Favorite Corals On A Budget

[Katrina71]

I have three different hammers and cant get enough mushrooms. I think I have about five different mushroom frags each with a few shrooms on them.

Pics please

 

[HeulittSalmi]

Aqua sd has some killer lps frags for around 30 to 40 bucks, when you add shipping on top of that it adds up quick. I bought some platys and some favias from them that glow under led's. just killer piece's. but it does add up fast.

I havent heard of them before so I'll have to look them up! And from what I've seen and heard thats the only pain of buying online.

I'll say it. I love gsp and Xenia. Most people will say it's invasive. Those "reef weeds" sway so beautifully.

I love the look of GSP but am hesitant. I've heard of people glueing it to the backwall and having it cover the wall, do you have any experience of this?

I second the local reef club recommendation. If you go to the meetings and have a cool vibe you'll be able to acquire nice corals supercheap.
Just be ready to pitch in when someone needs help, a tank moved, etc. Quid pro quo and all that.

The only local reef club is about an hour or two away and always have their prop auction on a day I work for about 30-60 minutes. I wish I could get it off but i need the cash.

 

[HeulittSalmi]

Pics please

I am currently working on my reef picture taking skills so soon I will post lol

 

[Katrina71]

I am not skilled at anything yet, but several people on the forum have shared pics with gsp on the tank wall.

 

[HeulittSalmi]

I am not skilled at anything yet, but several people on the forum have shared pics with gsp on the tank wall.

Picked up a new JBJ 30 RL the other day and have been toying with this idea.

 

[miyags]

Check out Aqua SD sale,here in the sponsor thread on 5/20/17 at 7pm est.

 

[RAreef]

I buy from local people that are in hippy also, along with business people out of homes. There are many beautiful corals that are with in budget but craigslist, offer up and let it go are best areas to look

Sent from my VS990 using REEF2REEF mobile app

 

[HeulittSalmi]

I buy from local people that are in hippy also, along with business people out of homes. There are many beautiful corals that are with in budget but craigslist, offer up and let it go are best areas to look

Sent from my VS990 using REEF2REEF mobile app

Unfortunately here in AZ, reefing isnt as big as some of the other states I have lived in so my local craigslist adds are 90% reposts from the LFS

 

[Mattrg02]

My favorite trio are rastas, candy apply red, and sunny D. All look very exotic and can be had for very decent prices if you look on the forums/local reefers.

The $1k pp corals really don't look nice enough to justify the price, they are just much more rare. If you have the money, and that's your thing, then it makes perfect sense to pay. That's what keeps our economy going strong.

 

[borrowedlight]

I just bought 7 corals from Saltycritters and only 2 of them were even above $10. Most colors "pop" best under blue lighting.
Maybe I just have low standards because I'm a newbie but I find myself unbelievably delighted with how beautiful all of my corals have been thus far. I have yet to purchase anything over $30. Most I buy are small though, however. Zoas are gorgeous and come in so many kinds, euphyllia are cool too. I'm also starting to get into mushrooms. I definitely don't think you have to spend a lot at all. Go window shop!

 

[BostonBill]

There are several beautiful corals under $50.

Where can I buy them?

 

[NeedAReef]

That makes sense, I've never thought about it that way. And I am more of a looks over name type of guy. Don't get me wrong I love knowing exactly what a coral is to brag to local reefers, but I've seen some unnamed zoas that give WWC a run for their money. And the only thing that I dont necessarily like about Ebay and buy online is the Wysiwyg factor and the shipping. The cheapest ive seen for shipping to Phoenix is 45 from California and when I am bidding on a $5 frag and paying 8-9 times that price for shipping hurts, especially when some groups dont ship items together, so five $5 corals cost $225 to ship.. And some Local clubs are nice, Here in Phoenix we have the facebook group $10 Frag Club which is ran out of a LFS, but the quality and variety is ehh. Not to bag on them, because I've bought well over $100 worth of stuff from them, but its just a constant rotation of generic zoa's, shrooms, duncans, and hammers.

have you checked https://live.southwestaquaculture.com/ they are in Mesa. Nice operation and get this...they deliver locally...not kidding. I ordered one morning and they delivered that day! Plus when they picked my order they were not happy with one of the pieces so they brought a backup, gave me both, no lie! have not had customer service like that in a long time.

 

[BanjoBandito]

Duncans. They are fun to feed, interesting and readily grow. Toadstools. The are interesting, very cool with the fingers and bulletproof.