Do you allow "reef strangers" in your house?

[Aquaph8]

Yeah always have... People from the forums anyways... Nobody from cracks list or anything like that....

I'm the same way. The scene in Tucson is pretty small though, chances are we've met.

 

[el richie]

If you're from the boards and bying corals or fish yeah

 

[REEFKEEPER10]

Did I say something wrong. I was trying to step on anyone's toes. If I did I apologize .

 

[Ninjapotamus]

I don't have anyone over to see my tanks anymore.... I also avoid selling locally as well. I have had too many crappy encounters with locals(hagglers just **** me off).... I generally just ignore them now.Also... bay area locals love to show up with only 80-90% of the money and asked "is this OK?". Ugh!

so much easier to box them, ship them and be done with it.

 

[REEFKEEPER10]

I don't blame you there. If people agree to a price then they should honor it.

 

[buddythelion]

Nope, don't allow them. Always prefer local meet ups vs pick ups. It's better to meet up locally because it gives me a sense of mind that people won't try to break into my house just to get my stuff. Also gives a good excuse to swing by the LFS, hehe. And besides, I only have a small 12 gallon nano, so there's not much to talk and see about that I haven't posted on a build thread.

 

[Reef Pets]

I have only a couple of times in the past when I use to have my system in the basement and that was only people that I dealt with regularly. Although I did have a moving sale several years ago and needed to clear out my stock. We were in the process of relocating and the house was pretty much empty but there were a LOT of people who showed up, much more than I expected. I actually had to hand out numbers at the front door when people arrived and some people still waited for several hours..
There are some strange people in this world and this hobby does not exclude them. I would always advise not allowing "reef strangers" in your home.

 

[ingtar_shinowa]

I do we dont have a whole lot of reefers in my neck of the woods so its not much of an issue

 

[Qsuerte]

my wife came home for lunch this afternoon & met a guy from my local reef club for the first time....she didnt like that a person that she's never met was here at the house, it freaks her out cuz i work odd hours & we have 2 lil girls

 

[debdp]

In the beginning I was fine with it when I posted corals and stuff for sale, but later became a bit more leery after having read some caution statements on other sites. So I'll try to hold off for frag swaps. But if I do post sales, I'll scope out the forum and check out a potential buyer's posts. I may even ask a club member I know well if they know this person and can vouch for them. Another option I haven't used, but I could ask my next door neighbor, who's a pastor and about 6-5+ to just come over for a few minutes. I know he wouldn't mind.

That said...the people that have come over have been sooo nice and genuine hobbyists. Anxious to get new corals and thrilled to see another tank and how it's set up.

 

[Dowtish]

I have no corals to sell and would love to see others tanks but unless I am invited in I don't even ask. With the way the world is now a days you just never know people. If I'm not invited in I know it isn't personal. I grew up and our door was never locked and rarely shut and the house I grew up in got that same door kicked in a year after a sub division got built across the street by a man that had been in there a few time and was really nice guy. He lost his job and needed money so he thought no one was home. My 60 year old grandmother was and she scared him of so I don't take it personal. I have seen one persons tank and he doesn't look like someone you want to be in a dark alley with. So DOWTISH you have nothing to worry about. Lol

Thanks for the compliment:bigsmile:

And I have allowed strangers into my home, but after Reefkeeper10 came over, I'm rethinking this whole thing.

 

[tnyr5]

Strangers? In the 3 years it's been running, my FAMILY has seen the reef tank in my bedroom about 4 times lol. Never show off the tank, it's bad luck, something will die.

 

[63vette427]

No one comes to my house. It's just not worth inviting strange people into my house just to sell a few corals. I value my family and safety too much to even take the chance. I have always meet people at the local Reef store so it works out for everyone. It helps support the local store as well as everyone is more comfortable. It does take more work to do it this way but to me it's far more comfortable. It also allows me to take more pictures to post ads..

