We will also conduct surveys both on the internet and in several magazines. These surveys will collect data from as many people who have purchased aquacultured reef products as possible.
The third part of this research will consist of creating a data base that lists as many sources as possible of captive raised aquaculture products.
During this research we will award several best of the test awards in many catagories. The first of these awards are presented on this page.
We have tested several types of Florida aquaculture Live Rock this season. The finest rock that we received came from SEA CRITTERS in the Tampa area. The Herdons have been growing this live rock for several years. I saw some of the Honey Comb base rock as it was being planted in 1994. This base rock is full of holes and it has very good shapes.
The most exciting thing that came in on this rock is the wonderful colonies of Stony Corals. These corals have grown in all of our test tanks. They have been growing in several reefs with 40 watt Tritons and Blue Moons, and they are doing very well under 450 watt halides.
The most valuable animals that came in on this rock for our land based aquaculture project is the collection of colored hardy sponges. We are now growing purple, yellow, and red sponges in many of our research reefs that came from these rocks.
THESE COLORED SPONGES HAVE
BEEN VERY VALUABLE BECAUSE
THE SPONGES ARE NOW GROWING
ON OUR TANK RAISED ROCKS
You can order some of this fine coral polyp rock and many other types of Caribbean products from;
SEA CRITTERS
Phone 813-986-6521
Fax 813-986-0191
Dick Perrin is the owner of Tropicorium, Inc. in Romulus, MI. and he grows the finest sps coral frags we tested this year!
We are conducting these tests by purchasing the aquaculture products at retail using a students address. We have several people in other states who are involved in this project.
We ordered Dick Perrins sps coral special that is advertised in FAMA magazine. This special has 10 mixed sps frags and 2 giant clams. All of the corals were larger than any of the corals in the other orders we purchased from several coral farms. The bases of these frags were set in bud vases. All of the frags were grown down onto the lids of the bud vases.
We used super glue to attach these corals to 2 AragocreteTM sand molded live rocks. These corals have all thrived in our 150 gallon reef. We received these coral 4 weeks ago and they have colored up very well. We have been able to frag almost all of new corals.
This special included several different colored- tip Acroporas, a very nice Seriatopora, a large Pocillapora, and a great Pavona cactus.
We are happy to award our first Aquaculture SPS Coral BEST OF THE TEST AWARD to this fine product.
This special costs only $150.00 and we will purchase it again soon.
Dick Perrin can be reached for this special and many other captive raised animals at;
Tropicoium, Inc.
20080 inkstar Rd.
Romulus, MI. 48174
313-782-2622 fax 313-783-3423
BEST CORALLINE ALGAE GROWTH - Red Lava , this low cost rock surprised everyone who tested it in their system. It recruited and grew all types of coralline algae very well. This lava has great texture and shape.
BEST OCEAN ROCK - Honey Comb base rock, the majority of the commercial aquacultured live rock from Florida is this type of rock. It is full of holes and it recruits marine life very well.
BEST REEF AQUARIUM ROCK - AragocreteTM made with cement and Carib SeaTM brand aragonite gravel. You can make this rock any shape you want.
BEST OF TEST - SMALL POWER HEAD - VISI-JET 1000
BEST OF TEST - LARGE POWER HEAD - RIO 1700
BEST OF TEST - LARGE WATER PUMP - GEMINI
We have used 25 of these pumps for two years in our base rock research tanks and only two of them have ever stopped working. One of these problems was our fault because there were many times when the 150 gallon make up water system would run out of water and the VISI-JET 1000 would run dry for several hours. This pump did fine for about a year and then it just stopped. We did NOT think that was very bad because every other power head we tested would have burned up after the first time.
If you have a need for a powerful small pump that will not quit or clog up this is the one to buy. Many of our systems are so full of base rock that we are testing that we just bury the power heads in rock as we fill the systems. These systems are not emptied for 18 months. The VISI-JET 1000 is the only pump I would trust to still be pumping at the end of the experiments.
The VISI-JET 1000 WINS BEST OF THE TEST AWARD FOR SMALL POWER HEADS and I have used them all!
Aquarium Systems
8141 Tyler Blvd.
Mentor, Ohio
44060 U.S.A.
404-255-1997
The only problem we have had with these pumps is that they are too powerful
for some uses, if they fall over in the 55 gallon reefs they blow all of
live sand out of one end of the tank.
The RIO 1700 WINS BEST OF THE TEST AWARD FOR LARGE POWER HEADS.
TAAM Inc.
1392 Morpark Rd.
Thousand Oaks, Ca
91360 U.S.A.
805-497-1609
We look forward to testing some more of these products during the next two years.
This pump is easy to use - you put the bottom in the water and plug it in. We use 9 of these pumps in our systems and they are trouble free.
The GEMINI WINS BEST OF THE TEST AWARD FOR LARGE PUMP.
I would write more about this pump, but it just a big simple tool that
really does it's job.
Aqurium Products
180l Penrod Court
Glen Burnie, Maryland
U.S.A. 21061
410-761-2100
LeRoy Headlee
Remember PROPAGATE AND EDUCATE.
We want to share as much information as possible with you. If you have ordered any aquacultured live rock or tank raised corals please help with this research! We will continue to provide the most current data on reef farming for both education and profit.
ALL DATA AND NAMES ARE CONFIDENTIAL - YOU WILL NEVER RECEIVE E- MAIL
FROM ANYONE OUTSIDE OUR OFFICE!