I have a crazy idea. Will it work?

[aquarookie]

I love tahitian black pearls. I love reef tanks. Why can't I combine?

I was thinking maybe I could get some of the oysters (or whatever they are) that make the black pearls, stick them in my reef, wait a decade and get a nice necklace! well, maybe it is an exaggeration, but would something along those lines work? And where the heck would I get those oysters?

 

[chris&barb]

sounds like a lot of work to me

http://www.fao.org/docrep/field/003/AB726E/AB726E00.htm

 

[Herefishyfishy]

I think they need a lot of plankton

 

[matts125]

the only way to get an oyster to create a pearl is to cut into then and insert a small piece of sand or gravel, this irritates them so they add the coating onto it which turns it into a pearl. (in other words oysters dont just make pearls because they are oysters they make them because somewhere down the road they have gotten something inside the shell that is irritating them. and this would take a long time to get any where..

Matt

 

[aquarookie]

Well, a lot of work is what I am all about :lol:. Life itself is a lot of work. And tons and tons of patience... :lol:
I was not thinking of this as a practical idea (I mean, if it takes me 10 years to get anywhere with this at all, I am sure it will take me less time and money to go and buy some of those pearls). I just thought it would be something fun . The trouble is, where would I get an oyster like that? I don't think they sell them at the LFS :lol:

 

[chris&barb]

any by-valve could produce a pearl, some just make them better then others. the link i posted should tell you everything you need to know. oysters you get from the market can make them, i know this for a fact because i like to eat them raw and have found quite a few.

if you wanted to try this i wouldnt do it in your reef tank. i would set up a separate tank because the amount of food you would need to add to keep the oysters alive would turn your reef into an algae farm, plus oysters spawn alot and this would starve your reef of O2 quickly killing everything

 

[j.and]

I was working in Cali a few years ago and went to the Boardwalk on Redondo Beach, there are vendors who have tanks set up and you get to pick an oyster out. They open the oyster right there for you and your guaranteed to get a pearl, different sizes, different colors each time. Anyways I did it and had a cool necklace made for my then 6 month old girl.
Now where they get the oysters, I dont know.....
Good luck though, sounds cool.

 

[Sushi Reef]

I was working in Cali a few years ago and went to the Boardwalk on Redondo Beach, there are vendors who have tanks set up and you get to pick an oyster out. They open the oyster right there for you and your guaranteed to get a pearl, different sizes, different colors each time. Anyways I did it and had a cool necklace made for my then 6 month old girl.
Now where they get the oysters, I dont know.....
Good luck though, sounds cool.

they did this for me in hawaii when i was 14 too.

i believe they buy wholesale from oyster farms