SALLY JO'S PICTURES OF THE WEEK 5/5/99

REEF PICTURES SPONSORED BY REEF JANITORSTM

CALLING ALL SARCOPHYTONS


These soft corals are being used to treat tumors. Tumors are an abnormal growth of tissue resulting from uncontrolled, progressive multiplication of cells that serve no physiological function. Extracts from these soft corals are able to stop the development of blood vessels that feed tumors.

GARF needs to collect as many strains of these types of corals as possible. If you have propagated any types and you want to trade, please e-mail LeRoy with a list of what you are growing. You can include your WISH list of any of the corals you have seen on the picture of the week.

Email: leroy@garf.org

When we trade corals we are super fair. We send you any corals from your wish list - some of these are never sold - so you will have the box. bags, and heat packs you need to ship the corals to us. We pay the UPS charge on all corals that you send us

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We need soft leather corals that have been grown in closed systems even if they look just like the ones we have now.

We have found that the Sarcophyton is safe to cut inside the tank but if you can remove it to the outside of your tank it will be better for the fish and corals. I always dip my fresh cut corals in a bowl of salt water before placing them back in the tank. To begin your propagation of the Sarcophyton you need a sharp scissors, glue and a rock to attach the new baby to. We perform this procedure two different ways. I tend to cut the head right off of the stock and then cut the head into as many pieces as I desire. The stock which is now your mother colony will grow a new head.

LeRoy likes to use a rubber band to hold the healed cutting to a Reef PlugTM so the rubber band slowly cuts the coral in half. He is able to get two cuttings from one so that each Reef PlugTM has two corals.

You will see the beginning formation of polyps on the stock in a two week period. In less than a one month period you will hardly be able to tell that you cut this animal. The babies generated from the mother colony can be glued directly to the rock and will grow its own stock in a very short period of time. A head like you see in the above picture can easily be made into twenty babies. LeRoy likes to cut the head into many pieces and let them fall to the sand bed of the cutting tank. He then waits for the cuts to heal. The waiting period is about two weeks then he glues them directly to a plug. Once glued these animals are ready to ship in about one month.

It is hard to believe that this is the same coral as the the last picture! Sarcophytons open and close. Often they will stay closed for several days, and when they open they seem to shed the old "skin" so they look better than ever.
SARCOPHYTON

There are so many beautiful varieties of these animals. Some of them have different colors, some of them are frilly, some of them with longer polyps and we are seeing more and more varieties every day. This animal does great in most tank lighting does not like strong current that is hitting it constantly and needs plenty of room to grow. You can move this animal up and down in your tank until you get it positioned right. You can tell that your animal is happy where you placed him by watching the polyp extension.

IF YOU HAVE SOME EXTRA CUTTINGS OF YOUR LEATHER CORALS YOU CAN HELP OUR RESEARCH BY TRADING THEM FOR SOME NEW TYPES YOU DO NOT HAVE.

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These animals are easy to ship and will adjust well to almost any tank. If you are not brave enough to cut the whole head off the stock you can make pie cuts on the existing animal but it is not necessary. Believe me when I say the head will grow back and I have found mine to even grow little arms that develop off of the stock that can also be propagated.

SARCOPHYTON

YELLOW LEATHERS ARE HARDER TO GROW

If you have strong lighting make sure you place this animal more towards the lower end of your system. Move it up gradually to secure its new place in your system. They do not like a strong current directed at them all the time if you have a wave maker they will love the indirect water movement. If you do not have a wave maker you can do what I do and change the water current by changing the direction of your power head these animals will be happy for a long time. I do this for about an hour and then position the power head in a different direction. I also have some of my power heads on timers they are on for fifteen minutes and off for fifteen minutes.

SARCOPHYTON

There is absolutely no reason to take wild corals from the ocean any more, they are so easy to propagate. The rare colors of these corals will be a good product for ocean based aquaculture. The only reason I could agree upon purchasing one that comes from the wild is if it is one that has not often been in the hobby and can be shared with other hobbyist. These animal have a leather feel to them and are not slimy like the other soft corals that need to be netted when trying to get them to attach.


  YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT RARE CORALS WE HAVE READY UNTIL YOU CALL TOLL FREE. 800-600-6163

ENJOY YOUR REEFS - HAVE FUN - SAVE A REEF - GROW YOUR OWN

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WE HAVE SOME GREAT CAPTIVE RAISED CORALS READY FOR SALE !
CALL TODAY AND RECEIVE A FREE SOFT CORAL WITH EACH 5 PACK OF CORALS. 1-800-600-6163

corals for sale


SAVE A REEF - GROW YOUR OWN

CALL TODAY AND YOU CAN MIX AND MATCH ANY AMOUNT OF SNAILS AND HERMITS FOR ONLY $1.00 EACH. LeRoy

corals for sale

WE DID IT - we set up our long needed merchants account
so we can take credit cards at 1-800-600-6163

CALL TODAY AND YOU CAN MIX AND MATCH ANY AMOUNT OF SNAILS AND HERMITS FOR ONLY $1.00 EACH. LeRoy

Bubble eating crab
Bubble eating crab ALGAE CONTROL CENTRAL
REEF JANITORS ALGAE CONTROL CENTRAL

Use this site to solve your reef aquarium algae problems, and help support our research!!!

Many of the rare corals are offered to our members for 2 years before they are put on sale. We will soon have an E-mail list that will list the rarest color forms of sps corals and soft corals such as Xenia and Mushrooms.

JOIN THE RESEARCH FOUNDATION
You can support our research and learn more about reef aquariums and wetlands
1726 Merrill St.
Boise Idaho 83705
U.S.A.
Email: leroy@garf.org