 

[cdness]

Maybe I am just too "small town Minnesota" but I feel people are generally good with the small percentage as the exception. When I grew up we never locked our doors even when we were on vacation. I am the type of person who will stop to help someone on the side of the road change a spare tire, pull out of the ditch, or shovel snow that has piled up so they are able to get out of where they parked. Maybe I am the small percentage of exception

I do know that in the Fargo area I do make sure the doors of the house, garage, and vehicles are locked tight, especially at night. Other than that I still believe that people are good and can be trusted for the most part. I do sell corals on our LFS, local club forum, and CraigsList as well. The hobby is pretty small in our area so there are a limited number of people who would be coming over. I make sure they come when I am home so my wife doesn't have to deal with it and if they are shady I make note of that and no longer sell to them.

So in short, yes I let "Reef Strangers" into my home to look at my tank pretty much anytime. Being interested in the hobby is a +1 to personality in my book from the start.

 

[shred5]

No not anymore esp since all the craigs list stuff thats happening around here. People are doing anything to case your place in order to steal your stuff. I just dont trust anyone anymore. Sad but true.

If people are in the reef club or regulars on message boards I would make exceptions.

Whats funny is back in the day when I was more kown in the hobby and writing I used to get invited all over by different reef clubs. I used to get put up in peoples houses and get invited to tank tours and it never phased me.

 

[slojmn]

Back 4-5 years ago I always had local reefers, strangers or otherwise, stop by and see the tank, buy some corals or give them away. Nowadays I am much more careful. That being said I have had two "reef stranger" people over in this past year that I did not know before discussing a sale on the boards. They were both very, very nice. I have really shifted my thinking and don't trust like I use to. I have a pretty good guard dog that is in the house most of the day when we are not home, but still....its just not worth jeopardizing safety at home. I typically meet somewhere local where there are a lot of people or just ship. I really do miss reefers coming over and talking reef stuff for awhile and just getting to know folks better. Kind of sad.....

 

[Reef Breeders Verified Sponsor]

To add to what I said before, I used to do local pick up for pods,frags,etc. but not anymore, as 90% of the timr, I set aside work or other plans, then find out that they couldnt make it, or just decided not to show.

 

[NeverlosT]

i let people come by, it sketches me out sometimes. My local reef forum is rife with people who back out of sales or want something for nothing, so transactions can be painful, but most of the people that I have let in my house have been good folks. But yes, I have my XDM9, just in case...

i have a basement fish room and the display upstairs, scariest thing was going down there to get something and leaving the stranger upstairs alone with my stuff, but they seemed ok, and all was well. If someone showed up and I got a really weird vibe, I would just make something up "the baby is sleeping, I will just go get you your frags quickly".

It is a weird world, but ever so much more endurable if we live together well, I like to think that seeing the best in people helps make things nicer. But then again, I have certainly seen the worst too.

Good topic!

 

[returnofsid]

We have a medium sized, active club. I host meetings at least twice a year, including our club's annual frag swap/bbq, at our home every year, in August. In fact, I'm hosting a meeting this Saturday. At each meeting there's always new members, who no one knows. There's an individual in our club with whom I've had a few disagreements. This individual has attempted to start up a coral 'chop shop' on several occassions, each time ending in failure. When he attends meetings, I try to keep a close eye on him, but since I'm the 'host,' it's a bit difficult, so I have a couple other trusted members help me keep an eye on him. Last August, our annual frag swap/bbq was a huge success, with around 60-70 people in attendance. People were in and out of the house all day long. The next morning, I awoke to find everything in our 40 breeder dead or dying. I immediately suspected this individual and still do, but have never been able to prove it, so haven't ever pointed any fingers. Frags that were removed from this tank, earlier in the day, were all fine and still are. I immediately did a 50% water change and then did about 25% water changes every other day, for the next week, hoping to save some of the stuff. I also ran cuprasorb. It was about 10 days before I was able to obtain a copper test kit (I suspected copper poisoning). I feel that if I'd been able to test for copper, immediately, the test would have shown high levels of copper, but I'll never know for sure.

I will continue hosting the annual BBQ/Frag Swap, in the future. HOWEVER, I'll take 'precautions' in the future.