to do well with high nutrients or LEDs.

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

I do.

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

Some colonies from 2 months ago

 

[TexasTodd]

Thanks everyone, the few go to small importers I used to go to are all out of business. I had some places that would not pick through first and got some amazing corals.

Shaddow, were those from Livestockusa?

I'm okay with a gem within a whole box.

Again, thank you all.
Todd

 

[TexasTodd]

Also, thanks Greg, I'll check Vivid more, they've been around a long time, which is great!

 

[bsstover]

I actually just got a box of acros from livestock.org. I was very skeptical at first. Mitch, my contact there, was very helpful and walked me through the process. After sending in a deposit he sent weekly updates regarding what was available that week. I had originally requested the “premium” acros but this shipment was taking too long for my immediate gratification personality. Finally I requested acros from Kupang. My order was finalized on Friday and acros arrived at airport for me to pick up on Monday. I had 17 in my box, which varies based on what you order and size of colonies they ship. All survived. After dipping and quarantining them they are in display tank and look great. Mitch even refunded me some shipping costs and overpayment from my deposit. Very honest. He didn’t have to do that as I had no clue how much the corals were supposed to cost. Ultimately, I ended up paying $49 per 3-5inch colony... not frags. I am pleased with the quality of the acros. Still wonder if I should have held out for premium stuff but not disappointed with what I got at all. I have absolutely nothing but good things to say about Mitch and my experience with livestock.org.

 

[TexasTodd]

Thanks for the input!

 

[bsstover]

 

[bsstover]

Not the greatest quality pics with my camera but general idea of size and quality

 

[Shaddow_wolf169]

Thanks everyone, the few go to small importers I used to go to are all out of business. I had some places that would not pick through first and got some amazing corals.

Shaddow, were those from Livestockusa?

I'm okay with a gem within a whole box.

Again, thank you all.
Todd

No those were from fiji before they closed (Walt Smith) and australia.

 

[thetedinator]

No those were from fiji before they closed (Walt Smith) and australia.

As far as I know, WS is not closed. They posted on their FB account in mid-March an update that corals are allowed to ship from Fiji.

Walt Smith FB Page

 

[HolisticBear]

Unique Corals gets in a lot of wild/mariculture corals.

+1 for @uniquecorals , I recommend signing up for their newsletter so you can see their weekly refreshes. Their specialty seems to be colonies.