Buy corals online or local?

[Chris H Reef]

Hey all,

I’m pretty new to reefing and have had my tank up and running for about 4 months.

I’ve added 3 corals so far and they are doing very well and I’d like to start adding a lot more.

My local fish store sold me the first 3 and they were little frags (Xenia, gsp, and a leather) for about $15-$30. I want to get about $150-$200 worth of corals to add. The selection at my local store isn’t too bad for someone just starting out, but was wondering if I should look into online stores or just keep buying local?

 

[Dburr1014]

Hey all,

I’m pretty new to reefing and have had my tank up and running for about 4 months.

I’ve added 3 corals so far and they are doing very well and I’d like to start adding a lot more.

My local fish store sold me the first 3 and they were little frags (Xenia, gsp, and a leather) for about $15-$30. I want to get about $150-$200 worth of corals to add. The selection at my local store isn’t too bad for someone just starting out, but was wondering if I should look into online stores or just keep buying local?

Either way is fine. I like buying local because I can look at what I'm buying and and see the health of the coral. Another way is to go to a show, if you wait till the end usually they unload them for pretty cheap.

 

[Jekyl]

Facebook groups and the selling forum here are the best place. Find local reefers to buy from. No shipping, better health, and better prices.

 

[dangles]

Both can be good options depending on your local options, and like others have said, FB groups and local shows can also be good options. Prices tend to be higher online though. Plus you pay for shipping. Your $200 will go a lot farther locally.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Any and every way possible, everyone gets different stuff, at different prices. Likewise meeting and speaking to as many people as possible will give you different insights and different ways of thinking about things.

 

[Gumbies R Us]

I prefer buying online due to the variety of corals provided and our lfs' high prices.

 

[PotatoPig]

IMO there’s a lot of advantages to buying local:

1. You can see the actual coral and readily pick from their selection. No funny business with photo touchups, editing, zoom, etc. You can also see how much they’re nuking it with blues and ask to see under whites. In other words - you’re much more likely to get the thing you think you’re buying.

2. Shipping stress is an absolute minimum and you’re not at the mercy of shipping delays or temperature swings. The corals going to be in a much better state going into your tank.

3. You can see the tanks they keep, which is handy as you’re transferring something from their tank into yours, it’s good to have an idea where the coral is coming from.

4. No shipping expenses, so you can stock up one or two pieces at a time rather than feel you need to buy a ton to get free shipping. IMO this lends itself to being able to plan out where things will go.

5. The existence of a decent LFS near you is nice, and this requires people buying from them.

Buying online does have some benefits- you’ll be able to more easily find a larger selection and niche corals, and sometimes pricing is better as the online vendors have a more favorable overhead costs, but if you’re starting out you’re probably not looking for some ultra rare highly specialized species.